Communicating to Help (Not Hinder) Your Salesforce

How broadcast communicationscan help you reduce sales cycles, drive promotions and invite employee interaction.

For Webinar, April 16, 2008 www.cutthroughcommunications.com

Agenda

1. The Problem

2. Planning your Broadcasts

1. Measure

2. Context

3. Content

4. Channel

5. Interaction

3. Takeaways

Problems•INFO OVERLOAD

•GETTING PEOPLE’S ATTENTION

Impacts•DELAYS IN TAKING ACTION

•SLOWS PROGRESS

•HITS PRODUCTIVITY

Why are we talking about this?

Sending an email doesn’t work as well anymore.

Buried, doesn’t stand out, 2-second attention window, no control.

Example…What you’re up against

You launch a fabulous Sales Incentive – great prizes, great branding. You expect to see a doubling of sales for the product category covered….

The intranet pages are ready, so you send out the fabulous email/desk drop/manager announcement at 10am Tuesday…

Corp Comms email at 10AM

TUES: Chocolate factory in Ohio

to be closed. Products will be

grandfathered. 800 jobs cut.

Example…What you’re up against

Corp Comms email at 10AM

TUES: Chocolate factory in Ohio

to be closed. Products will be

grandfathered. 800 jobs cut.

USAir plane down in the Hudson–

amazing footage, everyone talking

about the miraculous results.

Example…What you’re up against

Corp Comms email at 10AM

TUES: Chocolate factory in Ohio

to be closed. Products will be

grandfathered. 800 jobs cut.

USAir plane down in the Hudson–

amazing footage, everyone talking

about the miraculous results.Quarterly IRA

statement hits

employee’s desk:

value down by 40%

Example…What you’re up against

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

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5

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Chart Title

ForecastActualAxis

Title

The incentive doesn’t take off as expected; 100 units first week instead

of 500.

Example…What you’re up against

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

0

5

10

15

20

25

Chart Title

ForecastActualAxis

Title

Our point: it takes more than simply sending out broadcast comms to

ensure your messages is received and acted upon.

Example…What you’re up against

Agenda

1. The Problem

2. Planning your Broadcasts

1. Measure

2. Context

3. Content

4. Channel

5. Interaction

3. Takeaways

5 Key Elements for Broadcasts

Measure

Context

Message

Channels

Interaction

Measure, Benchmark

1. Are you getting through? Do you even know?

2. What’s a normal response rate in yr org?

• Readership

• Click-throughs

• Survey responses

• Ratings

1. Pick your ideal target outcomes

• X entries tagged in CRM by at least X sales reps

• X click throughs to new product page

• Training module viewed/completed by % reps

CONTEXT: Current state of affairs

1. COMPETITION. Who else sends them broadcasts? When, what, where?

2. VOLUME. How many other emails/voicemails do they get a day/week?

3. AUDIENCE. Priorities, preferences, behavior.

4. INTRANET. Quality of intranet, supporting resources

(Use CONTEXT to adjust/fine tune your broadcasts for max impact)

Enterprise Example…

• Competition: every staff member with girl scout cookies to sell

• Audience: extreme email fatigue

• Volume: hundreds of email broadcasts per day, mostly spam.

• Context shows that even the best email in the world would get a low response

Read this.

Really, I mean it

MESSAGE*

Six key recommendations.• Consistent structure• Make it fresh• Pare it down• Overview for context• Use several mediums

(text, image, table, video…)• Invite interaction

*based on IABC Research Report:Preparing Messages for Information Overload Environments,” Eppler/Mengis, 2009.Read it for more great details!

CHANNELS

EmailVoicemail

broadcastsScreensaversInternal BlogQ&AsForums

I.M.Digital

SignageE-Bulletin

Boards RSS Posters Print pubs Videos Wikis

Launch PacksPeers/ChampionsTraining Sessions

Scrolling news tickers

Desktop Alerts

SMS/Text Apps

Micro Blogs

Team MeetingsLeader VisitsConferencesLetters to Staff

Channel Mix Criteria

Select multiple channels and evaluate for:

• Cuts through?• Appropriate?• Media-rich?• Targeted?• Measurable?

Our Broadcast Channels

E-Mags, BulletinsContent managed, templated, no email

Desktop messagingAlerts, surveys, scrolling headline tickers

Screensavers interactive, targetable, multi-content, easy to change

Blogs, Forums, Q&AsSecure, templated, measured, single click access

Southern Wines Example

• Remote Salesforce with PCs• Do not visit the intranet often• Do not VPN in often• Do not check email often• They do access their web ordering system

often• Chose channels to match this CONTEXT.

Using desktop messaging to get promotions, pricing, new products, monthly results out to staff.

Inviting Employee Interaction

“We need to ‘push’ out information that explains WHAT the business is doing,

and WHY it is doing it . . .and then use interactive social media tools

to get employees to start talking about HOW they’re going to help make it

happen.”Steve Crescenzo, Consultant

Tap into employees for market intelligence, competitive advantage.

Interaction can not only increase knowledge retention but also improve

sales programs themselves.• Incentives

open a forum, respond to employee suggestions to maximize buy-in and performance.

• Promotions Invite discussion to engage brains. Info will be absorbed through commenting, even reading comments. Tap into employees as a source of market intelligence.

• Product Knowledgereinforce with short quizzes and find out what they really know.

Agenda

1. The Problem

2. Planning your Broadcasts

1. Measure

2. Context

3. Content

4. Channel

5. Interaction

3. Takeaways

Sales Goals we can impact

Shorten Sales Cycles

•Easier to Absorb and Use New Info•Context•Structure•Get Attention Sooner•Channels•Fresh approachDrive

Promotions

•Invite Interaction•Encourage ownership•Collect market intelligence

•Easier to Absorb and Use New Info•Get Attention Sooner

TAKEAWAYS

Checklists,

PLAN & STRUCTUREyour broadcast comms

TRY fresh channels to capture

attentionINVITE

interaction for better absorption & valuable feedback

for Webinar: Communicate to Help, not Hinder, your Salesforce, April 2009

CHECKLISTS HERE: http://bit.ly/lqkjcFeel free to contact me/us at Cut Through Comms

www.cutthroughcommunications.com

Paula Cassin1.805.715.0300. Twitter: paulacassin. LinkedIn: paulacassin

THANK YOU!

5 ways to reduce Email Overload:http://blog.cutthroughcommunications.com

IABC Preparing Messages Report: www.iabc.com (free for members or

$99)

For comms checklists Email or tweet me at:

Paula.cassin@cutthroughcommunications.com

http://www.twitter.com/paulacassin