N.B.  I used Powerpoint for the first time, to great effect.  That explains why there are some bits that don't quite make sense, there were slides on the screen.

Suggested Introduction

We have been talking a lot recently about new marketing strategies and directions. We thought it would be a good idea if rather than the same people deliver the same lectures once again, it would be good to bring in a fresh face with some sound skills in the area.

There is nothing like an academic to get the heart racing and today we have a man who has been working hard behind the scenes with management helping to devise policies and ideas.

Lets hear from him first hand about some of our recent decisions. Please welcome to the microphone Professor David Stevens.
 
 

Thank you Ian and thank you ladies and gentlemen.

My part of the day is to talk to you about Managing Local Markets, with a particular emphasis on  "How not to stuff it up".

But before I get started on the real body of my speech I just want to introduce myself and tell you a bit about me.

My name is David Stevens and I am Director of Business Transformation based in Peterborough, I would like to add that I am the shortest person in the department but I am having the last laugh tonight, because they are all in chilly old England and here I am in ………………….. As you can probably tell, I am not English, I was brought up in Milwaukee Wisconsin and it is great to be here in the down under. You Aussies are so friendly I learned something today, G'day.

Down to business. Let's talk about MLMs. Often when people hear the letters MLM they think, Oh No! Amway, Herbalife, Usana or some other Multi Level Marketing "business opportunity". Tonight we will be talking about nothing of the sort. Tonight, the only MLM we will be trying to get you to enroll in is the Thomas Cook Managing Local Markets program.

It is not only Australian companies that are interested in improving their performance and relationships with customers. We are implementing the Customer Centred Culture program all over the world. These days when people are rating companies, one of the first things they check is the level of customer satisfaction. That's why there are so many programs like fly-buy. Its part of keeping the customer happy and coming back.

The concept of Managing Local Markets involves establishing different tiered relationships with customers and has proven to be a winner. Its allowed companies that were coasting along, doing quite well, to suddenly experience a surge the likes of which they hadn't seen before.

So, what caused the change? Did the customers change? I doubt it, though an organisation might have created a marketing program targeting a new demographic that brings in a different type of customer. Was it the company that changed? Unlikely. I think we all know just how difficult it is to get any change to happen with a small organisation, much less a large one.

No, the thing that made the difference was the culture amongst the staff, the basic building blocks of the organisation. This is how to get an organisation to change, from the bottom up, not from management down.

People like you took a new set of ideas into their workplace and saw how those ideas would work for them and ultimately their customers. And when it works for the customers, they 're happy customers and we all know how much easier it is to deal with a happy customer. Think about how much easier your job is when your customers are happy. It all fits together so neatly doesn't it?

Since you are the people out there in the trenches, dealing with the public face to face every day, not only do you have to remember to work within a new culture, but also you still have to play by the rules. As well as remembering the basic rules of Managing Local Markets you need to never forget the old saying that "The customer is always right".

I can hear the groans as you think about a recent episode with a particular. So there is good news. With MLM we are moving the goal posts and leveling the playing field, to put you in a better position. We have added some fine print to this age-old wisdom. "The Customer is always right…"  "Except when they are a pain in the bum".

Now, this is our little secret OK? As far as the customer is concerned,  he or she IS always right and that is the way we will continue to treat them. Needless to say, that's how they will continue to act too. The difference is that with the new way of doing business you are now calling the shots and supporting the customers who are more profitable and letting those customers that are a pain in the bum go to other places that I can't mention by name.  I will leave it up to your imagination.

What's going to happen is that customers will know exactly where they stand with  Thomas Cook. With MLM in its purest form, there is no bullshit pretending that we are going to give people extra service when they haven't earned it.

Let me tell you a story about my parents. A few years ago they were moving house and found an old receipt for some shoes they had put in for repairs and totally forgotten about. The ticket was 8 years old and just for fun they went back to the shop and handed in the ticket. The guy took the ticket, looked at it and without a word went to the back. They could hear him rummaging around, then he came back and said, "They'll be ready Thursday".

Good service is so hard to come by these days that we need so save it for the customers that deserve it and be honest with the ones that don't.

So how are you going to be honest with the problem customer? Well, we are going to make it a little more difficult for them, rather than letting them spoil our day. We all want to make the sale, in the back of our minds we all have our sales figures and each person through the door is a chance to add to them.

So you need to be strong, but you also need to be compassionate. The customer hasn’t come in with you in their sights and an idea of making someone's life hell, well not all of them. They are after some information or more likely, they are shopping around for the best deal. If you can't get some sort of commitment from them you need to let these people go and invite them to come back when they are serious.

But why is it that you want to either shift people or cut them loose? Let's take a look at some basic statistics. Remember that 64.2% of statistics are made up on the spot.

What is the contribution that customers do make to your business? Firstly lets look at the profits. Because it is a profit that is your aim, not just solid revenues.

 Your A customers provide a whopping 600% profit for the amount of work you put in. They contribute a lot of profit for the time invested. This is the ideal situation. The customer is happy, you're doing what you love and in return you 're making a good profit.

Your B customers  provide around 400% profit for your efforts. With this lot you get a chance to demonstrate your knowledge and skills and maybe next time they will come back as a category A customer. Customer B is worth the effort, but it is an effort.

Then there's the tyre kickers, Customer C . What can we say about this lot? They get you to do the work, they change their minds, they are the pains in the bum and they end up costing you over 800% on your time. Unfortunately for them, they are the targets of this campaign.

Those figures are pretty sensational in themselves. But what's interesting is to look at the percentage of customers in each category and I doubt there will be any surprises here. Category A customers are a whopping  10% of your customer base. So, one customer out of every 10 is making you a fair financial return on the time you invest in them. Perhaps you should get that special chair out when you see them coming.

 Category B finally starts to grow, though not in the way you would like, because they are 20% of your profits. There are more people in this category but they aren't making you quite as much money as you would like.

I think you can see what's coming with Customer C.  THESE MISERABLE BASTARDS COME IN AND TAKE UP YOUR TIME GETTING BROCHURES, PRICES AND QUOTES AND THEN EITHER BOOK IT THEMSELVES OR GO TO THE SCUMBAGS DOWN THE ROAD. 70%, ALMOST THREE-QUARTERS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS GIVE YOU A PITTANCE. GET RID OF THEM NOW, TELL THEM TO SEARCH THE BLOODY INTERNET. Sorry.

Let's have a look at the same statistics on a different sort of graph.  Hmmm…if anyone can explain what the hell this means, lets talk later.

What you need to do is move the Category C's to B the B's to A. But what happens to the A's? You marry them so you never have to travel economy again.

The idea is to shift the business so the graph moves from this to this .

And, how are we going to do that? Distract the customer and let them know that we are interested in more than their money. Don't be frightened to let them know that you are interested in whether or not they are single. It doesn't matter what gender you or they are, new company policy is for you all to start flirting openly with customers, in front of their partners if necessary. Now this is only for a trial period of 3 months or so during which time we are going to monitor sales figures and see what happens.

So, who's up for it? Hmm not so successful. Ok then we had another brilliant idea. We are going to get you all to entertain these people when they come into the shop.

The idea was to teach you all to juggle and you can entertain the kiddies and thus get to the hearts and wallets of the parents.

Let me give you an example….