Fingers on the Pulse

The decision to hire Maritz was based on “the level of support we needed,” according to Lauber. “We wanted to find a partner who could add value, and who could help us make better business decisions in terms of working with our producers.” Relationship-building with producers is a primary business goal, he says. “If we are doing the best for our producers, our policyholders benefit.”

And it's tough out there. “We are competing with other companies that are recruiting and retaining producers,” Dikeman notes. “One thing that Maritz brings to the table is the ability to look at industry standards and changes taking place industry-wide. That's a very high value, to know what you are competing with and what other companies are doing.”

With the programs consolidated and a partner chosen, OneAmerica was on its way to meeting the goals of consistency and cost-savings. But what about measuring the success of the programs? Were they doing the best possible job of motivating production?

To answer those questions, OneAmerica used a research tool, Travel Insight, that Maritz had recently launched. “With incentive travel, we heard consistently that companies wanted to know how to justify their investment and how to improve their programs,” says Chris Gaia, vice president of marketing at Maritz Travel, who worked closely with Lauber throughout the process. So Maritz developed a survey methodology to help clients “keep their investment fresh” — in other words, look to the future and find ways to align the company's business goals with the desires of potential qualifiers so that incentive programs are truly motivating.

“The issues meeting planners face are very real,” Gaia says. “They need to wow attendees, keep things fresh and compelling, and, at the same time, show that they are saving money.” Digging deeper into producer preferences, he believes, can meet both goals. But it's no small job. “You've got to have buy-in,” he says. “This is a big, strategic discussion.”

OneAmerica took the tool and ran with it, discovering that old assumptions about what incentive trips should look like were no longer relevant, and that if they could match up their programs with what target participants wanted, they could motivate more producers to go for the goal.

The Big Difference

It wasn't that OneAmerica had never surveyed attendees. But they had never used the sophisticated survey design of Travel Insight. Through a comprehensive set of questions, respondents are presented with a wide array of conference elements in different combinations and are asked to weigh their relative importance. (See sidebar, page 22.) An analysis of the results brings into focus a picture of the most motivating program.

Importantly, the Maritz tool is designed to survey all previous and potential attendees. “Our approach is based on predictive modeling,” Gaia explains, “which is a type of analysis based on how people make decisions. We survey the entire channel, not just the people who have already earned a trip.”

Understanding their needs adds a critical voice to traditional incentive-conference discussions, says Gaia. “You have the execs in a room, you have a budget, you have lots of different ways you can spend it,” he says. “What's missing are all the people who are going to decide whether or not to try to achieve your goal.”

Of course, as with any survey, there is no guarantee that they'll respond. However, Gaia says response rates in the financial services sector have been a healthy 30 percent to 60 percent. “A good response rate depends on the client survey population but must be high enough to deem the results statistically valid,” he acknowledges. “But the response rates we have seen on these surveys have been excellent, from both past qualifiers and those who have not qualified. These people really appreciate the opportunity to tell their company what is important to them.”

The Web-based research tool is customized with any number of conference attributes — length of trip, whether guests are hosted, location, etc. Respondents click on a link and go through a series of screens choosing the incentive travel program design they prefer, and weighing them against other program designs.

Survey results can be segmented, so you can see, for example, what scores highest with producers who have never attended your company's trip. As Diane Dikeman says, “They can slice and dice it any way you need it sliced and diced. The Travel Insight tool is very in-depth.”

And when all the numbers are crunched, the “ideal” overall program emerges. “For example, you might find that most people want a seven-night program at the beach with kids invited and all activities paid for,” Gaia says. “Then the client faces a question. Do I do all that and leave the rule structure alone? Or can I boost qualification requirements if I'm offering the optimal program?”

Occasionally the optimal program actually cuts money from an incentive conference budget. “Leisure activities often score high against planned events,” Gaia notes. “People are happy as clams to sit by the pool. So you can take that bucket of money out of the program or reallocate it.”

Landing Area

In fact, that was just one result that surprised Lauber. “The message was, ‘Give me choices, but I might decide to do none of them,’” Lauber says. “These people work really hard. They want downtime. They want a landing area but they don't want an agenda forced on them.”

Conventional wisdom (excuse the pun) when it comes to incentive conferences also says that a slew of senior executives must attend, in order to mingle and bond with producers.

OneAmerica's research turned that wisdom on its head. More than time with senior executives, with whom they interact throughout the year, “the high-end producers want time with the CEO,” Lauber says. “That was a change. So we now give producers intimate time with Dayton Molendorp. They have breakfast with him, we move him around during dine-arounds, and we have town-hall meetings. Part of the package is face time with the CEO.”

Lauber points out that for OneAmerica it works especially well, given that Molendorp “is very approachable. He tells our story better than anyone.”