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TRANSITIONING TO ENGAGEMENT VISION employees INNOVATION

continued from page 25 CHANGE channel
customers partners recognition

This meant he would have to be equipped to technology Training MOTIVATION
help organizatons create a formal engagement FUTURE GROWTH STRATEGY
business plan and implement many of the coaching,
communicatons, learning, rewards and recogniton, business solutions
measurement, and other aspects of the program
well beyond rewards and promotonal products. Lipic The Ultimate
knew that in order to ofer an efectve soluton he
had to start with knowledge, so he and another team
member signed up for the Enterprise Engagement
learning program at the Rewards & Recogniton Expo
in New Orleans in April of 2013. Rewards Source
They both also read the available curriculum
on Enterprise Engagement, and Lipic paid to have
the Enterprise Engagement Alliance come out to his
organizaton for a full day of training with his entre -> Bulk quanttes
team. He and his designated team member both
prepared for and passed the Certfed Engagement
Professional (CEP) exam, and the day membership -> Direct pricing
became available in the EEA, he signed up. that program’s informaton. That simply isn’t possible with mult-
BREAKING DOWN SILOS program portals.”
While all of this was going on, Lipic contnued to engage with his Engagement Express is now available to all ET clients and Lipic
customers to feel them out on their needs, detectng a keen interest has already sold it to a number of his clients. “That’s the interestng
in the topic of engagement and a willingness to learn more about element of this technology model,” he notes. “On the one hand,
how to apply these principles in a concrete way. Along the way, he I help fund a platorm that helps others, but what I get in return
realized that he needed to help organizatons integrate all of these is other enhancements I don’t have to pay for. As part of our
various aspects of engagement – not an easy task, given the array of development program for Engagement Express, we received a mobile
strategies and tactcs that were required. catalog we didn’t even expect.”
“Most corporate intranets reflect the same silos that stand THE REAL DIFFERENTIATOR
in the way of effective integration of engagement solutions,” Doesn’t Lipic worry that he’s giving up a diferentator by using
explains Lipic. “Corporate IT departments are buried. They don’t platorms available to others? “Absolutely not,” he says, “no
have time to rework the entire intranet to mirror Enterprise more than my using Zoho for customer relatonship management
Engagement best practices.” Despite the fact that he had or my accountng platorm or presentaton technology gives up
experience creating his company’s own technology, Lipic had my compettve advantage.” He notes that what makes Lipic’s
to question whether he really wanted to be in the technology Engagement diferent is its experience, breadth of services and
business. “After looking at the framework of Enterprise cutng-edge commitment to engagement. “It’s how we use the
Engagement, I knew I wanted a technology that was easy to technology that makes the diference. Providing solutons is all about
deploy – a platform I could adapt to my business needs.” asking the right questons, learning about our clients’ businesses,
applying the framework to help them take the journey of engaging
Afer an exhaustve search, Steve turned to Engagement
Technology LLC. (Full disclosure: the owners of Engagement the critcal people to do what’s right for the organizaton.”
Strategies Magazine helped create Engagement Technology and hold Another reason for Lipic’s willingness to help organizatons like
a minority stake in the company.) “To start with, I needed to ofer the EEA and Engagement Technology, even though these services • Search the latest inventory of over 1 million
my clients a program-management portal that could integrate all of also help his compettors, is this: “I grew up in the era when the
the elements of engagement on a single platorm, as well as support advertsing industry really came into its own…I saw how that products and gift cards.
multple programs,” says Lipic. “We’re talking about customizable industry, by working together through their organizatons, expanded
technology that could be connected to whatever rewards made to become an enormous marketplace with advertsing and marketng
sense for my client, and it had to be as confgurable, fexible and agencies in every town and industry, and I believe in the same • Find the hottest new rewards in stock at over
automated as possible, requiring minimal resources from a clients’ IT potental for Enterprise Engagement.”
department. ET’s Universal Rewards Exchange product was the only
one that ft the bill, and we did our homework.” A REWARDING REVOLUTION 50 wholesalers, retailers, and brands.
Four years afer it embarked on this journey, Lipic’s Recogniton
RAPID LAUNCH OPTION formally became Lipic’s Engagement. Again, no one ever accused
As Lipic began developing clients for the new portal platorm – “the Steve Lipic of being impulsive. “I look forward to many more years • Browse Brand Stores to discover the many
sales cycle is at least three to nine months for that product,” he of working with clients, my colleagues at the EEA and Engagement
says – he also worked with ET to create Engagement Express. This Technology to take advantage of this highly rewarding revoluton,” participating brands and vendors.
version is focused on helping companies rapidly launch specifc he says, “because it does so much for the success of our clients, our
programs focused on communicatons, rewards, recogniton and/ community and our business. The pie is big enough for many more
or measurement so they can get started within a week – or even a of us than have already embarked down this road, and the industry • Contact vendors directly for all purchases based
day, if all of the informaton is in place. “Because of the simplicity will only grow larger faster as more companies get involved. I’ll have
of Engagement Express,” he says, “I don’t have to create a separate been proud to have been an early pioneer and know that I will be on their business rules.
version of each program while preserving complete security around able to proft from that early commitment.” ESM

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26 engagement strategies Vol.17 Issue 4