A Possible New Recurring Post – Prophet or Putz?

A common recommendation I make to clients is to step back and review their history of rewards, recognition and incentives.  I almost insist they take some time to review where they've been, what they've done and the results they've achieved.  Sometimes it is the first time they’ve looked at their rewards strategy in the context of a longer period of time.  Most companies are quick to analyze the immediate impact of an incentive program but fail to look at it in context of a longer time horizon.  It’s interesting to see how a company’s strategy (or should I say unlinked tactics) looks in retrospect.  It can be a humbling and enlightening exercise.   

Time to take some of my own medicine.  

Documented History is Good for the Soul

I’ve been writing on this blog since June 2006.  That’s like 362 years in internet time.  So I've got a history, on record, of thoughts and opinion.  Sometimes that's good… sometimes it's not. Nothing is better for the ego than a history of what you thought and did.  No hiding here.

But many of you may not have had the pleasure of my opinions from 4 years ago.  At the onset the number of subscribers to the site was zero – nada – nil.  That probably went on for months.  Then I got a subscriber, then another, then a couple more.  But it took time.  I kept posting.  I kept putting my opinion out there whether anyone was listening or not.  Now I have a respectable subscriber base and it fuels the company.

But since there were so few subscribers at the beginning I thought it might be an interesting exercise to go back and review what I was writing about those, oh so many years ago.  I also think it might give some of my newer subscribers a view of what was – and see if I’ve been an idiot, an iconoclast or a oracle (sorry couldn’t find another word with “I” in it to round out my alliteration.)

So here are excerpts and links to three posts from the end of 2006 with my updated comments…

Something Old and Something New

Catalogs have been a staple of the merchandise incentive world since, well, since catalogs were invented.  In this post I highlight how incentive companies pushed the “old” paper catalog aside in order to take advantage of the cost-savings associated with online catalog.  I reference an article on Business week that talks about how companies such as Talbots and others were using catalogs as communication elements – not “ordering” vehicles.  

My take today – the industry is still missing this important concept.  The print catalog is a communication vehicle for creating the image of the award experience that will ultimately drive more behavior.

On this I say “Prophet” even if the industry hasn’t realized it yet.

Tangible Connections

Actually I’ve referenced this concept more than once on this site – the “pseudo-endowment effect.”  The point of this post (and the referenced research) was that when people commit to something on an auction site and are the high bidder they begin to believe they already own the item.  When someone subsequently outbids them they see that as someone “taking their item” away from them, making them bid more to regain it.  My post focused on how that principle could be incorporated into an incentive program (actually – it used to be via “wish lists” but haven’t seen them to much lately.)

Again – I say “Prophet.”  Two for two… nice.

Time to Challenge Assumptions

“Family Involvement” was the key element of catalog programs of the past.  Send the catalog to the home, get the family involved, have Junior plead with Dad to get the bicycle on page 131 of the catalog.  How could any self respecting father not earn his kid the bike?  Yeah, the incentive industry plied those types of techniques.  This post focused on the definition of “family” given some of the statistics on what families are today.  Again – not seeing anyone address the new “family” unit.  

Three for three?  I say “Prophet”…

What say you?  

I urge you to check out some of the old posts – there are links to the archives in the sidebar.  If you find an old post that shows me as a Putz let me know – I’ll be happy to address it front and center!