Business Case – Referral Program

Major Corporation Increases Referrals by Tapping into Team Power

TARGET AUDIENCE
Field Technician Teams

SITUATION
Referrals were integral to this major corporation’s sales, and it relied on its technician teams to gather leads during service calls. But while certain team members excelled at referral generation, many others did not. This inconsistent performance led to shortages of both referral sales and good customer service. It was time to tap into the top-performers’ Best Practices — particularly their communication skills — and empower each and every team!

Challenge
The company faced the challenge of encouraging peer-to-peer collaboration instead of competition — inspiring individual team members to work together to earn referral rewards. Supervisor buy-in was a must, as was providing a venue in which Best Practices could be shared on a regular basis. Competition between teams was encouraged, but the major goal, and challenge, was to foster the sharing of skills within teams.

Objective
Increase referrals that resulted in a sale.

Solution
“The Force Be With You” was a three-month performance-improvement program that effectively combined individual rewards (ePoints redeemable for merchandise) and team recognition.

Spurred teams to collaborate: Team members and supervisors earned ePoints when their entire team registered in the program. They earned ePoints each month for each of their team’s referrals that closed in sales. Teams received bonus points when referrals increased. This fostered peer-to-peer collaboration to register and make referrals.

Individual motivation: Each individual earned for referrals that closed in sales.

Stepped up peer influence: Technicians shared Best Practice stories at weekly meetings. Executive level reports were made available to all and clearly recognized and ranked teams showing increased referrals.

Supervisors engaged: They registered teams in the program and were rewarded ePoint bonuses when their teams’ referrals turned to sales.Results Graphic

Results
It’s difficult to overstate the power of team collaboration and influence.

The program yielded powerful results. In just three months, the company realized a $564,000 incremental revenue gain.

Team engagement and competition works. Technicians who were teamed produced 463% more revenue than non-teamed technicians.

Return on Investment
Program yielded over 300% Return on Investment.