Marketing Communication Blog by Zach Heller

Entries in incentives (3)

Wednesday

May112011

Incentivize Everything! New Hires

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 1:00PM

This is part 3 of my Incentivize Everything series. Be sure to check out part 2, entitled Incentivize Everything! New Customers.

For any company looking to grow and be successful, they require a talented workforce. A team of employees who believe in the purpose and mission of the company will make it easy to implement new strategies, satisfy customers, and deliver great product. And as a marketer, if customers are happy and the product is worth bragging about, it makes our job that much easier.

But what does it take to create a great team of employees? What separates the people who will do their jobs, and even do them well, from those that will go above and beyond the call of duty?

Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, is well known for his ability to create a strong team of workers devoted to the brand. Early on, Zappos instituted a policy for new hires, whereby they would offer each new hire a bonus (in the range of $1000-$2000, or about 1 month’s pay) at the end of their training period…to leave! By doing this, they were ensured that the people who stuck around actually wanted to be there, creating an atmosphere that supported professional growth within the organization and as a part of the Zappos family.

I am not saying that this is what every company should do, but it is a good example of an innovative human resources policy that led to a stronger team.

In many ways, traditional corporate salary structures actually discourage above average performance. There is a great line from the movie, Office Space, that in many situations you are only incentivized to work just hard enough not to get fired. And the truth is, companies that don’t use added incentives and don’t foster a sense of company pride usually discourage their employees from thinking outside the box.

If the only incentive is to stay employed, that’s all they’ll try to do.

But if you want real performance from your employees, than incentivize them to show you real performance. Offer monthly, quarterly, or yearly bonuses that are tied to certain projects. Prove to them that if they come in ahead of the curve, they’ll be rewarded for it. If they help you sell faster, lower cost, sign new contracts, that they will be acknowledged.

This creates a culture of efficiency, production, innovation, an optimization. People will want to come to work and excel at their jobs.

Zach Heller |

Incentivize Everything! New Customers

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 12:00PM

This is part 2 of my Incentivize Everything series. Be sure to check out Part 1, entitled How to Create Product Evangelists.

As a company, we know that there are certain things that you’ll want to see happen. Some are going to be more important than others. But the point of this post, and others in this series, is that incentives can be put in place to help ensure those things happen the way you want.

Gaining new customers is an important part of any growing business. For someone to become a new customer, there are certain obstacles that they must overcome on some scale or another. Among those obstacles is the cost.

Whether a new customer is a first time buyer in this category, or is choosing to switch from one company to another, there is a cost involved. Lowering this cost is a very easy way to lower/remove an obstacle, and make the decision for a potential customer to become an actual customer easier.

There are a number of ways to do this:

Introductory Pricing - Amazon.com created a buzz a few years ago when it was revealed that they were showing lower prices to new customers than returning customers. In reality, this is a smart practice when acquiring new customers is a high priority. If your product or service is a good one, and customer loyalty is not a problem for you, lowering the price for new customers adds to your base and should create a new batch of loyal followers.
Free Trials – Icontact.com is just one of many companies that offer free trials of their products. A free trial is a great way to convince consumers to come on board. If there is no cost, all the customer has to spend is time to sign up or make a purchase. And if you deliver on the promises you make, you should get a percentage of all free trials to convert into paying customers. This practice works best with recurring payment models or subscription plans.
Freemium – This is a model made popular by many internet companies, like Flickr. Offer a free version of a product or service that does not have all of the bells and whistles of a paid version. The free version still needs to work, so you have to be careful with how much you limit it. It should be enough to create demand, but not more than it has to be, so that a percentage of people do convert into paying customers.
Add-ons or Bundles – Incentivize a purchase by adding something to the equation that your competitors don’t. Buy one get one free deals increase the likelihood that someone who would not otherwise purchase your product does so. Throw in something of value for free and you are creating more value for the customer, increasing the likelihood of purchase.

There are many ways to incentivize a purchase, and playing with pricing like this is just one. But when looking specifically for new customers, price can be one of the most important factors, as it is often the one obstacle that stands out in the consumer’s mind.

Zach Heller |

How to Create Product Evangelists

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 2:00PM

This is part 1 of what will become a running theme on this blog. Incentivize Everything!

There are things as a company that you should want to happen. And in the online space, some of those things will be more attainable than others. Product evangelists are people, specifically consumers, who are so in love with your product or service that they will take it upon themselves to create a buzz about you. Essentially, it’s free marketing.

As marketers and business owners, you want this.

You want people out amongst all of the potential customers talking about how great you are, and directing others right to you. If you look at yesterday’s post on Digital Ambassadors, you’ll note that there are going to be people talking about you whether you like it or not. So the more evangelists you have out there, the better off you’ll be.

How do you create evangelists?

A good start is to incentivize them. An affiliate program is a great way to encourage people to send qualified traffic your way. They are easy to set up, easy to spread, and easy to track.

If you make $10 on every sale, you should have no problem kicking back $1 to your evangelist who sent you the sale. This encourages them to do it more often, and in more places. You’ll create an army of evangelists ready to spread the word for you.

ING Direct used an incentivized referral program when they first started gaining some notoriety, and this helped them double their customer base in a few months. (P.S. if you're interested in setting up an account with ING, I can refer you and you'll get $25 for doing nothing - email me.)

For a quick and easy way to set up, track, and share an affiliate program, try Share-a-Sale. They’re an affiliate network who have been around a long time, and are more than suited to help you meet your goals. Click here to get started.

Zach Heller |

"I" of the Consumer

Entries in incentives (3)

Incentivize Everything! New Hires

Incentivize Everything! New Customers

How to Create Product Evangelists