Professional standards in information handling and employee training

JULIET WILLIAMS

Professional Standards in Information Handling and Employee Training After leaving Cambridge. JULIET WILLIAMS had an early career in publiciry and journalism. specializing in environ- mental concerns and economic development projects. principally in the Third World. She began her management career in I 9 7 3 as Marketing Director. and subsequently Managing Direcror, of The Reader’s Union Group of Book Clubs Following three years as chief executive of Marshall Cavendish Mail Order, shejoined Christian Brann Limited as Man- aging Director in I982 Juliet became a member of the Board of Brann’s parent company, The BIS Group. in 1985. dnd i s now Chief Execurive Officer of BIS’s Marketing Communications Division Although she continues to travel extensively. her “home base” IS currently Edinburgh A trained teacher and committed educationist. Juliet takes spe- cial responsibility for management development across The BIS Group. Her proudest moment to date IS the entry of Brann in Bob Reynolds’ book, “The 100 Best Companies to Work for in the U K.” (published in 1989). Ms. Williams has contributed invited commentary to past issues of JDM, and i s a member of the Journal’s Editorial Review Board.

JULIET WILLIAMS

0 1991 John Wtley 8r Sons, Inc. a n d Direct Marketing Educational Foundation, Inc CCC 0892-0591/9 I /01057-05$04.00

JOURNAL OF DIRECT MARKETING VOLUME 5 NUMBER I WINTER 1991 57

EDITOR’S NOTE

While there isgrowing emphasis in the United States on development of direct marketing educational programs, there is just as great-and perhaps a n even broader-vision of direct marketing education in Europe. This article is adapted from the key- note speech at “La Semaine Europienne, ” held in Paris in February 1990. The author extends the concept of direct marketing education to include both internal and externalprograms. It is a concept which deserves wide recognition.

INTRODUCTION

Nowhere is the search for excellence brought more acutely into focus than in securing the role that direct marketing must be called upon to play in the information revolution. The world of marketing is colliding with the world of information technology. There is now no escape, either for marketing’s emerging generation of practitioners or for the in- dustries and the businesses they seek to serve.

The world of marketing is turning u.pside down as its corporate decision makers come under in- creasing pressure from their own boardrooms to invest in information systems, to use data to drive marketing decisions, and to use automation to manage customer contact. But who among the marketing department’s traditional suppliers can provide the expertise and experience? Direct marketers would like to think they can, and some of us may happily be in the position of being able to deliver; but if we are honest with ourselves, most of us know we can’t. We are not equipped to develop marketing information systems that will ultimately be capable of integration at the highest corporate level. How often do direct marketing’s strategists regard the information technology expert as an integral part of the planning team? Rarely. Why? Because we are frightened of the power of technology, frightened of the unknown and of becoming unable to hide behind our ill-conceived pretensions to database marketing. A large part of the problem-and solu- tion-is in the training of future marketers, on which more comment follows.

The marketing database and database marketing have become a regular part of our daily lives as direct marketers, but this is despite the fact that we

have been intent upon confusion of the terms in our collective mind. We have abused them, misused them, and perpetuated their misunderstanding to the extent that the world at large might be forgiven for believing that their use in serious conversation was a demonstration of direct marketing virility. Di- rect marketing is marketing’s point of first contact and greatest impact with information technology, but marketing’s other disciplines are already prov- ing that they follow closely behind. We must rapidly become better equipped to offer senior marketers the advice they seek in ensuring that marketing is ably represented in the boardroom as the critical investment decisions are made. Nonetheless, we still have difficulty in appreciating that computing and telecommunications experts are our partners in revolutionizing the strategic marketing process.

MAKING THE MOST OF INFORMATION

Information is the key tool in our search for excellence, whether it be as quality direct marketing strategists, quality service providers, preferred em- ployers, or professional business managers. Infor- mation is always accessible to us, but all too rarely organized, managed, manipulated, and appropri- ately acted upon.

Do you anonymously ask your customers what they think of you, how they rate you against your competitors? Do you ask your staff how they per- ceive you as an employer? If you are smugly sitting there congratulating yourself, perhaps a better question might be-what have you done about the information now that you’ve got it?

