The worst moment for a shopper marketer, or a key account manager? That moment, when visiting a store, that you realize that your latest activity, launch, listing or campaign isn’t there, or isn’t set up as it should be. Or worse, that moment when the CEO phones up and asks why the new launch isn’t featured in his local store as he was led to believe! Poor compliance haunts all marketing campaigns but it is shopper work in-store which suffers the most.
Whose “fault” is it? Well – we could debate that forever (and feel free to do so in the comments section) – but laying blame is unlikely to improve the situation. Regardless of fault, it is clear that if a shopper marketers job is to improve the brand’s performance with shoppers (by whichever metrics have been set) then they are accountable for the execution. They may not be responsible: sales teams, buyers, store operations teams or merchandisers should cover that – but the shopper marketer is accountable. They fail if it doesn’t happen, so they should hold accountability.
With this as a given, what then should be done to improve the chances of better compliance in-store?
Here are four simple recommendations which we have found to improve ROI from shopper marketing activities:
Make trade funding contingent on compliance
Anyone outside the industry would, I’m sure, take this as a given, yet I’m afraid to say too often manufacturers pay retailers to implement activity, regardless of whether that activity is actually implemented. Slotting fees are paid whether or not the product hits the shelf in the requisite number of stores. We don’t pay other suppliers unless they deliver what they promise, so why pay retailers (who are, in this instance supplying a service)? Retailers don’t pay manufacturers unless we deliver – why should this be a one-way street? Make payments only when execution is as agreed.
Sell to different people in the retailer
People don’t do things for two reasons – either they didn’t know about it, or it wasn’t important enough to them. Store operations teams are critical to the execution of our activity (as can be retail logistics, etc.) Don’t limit the selling pitch to the buyer – sell to any department that needs to support our activity. Tailor the selling story to their needs. Sell to them directly, or provide the buyer with the information needed for him to sell it to them.
Sell internally
Before we get carried away focusing on the retailer, let’s not forget all of the teams and departments in your business that are critical to success. Marketers habitually inform other departments such as supply chain and sales, but do they sell to them why it is really important to get this right? Not just important to the company, but important to them and their department?
Visit or audit stores
Knowing there is a problem is half way to a solution. Audits and/or store visits can rapidly raise awareness of a problem. I often find that once people realize that they will be checked up on, compliance rapidly improves.
As shopper marketers we must take ownership of every element of the relationship between our brand and shoppers. Shopper marketers must take accountability over every element which affects the success or failure of this relationship. Taking a few simple steps to improve the chances of better compliance will create a giant leap forward in the returns made.
If you have any other tactics or suggestions to improve compliance, please feel free to add to the comments section below, together with any success stories. I’d love to hear your experiences.
Feature Image: Flickr – Andrew Mccluskey
