| | Implementing Your Street Fighter
Low Cost Marketing Program | |
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A Street Fighter Low Cost Marketing program can be adapted for as many as 10,000 locations or as few as 10 or less. In the past, our experience has been that it's fairly easy to get a handful of managers or owners to use this type of program but much more difficult to get the bulk of the operators to do it with any regularity. Here's the process we use to increase your level of success in getting this program implemented and maintained by a significant number of your locations. The steps you use are:
- Initial Research
- Choose Developmental Markets
- Customize the program
- Roll out
- Maintain
| Initial Research And Development |
In this phase of the program we search for ideas we can use in your program. We start with the hundreds of Street Fighter ideas we've executed and collected over the years. Then we adapt the ideas to make them specific for your business.
| Choose Developmental Markets |
Before we bring these ideas to all of your managers we need to fully develop the ideas. The more developed and proven they are, the greater your chances of success when we roll the program out to all your locations.
To develop the program, depending on the size of you company, we start with two or three "developmental markets." Ideally these markets have a concentration of cooperative, aggressive, motivated and bright managers. We would only use a small percentage of your total number of stores to participate in this developmental phase, yet we want enough participants to get a good variety of success stories.
Ideally you want several different marketplaces in your development phase if possible. So, for a company that will use a total of 20 participants, you're better off arranging two or three participating markets, each about the same number of managers. The reason for this is that it gives you broader exposure to the experiences during this development phase.
Your choice of participants is very important to the success of the program. The developmental phase is very challenging because you'll be converting mostly generic ideas and tactics into specific promotions geared specifically for your business. Training and execution is therefore more difficult. Pick managers that are most likely to use the ideas and make them work.
Customizing the program is where the bulk of the effort takes place in the first six months to a year. It involves the following steps:
- Create custom promotional materials
- Write kick-off workshop outline
- Write and produce workshop workbook
- Conduct kick-off seminar with participants
- On sight, one-on-one training (first week only)
- Weekly telephone training and consultation
- Weekly reminder and reinforcement memos
- Monthly half-day group training sessions
- Monthly progress summary report
While the markets and managers are being selected we help prepare the training and promotional materials. This makes it easy for your developmental group to use the ideas and techniques they learn and speeds up the process. It also allows you to retain control of the promotional materials.
The participants at the workshop use their workbook throughout the program. It contains many different exercises that require the participant to write specific adaptations of techniques for his or her business. The workbook also contains all the reference information needed along with samples of promotional pieces.
Street Fighter's
Low Cost Marketing Workshop
With all of the preparations done, the next step is to fine tune the fully interactive workshop that will train the participats in the program. There is a great emphasis on role playing and practice. In the workshop you'll cover all the promotional ideas that make sense for your business.
| Weekly Telephone Training |
At a scheduled time, we review with your managers their activities for the previous week. We address successes and problems they may have had and go over techniques that may help. Then the manager sets goals for the next week. These goals are agreed to by the manager and not just handed down.
| Email Reinforcement Memos |
After the weekly telephone training session your participants receive a brief memo (by email) about the conversation. It's part reminder of the goals and part motivation. This allows us to have minimum of two contacts with this participant.
Copies of the memos are sent to the participant's immediate supervisor and up the chain of command. This helps us show everyone what is going on in the program. At the end of the month we do a summary report of the memos sharing the highlights.
Once a month we bring everyone together for a half-day group training session. Again, we review the activities for the past four weeks and focus on everyone's success stories. In the remainder of the session we go over more advanced techniques, trouble shoot and set goals for the next month. This session allows us to praise those who are doing a good job.
This process should go on for a minimum of six, and ideally for 12 months, because each month, season, and holiday that they work on adds more depth to the developmental program before the roll-out phase.
At the end of this development phase we not only have numerous customized promotions but we have several prototype markets in place. From this step you're now ready to move to phase two...customizing the program before roll out. We first rewrite the seminar outline, workbook, and presentation materials to incorporate all the specific examples, stories, and statistics created from the developmental markets.
An effective training element in rewritten workshop and workbook is the extensive use of actual promotions successfully implemented by the developmental market participants. You'll know the story of how the promotion was set up, the number of pieces distributed and redeemed, the increases in sales and customer counts. Use a combination of quantitative and anecdotal evidence to prove to future participants that your program works. Make the developmental participants the heroes of your program.
We now have your custom workshop updated with a new outline, workbook, overheads, samples, video clips, anecdotes and success stories, statistics, testimonials, and a revised
promotional packet based on the previous year's experiences.
With the new workshop you're ready to begin the roll out process. At the same time we want to work some reinforcement elements into your program. A newsletter devoted specifically to Street Fighting ideas works great.
A good train the trainers program must also be developed. When managers in a given marketplace are trained and encouraged to do Street Fighting tactics, their area supervisors, district managers and regional VPs need to also understand the program. They not only have to be able to do it but they also have to be able to supervise and advise others in it. If there is one weak link in the chain of command the program could break down.
| Street Fighter Marketing, Inc. |
467 Waterbury Court, Gahanna OH 43230
Phone: 614/337-7474 Fax: 614/337-2233
Questions? 1-800-SLUTSKY (758-8759) |
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