How to find out if a marcom program is working 

The other day I was at a meeting of independent agent principals.  The discussion was about marketing communications programs that have worked best for each agent.   

It was clear that only one principal had a definitive answer.  When asked, she said:  “We ran a billboard ad in our town that produced inquiries that led to sales.”  I asked her how she knew.  She said, “We asked those people who called us and those that came into the office how they learned about us.” 

Simple.  Yet my guess is that 90% of agents don’t know what communication programs work best for them.  They don’t ask new customers.  They don’t keep score. 

Closing the loop 

How do you know which direct mailers pull better response?  How do you know how many leads come from referrals?  How do you know what your sales to quotes ratio is? 

In truth, what we call in the business Closed Loop accountability, i.e. the process of associating sales with marcom activities is simple, but not easy.   

You have to be committed to “knowing your numbers” so that you can improve sales results. You need to set up data collection systems that accurately and continuously track sources of new business activity every day, every month, all year round. 

Sales channel feedback 

One of the major roadblocks to Closed Loop accountability is lack of sales and service representative feedback.  And the major reason for lack of feedback is that CSRs and producers don’t see the value of asking for, collecting and reporting the information you need. 

As the leader, you must motivate your sales people to provide feedback.  Use collection techniques that are easy, interactive and fun.  Make sure they are comfortable with the techniques.  Make sure they understand that the pay-off is agency growth which they will benefit from.