Building Better 
Buy-In

     When you are planning a huge event which places additional demands on your staff, what is in it for them to buy-in and participate?
     A regional department store chain in the North-East wanted to boost traffic and sales on Tuesdays; their slowest day of the week. They began to promote $1.99 Tuesdays, where shoppers could buy anything at the regular price and purchase a second one for $1.99. Basically, it was a way of promoting a half-price sale every Tuesday.
     The good news is that after the first three weeks, the event became hugely popular, and Tuesdays became their highest traffic day of the week.

   The bad news was two-fold:

1. As consumers became aware of the regular Tuesday event, they quit buying regular-priced merchandise in favor of waiting until Tuesday when they knew there were huge savings. Profits took a major hit, and

2. Employee absenteeism was rampant every Tuesday. You see, employees soon realized their workload would be excruciating on Tuesday when all of the bargain-hunting transactional shoppers rummaged through the store. However, there was nothing in this event for the staff.

     When you are planning a huge event which places additional demands on your staff, what is in it for them to buy-in and participate? Or are they likely to phone in sick when you need them most?
     Before you plan your next event, click here and I’ll deliver the Guide to Building Better Buy-in to help you rally your troops behind your marketing extravaganza.

Field Guide

The Guide to Building Better Buy-In

     Much of the success of special sales and events is dependent upon the attitude and effort of your staff. The way customers are greeted and treated has a direct bearing on sales, referrals and repeat business.
     All too often the role of front line staff and sales people is under estimated by businesses which only share the workload, not the success. Here are guidelines to help you win the buy-in, participation and passion of your people for your next marketing event.

1. Involve your key players and staff from the outset. Explain the problems or opportunities as you see them, discuss their ideas and your proposed strategies with them. Employees who feel like part of the plan will work harder to execute the plan.
2. Expose them to the advertising campaign before the public is exposed to it. Make them feel like insiders and like they had a special sneak preview of what was about to happen.
3. Where warranted, run a special related pre-event for employees, their friends and their families. Your staff and their sphere of friends and family can be your best customers if you have won their hearts.
4. Get a supplier to contribute product or prizes to the staff members who reach certain sales targets of that supplier’s goods or services.
5. Train, train, train. Make sure your staff understands the products, services and special offers you are presenting during your marketing event. Staff that are caught off guard or who do not feel confident or knowledgeable about what they are selling, will suffer low self-esteem and will not be passionate about working with you.
6. Have some fun launching the event with a staff barbeque or pizza lunch. Employees who are having fun will be more likely to greet your customers with a smile.
7. Recognize extra effort. Offering a day off, a special award or trophy, and publicly acknowledging your front line people creates a much more positive environment for them and your customers.
8. Set overall and individual goals. It’s hard to feel successful if you don’t know what your employer’s definition of success is. When setting goals, make sure they are realistic, but challenging.

© ENSMedia Inc. 2007. All rights reserved

9. Put mechanisms in place to measure intangibles beyond sales. A customer service survey gives customers the opportunity to acknowledge certain employees, and also helps you to understand customer expectations.
10. Announce the event results. After your people put in extra hours or get excited about the launch of a particular campaign, they need to know the results; what worked and what didn’t work.
11. Don’t just rely on advertising and staff incentives to create excitement for the event. Make sure the theme and the advertised products or services are front and center in your merchandising.

Manager's Manual

Building Better Buy-In

As a professional sales manager, you know the impact of buy-in, or lack of buy-in, can have on your sales targets. Most of your clients are heavily into multi-tasking and do not have your focus or expertise when it comes to soliciting staff buy-in.
As your account executives help make their campaigns more successful with staff buy-in, they will subsequently strengthen their relationship with the account, and be able to schedule more successful campaigns with your stations.

The Guide to Building Better Buy-In
Much of the success of special sales and events is dependent upon the attitude of your staff. The way customers are greeted and treated has a direct bearing on sales, referrals and repeat business.
All too often the role of front line staff and sales people is under estimated by businesses which only share the workload, not the success. Here are guidelines to help you win the buy-in, participation and passion of your people for your next marketing event.
NOTE; You need to continually build better buy-in for SoundAdvice to maximize its results for your company. Have your sales people share SoundAdvice success stories in your sales meetings. A ‘success’ from SoundAdvice need not necessarily be a sale. If SoundAdvice opened more meaningful dialogue or helped to strengthen a customer relationship, make sure your whole team is aware of it.  

1. Involve your key players and staff from the outset. Explain the problems or opportunities as you see them, and discuss their ideas and your proposed strategies with them. Employees who feel like part of the plan will work harder to execute the plan.
   On key accounts or high-potential accounts, offer to facilitate a staff input meeting if that helps. The more you understand their concerns and their business, the better equipped you will be to become their trusted advisor.

 © ENSMedia Inc. 2007. All rights reserved

Manager's Manual
Page 2

2. Expose them to the advertising campaign before the public is exposed to it. Make them feel like insiders and like they had a special sneak preview of what was about to happen.
   Offer to play their commercials and explain the creative strategy and the marketing strategy at their staff meeting.

3. Where warranted, run a special related pre-event for employees, their friends and their families. Your staff and their sphere of friends and family can be your best customers if you have won their hearts.
   

4. Get a supplier to contribute product or prizes to the staff members who reach certain sales targets of that supplier’s goods or services.
   Suppliers will often help with sales training or product knowledge training as well.

5. Train, train, train. Make sure your staff understands the products, services and special offers you are presenting during your marketing event. Staff that are caught off guard or who do not feel confident or knowledgeable about what they are selling, will suffer low self esteem and will not be passionate about working with you.
   

6. Have some fun launching the event with a staff barbeque or pizza lunch. Employees who are having fun will be more likely to greet your customers with a smile.
   If the event includes a remote, interview staff, live on-air. Make them stars and they’ll support the event.

7. Recognize extra effort. Offering a day off, a special award or trophy, and publicly acknowledging your front line people creates a much more positive environment for them and your customers.
   

8. Set overall and individual goals. It’s hard to feel successful if you don’t know what your employer’s definition of success is. When setting goals, make sure they are realistic, but challenging.
   Make sure you know how your client measures success as well. It’s hard to keep them happy if you don’t know what makes them happy.

9. Put mechanisms in place to measure intangibles beyond sales. A customer service survey gives customers the opportunity to acknowledge certain employees, and also helps you to understand customer expectations.

Manager's Manual
Page 3

10. Announce the event results. After your people put in extra hours or get excited about the launch of a particular campaign, they need to know the results; what worked and what didn’t work.
    You should set up a post-campaign analysis meeting with the client to understand the results as well. Arrange the meeting by explaining it is your way of making each campaign better than the last. If you don’t have a formal post-campaign analysis process, click here to receive the ENSMedia Inc. Post-Campaign Analysis Form which you are welcome to use. 
    

11. Don’t just rely on advertising and staff incentives to create excitement for the event. Make sure the theme and the advertised products or services are front and center in your merchandising.

One final reminder: Keep adding prospects to your SoundAdvice data base, and never, never, never email, fax or drop off your Field Guides, use them to get an appointment to talk to your clients face to face…it’s a Valid Business Reason to call.

 © ENSMedia Inc. 2007. All rights reserved