Resource Library

Engagement doesn’t just happen, and in most organizations frontline management has a lot to do with the success - or failure - of an organization's engagement efforts. Recent research from the Gallup organization on employee disengagement ... [ read more ]

Pick-n-Pay, a South African supermarket chain with 265 stores, opted to rebuild its corporate image, emphasizing such tenets as respect, dignity, and freedom for all individuals. ... [ read more ]

This study delves into the mechanics of sales incentive programs, providing managers with useful information to design successful sales initiatives at their own companies and providing their corporate decision makers with hard evidence. It found that properly structured programs can increase sales by at least 10 percent. ... [ read more ]

This recently conducted analysis by The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF)of one company's long-standing use of travel awards as a motivational tool shows that such incentives have a clear, measurable and positive impact on corporate culture and employee performance, as well as a broader "ripple effect" on the economy of the region where an incentive travel program (ITP) is held.

Overall, the study concluded that the importance of these programs should not be undervalued; their impact and their value reach well beyond the typical event timeline. Earners of the incentive travel program are far from the only beneficiaries of the program. The sponsoring company, the destination and the suppliers all receive significant benefits as well.

This study, sponsored by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF), looks at questioins that are rarely posed in relation to sales incentive programs: How do sales incentives affect procurement and cost of goods? Shipping? Cash flow? It suggests that developing an incentive program with a focus on sales growth alone, with no consideration for other business functions can produce 1) an adverse affect on cash flow, 2) a possible disruption in supplies, 3) extra shipping costs for ordered merchandise, and 4) a possible impact on customer quality. A "business process" approach, on the other hand, one that takes into account the impact on other business functions, "enables the planning and creation of the needed infrastructure and additional investments, where necessary, to support the results arising from the sales incentive program," the author says.... [ read more ]

A study designed to determine which aspects of selling respond to incentive travel and how that response can be measured. Researchers surveyed 1,800 subscribers of Meetings and Incentive Travel magazine and 3,000 members of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association. To present an in-depth picture of incentive travel, and to provide a practical template for determining program ROI, the authors made a point of recording views of both the people who win the awards and those executives who allocate the money to fund them. ... [ read more ]

Few people in academia better understand the convergence of analytics and Enterprise Engagement than Charles Scherbaum, Associate Professor of Psychology at Baruch College and a member of the doctoral faculty at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Scherbaum, an early contributor to the Enterprise Engagement Alliance curriculum on analytics... [ read more ]

The Brand Activation Association has a broad focus on all the disciplines required to activate a brand's strategy, from creative strategies to measurement, on topics from omni-channel marketing to experiential marketing and social media. BAA builds on its membership knowledge base, spanning expertise in strategy through activation, and across all touch points.... [ read more ]

Promotional products foster customer goodwill (positive attitudes and feelings) toward a company and its salespeople. This study, completed by Baylor University in 1992, involved a textbook publisher sending 4,000 educators either: (1) a pocket calculator plus a letter, (2) a lower-priced highlighter pen plus a letter, or (3) a letter only.... [ read more ]

An unusual promotional mailer is used to attract client attention.... [ read more ]

Customer Care Institute (CCI) is an international organization serving customer care professionals. It focuses on issues found in the customer service, consumer affairs, telemarketing, and help-desk professions. With more than 7,000 members, CCI provides Customer Care assessments, Customer Care Manager and Customer Care Professional certification courses, Customer satisfaction measurement programs, front-line skills and management training, as well as many others.... [ read more ]

Reviews the economics and objectives of customer retention and argues that it’s easier and less costly to sell to existing customers than to new customers. The more customers you keep through active retention efforts, and the longer you keep them, the more profitable your company will be.... [ read more ]

A common error that frontline managers sometimes make is to focus their performance improvement efforts on employees’ weaknesses, rather than focus on their strengths. But Gallup research shows that the worst thing managers can do is to ignore their employees altogether. According to Gallup researchers Brian Brim and Jim Asplund, “If your manager focuses on your strengths, your chances of being actively disengaged at work are only 1 in 100. If your manager ignores you, however, you are twice as likely to be actively disengaged than if your manager focuses on your weaknesses. Being overlooked, it seems, is more harmful to employees’ engagement than having to discuss their weaknesses with their manager.” This paper offers a summary of their research.... [ read more ]

Just how effective are promotional products as giveaways at trade shows? A 2003 study by Georgia Southern University explores how promotional products impact recipient’s perceptions of the company, usefulness of the product and much more...... [ read more ]

This study, by Prof. James Oakley of Ohio State University, found a clear link between employee engagement and customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction and profitability.... [ read more ]

This program was intended to boost awareness and use of a new hospital birthing facility.... [ read more ]

In 1999, the Incentive Federation requested that the Center for Concept Development conduct focus groups with incentive users in the New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta areas.... [ read more ]

The Incentive Federation Inc. has commissioned a survey involving current users of merchandise and travel items for motivational applications. The Center for Concept Development (CCD) was asked to analyze the data collected in this survey and to prepare this report on the survey findings.... [ read more ]

The Incentive Federation Inc. has commissioned a survey involving current users of merchandise and travel items for motivational applications. The Center for Concept Development (CCD) was asked to analyze the data collected in this survey and to prepare this report on the survey findings.... [ read more ]

The Incentive Federation contracted with GfK, an international market research company, to develop and conduct a market sizing study of the U.S. marketplace for incentive travel and merchandise. Results showed that, overall, 34% of companies used either incentive travel or merchandise incentives in 2006, spending a total of $46.1 billion on incentive programs. Breaking down that total, the study finds that companies spent $13.4 billion on incentive travel and 32.7 billion on merchandise incentives. In addition, more than half of the study participants expect their future spending on incentive programs to increase.... [ read more ]

Determining the right mix of compensation, benefits, training, and rewards & recognition... [ read more ]

No doubt some people might dismiss Integrated Marketing as a passing fad, and who would view the burgeoning discipline of People Performance Management and Measurement (PPMM) as a buzz phrase or "flavor-of-the-month" marketing strategy.... [ read more ]

This study, conducted by Prof. Frank Mulhern and Patricia Whalen of Northwestern University, identified a significant gap between the view of human resources and employees on the role of employees on delivering customer satisfaction, but found that companies with a close link between human resources and marketing outperform companies that don't.... [ read more ]

This study, conducted by Prof. Frank Mulhern and Patricia Whalen of Northwestern University, identified a significant gap between the view of human resources and employees on the role of employees on delivering customer satisfaction, but found that companies with a close link between human resources and marketing outperform companies that don't.... [ read more ]

Promotional giveaways themed to a new product are used at a trade show to boost traffic and generate leads.... [ read more ]