Information is not often free; it is expensive to come by. That is just one of the reasons why the marketing database-contrary to the belief of many direct marketers-cannot be the sole preserve of direct marketing. While it is only a matter of time before every organization harnesses information across all its activities, and today’s dedicated data- bases are integrated at the highest level, the marketing database should already be viewed as a resource, a tool, even a kind of medium, perhaps, that is relevant to, and should be equally accessible to, all marketing and sales activities. Its critical role is to enable us to deliver customer service and satisfaction by moving the customer up the ladder of

58 JOURNAL OF DIRECT MARKETING VOLUME 5 NUMBER I WINTER 1991

loyalty by a variety of means, from mass media ad- vertising to direct sales and the sales force, from store visits to telephone marketing, from exhibitions and seminars to direct mail, from electronic media communications to sponsorship and mail order merchandising.

The cost of building a quality marketing database is high but the return on that investment is directly related to the marketer’s ability to manage i t , to maintain it, to grow it, and, above all, co use it. Un- fortunately, there is all too little real expertise available: the unique blend of strategic, computing, creative, and marketing skills is in short supply. Direct marketing is faced with the demand for information, particularly customer data, as the basis upon which decisions will be made, but has so far failed to ini- tiate provision of an adequate skills resource. I sup- pose that something is better than nothing, but I was horrified recently when one of the UK’s leading direct marketing educational establishments pro- moted a course of its own as “everything you’ll ever need to know about database marketing in two action-packed days.” Maybe we have to understand the meaning of quality in relation to education a little better, too.

INTELLIGENT HANDLING I S THE KEY

To invest in customer and market information and to use it intelligently are now the keys to rapid competitive advantage for every business. We are getting much more used to the collection of customer data and investment in the customer database, we seg- ment and target, we overlay lifestyle indicators and enhance our customer profiles; but there is a long way to go before continuously updated consumer market research is satisfactorily married to the marketing database on a continual basis.

I f we are slow to recognize direct marketing’s requirement of computing skills in the provision of quality information, how much less do we appre- ciate the need to inject telecommunications skills as part of a fully integrated skills portfolio? Tele- phone marketing across Europe is finally following in the footsteps of its American counterpart, but in both Europe and the United States examples of direct online data-transfer in and out of the central corporate marketing database, as inbound and out-

bound calls are handled and made, are few and far between. There is no lack of demand. The skills are available, but the competitive differentiation of the 1990s will be gained by the full integration of customer data management and call-handling systems that make automated customer contact management a reality.

QUALITY: AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY

All of what I have said this far is unthinkable and potentially disastrous without total quality. The trend toward ever more individualized treatment of the customer or customer group is itself a move towards a better quality customer relationship. Nonetheless, a relationship based on an increased level of trust and detailed understanding bears its own risk. To focus on the customer and the much more widespread use of customer data at once ex- poses us to the threat to our businesses associated with major error. Quality is a much-flaunted term, but the need to follow a policy of total quality in the day-to-day handling of a customer’s personal data is taken much less seriously than it should be. Further punishment by restrictive legislation is the penalty we shall pay for persistent inaccuracy and unprofessional conduct. Almost everywhere in the world the use of customer data is under close gov- ernment scrutiny, and it will not take many major errors for our use of that data to be placed outside our immediate control.

The primary difference between consistently successful companies and those that stagger from one crisis of confidence and performance to the next lies in the quality of their management. I t is fright- eningly rare to find the pursuit of excellence and professionalism in general management referred to, let alone explored, during conferences concerned with marketing-and, more rarely still, direct marketing. How can we expect to deliver quality to our customers if we ourselves are not quality managers and quality companies? The systematic long-term development of managerial competence and professionalism at all levels in our organizations is not an option but a strategic investment. We must face the fact that our investment in management has to be developed as we would any other major investment; measuring progress regularly at board

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level and seeking opportunities to increase the scope and effectiveness of our programs, in turn prompting understanding of our objectives at all supervisory levels and letting i t be known widely whether or not they are being met.

EDUCATION SEEN IN CONTEXT

Formal classroom study is an essential ingredient in the management education process, but the learning experience has to be viewed in the context of an individual’s ability to cope with a variety of challenging assignments on the job-a planned path upon which progress is measured, regularly appraised, and rewarded for achievement. I t is increasingly likely that the companies of the later 1990s will have fewer hierarchical levels and more flexible structures than we are used to now. Progress may well be less recognized by upward progression than by freedom of action, accountability, and re- wards for personal effectiveness.

