Why Some Product Promotions Succeed -- While Others Fa: every winning sales campaign needs to integrate three sets of players: the campaign champions, the front-line and the executive management.

AuthorGuy, Allen

IT CAN BE SAID OF MANY THINGS IN LIFE, "You get out what you put in." The same is true about any product promotions aimed at deepening customer relationships and increasing revenue opportunities.

How did your last sales campaign turn out? Did you reach your goals? Were your employees motivated? Was it the right product for your market? Can your associates say you were on board 100 percent? Individually and collectively these questions can determine the outcome of any sales campaign. As you mentally review the last product push made by your financial institution, ask yourself these questions and gauge your responses to the results produced by the efforts of your team.

When it comes to a successful strategy, there are three sets of players that must equally commit if the campaign is going to achieve success.

* The Champion (or Champions): At the heart of any successful campaign is someone who's responsible for communicating multiple factors of the promotion including product training, overall benefits and how victory is measured. Depending on the size of the organization, this may require just a single individual or an entire department focused on creating ongoing promotions. Regardless, the Champion needs to be able to be detailed-oriented enough to educate others on specific product benefits and and needs to be able to motivate associates to ask customers to make buying decisions.

* The Front-Line: If the Champion is the heart from which the blood flows, then the Frontline people are the arteries that deliver the product's life to customers. Depending on the promotion in which your institution is engaging, the Front-Line may be your commercial lenders, branch managers or all associates. It really doesn't matter which employees are involved or the level of client interaction they may have, they simply need to know the product, understand the objectives and be equipped to carry out the plan. Often, plans are developed in the home office, but a major breakdown occurs as information and objectives are disseminated to those who have to implement the plan. Do your Frontline people understand their roles as well as the expectations before them?

* Executive Management There are plenty of CEOs, presidents, executive vice presidents, etc., in every organization who have all heard that executive management must "buy in" to any product promotion in order for a campaign to be successful. As a member of senior management, you're likely tired of hearing...

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