Our people are our most important asset, whether for their trade and technical skills or for their management ability. All of us aspire to being the preferred employer, promoting the care and attention that leads to the comfort of mutual dependence between customer and employee. We all seek to work in an environment that allows us to realize our aspirations and ambitions. But having raised expec- tation, how should i t be managed; how do we re- duce our fears of being overtaken by the speed of individual greed? To some extent the speed of greed has fuelled direct marketing’s rapid growth as the “whiz-kids’’ have branched out into their own businesses and found the success that almost every ad- olescent market has to offer.

Job satisfaction in a rewarding and caring environment, successfully maintained through time, and in response to change, will unquestionably retain the partnership of those we most seek to remain members of our business teams throughout the 1990s. We can retain young talent. The majority of us have yet to wake u p to the pressing need to grow a direct marketing skills resource within our own organizations. But our attitude to our people, our commitment to individual aspiration, together with the opportunities we provide, will be the keys to long and healthy lives for our businesses.

THE EMPLOYER AS ONGOING TRAINER

N o academic initiative, no matter how significant, will deliver to your total needs. The success of your company as a trainer and educator is in your own hands. External courses can never be an end in themselves, but their value to the individual is directly related to the use you and they make of them as part of a planned and managed training program whose objectives are regularly assessed and im- proved. Much depends on the manager’s ability to b e creative with the resources available to him or her. There are many more opportunities open than you might think, and the cost is much more appro- priately measured in time than in money. I t is your ability to use your imagination and to innovate that will deliver success.

Our opportunities lies in four main areas:

Career routes offered to newcomers to the industry, Skills enhancement for the resident techni- cians, The creation of opportunities for entrepre- neurialism within the corporate environment by seeking to understand the aspirations of the individual high flyer, and, finally, Building Direct Marketing business managers.

There can be few companies who have been trading in the direct marketing industry for a period of more than three years who cannot create an opportunity for at least one new college graduate each year. Nevertheless, in order to attract the best, much forethought must go into the planning of the first year of their appointment. Training programs are only to be welcomed if they are structured and planned. They should make positive contributions to company prosperity. They can all too easily become an alternative to doing the work.

REACHING BEYOND THE ORDINARY

A particular concern in ensuring the rapid progress of any individual is the gaining of experience beyond the immediate working environment. This can be achieved in several ways, but I shall briefly de- scribe three that we have used successfully. First, there is writing articles for publication. In order that

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“high flyers” might see a tangible result of their labors, a series of occasional monographs might be developed to which contributions are invited; any member of the workforce might be encouraged to research topics of value to their personal advance- ment and prepare an article for publication. The trade press are great supporters of the scheme and welcome and publish much of the material made available to them. Second, we have had success with team teaching-a team of eight or so people with widely different skills, answering a brief related to specific product and technological developments in direct marketing. Each team has a leader expe- rienced in the subject matter to act as program director. Team members then specialize in whichever parts of the subject most closely related to their individual skills and specialties, and accept responsibility for adding to the databank. Teams meet on a regular basis and attend an agreed-upon program of external conferences and seminars, as well as visiting potential customers and suppliers. The aim of each dedicated team is to produce a report iden- tifying product development opportunities, and then to conduct workshops and seminars for staff, clients, and prospective clients as becomes appro- priate.

The most significant direct results to date of team teaching at Brann have been the company’s approach to the use of the electronic media, its investment in a telephone marketing company, and the acquisition of a marketing services company in Scotland.

Our third technique for providing employees with extramural experience is inter-company p e r -

sonnel exchanges. It is rare for an individual company to have either the facility or the opportunity to offer a complete career route, and i t is important that our high flyers are encouraged to “put a head out of the window” and gain experience of a number of companies within the marketing environment. There is a network of companies which now regularly exchanges personnel across the world, and which lists both short and long-term secondments. We should be delighted to hear from any company that finds such an approach interesting and would like to pursue potential involvement in the network.

A most important additional ingredient in the training and people-development recipe is the training of trainers. Natural teachers and educators are rare, but many of our employees become mo- tivated by the contribution they can make towards realizing the potential of others.

CONCLUSION

Our future relies on quality, it relies on education, on direct marketing increasingly regarded as a top career choice, on the harnessing of raw talent, on the level of technical skill required to take advantage of developments in technique and technology, and on a direct marketing-literate marketplace. None of us can now escape the collision between the worlds of marketing and information technology. Some will survive and prosper, others will destruct and dis- appear. It is, however, the free exchange of information and ideas that will ultimately drive our industry forward.

J O U R N A L OF DIRECT M A R K E T I N G V O L U M E 5 N U M B E R I W I N T E R 1991 61

Professional standards in information handling and employee training

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