For the showbiz journalist walking on to a film set, the chance of seeing Angelina Jolie or getting a tour around a fabulous spa is routine. But when your field is B2B marketing these occurrences are rare unless your subject is Caroline Meechan, director of sales and marketing at Marriott Incentive Vouchers. We meet inside the Chancery Court Hotel on High Holborn where everything from the colossal chandeliers in the reception to the selection of (free) truffles and sugared brazil nuts on the coffee tables scream opulence. Outside Hollywood looms large on the set of ‘Love and Other Disasters’ and the hotel security talk in hushed tones about the imminent arrival of one Angelina Jolie. This is not everyday and Meechan is not an everyday B2B marketer.
Within minutes she’s talked to enough of the right people to know the name of the film and who’s in it. All the while organising the interview: ushering us into the café, choosing the right table, ordering the beverages. This is where her mastery lies: speaking to people and seamlessly fitting the pieces together. Let me explain.
In one day Meechan may talk to clients (marketing people in blue chip companies), her American colleagues, and hotel staff who could be anyone from the manager to the receptionist. This diverse audience is born of Marriott Incentive Vouchers’ unique position: it is neither part of nor entirely separate from the parent hotel company, Marriott International. On the balance sheet it’s independent but its offerings are essentially the same: it sells vouchers for accommodation, dining, spa treatments and golf sessions at Marriott hotels to businesses who use them to motivate and thank individual members of staff.
So while Meechan must get on with her everyday job of prospecting for new clients and cutting deals worth upwards of £10,000 she must also ensure that the customer facing hotel staff are kept up-to-date on new vouchers and offers (or, in many cases, just reminding them that this arm of Marriott exists). Her affable manner lends itself well to this she gets on first name terms quickly and naturally and no doubt her skill works as well on the concierge as the CEO. But there’s more to this woman than a charming front.
Her job title suggests that someone else is in charge, but Meechan is top dog. Candidly she admits to doing the job of the MD but with only three others working directly for Marriott Incentive Vouchers (many more work for Marriott International) says it would be ridiculous to take such a lofty title. Her job satisfaction stems wholly from being autonomous, I love running the business in the truest possible sense prospecting, marketing, PR, closing, fulfilling and invoicing. She joined the company as a sales manager in 2000 and since then turnover has achieved a 400 per cent increase
In part, this is because the incentive voucher sector has been blessed with that elusive phenomena: organic growth (80 per cent of its customers walk through the door). But Meechan’s role cannot be overlooked. She is involved at every stage, and whether it’s prospecting for new clients or closing deals, her key skills are at work. Though her communication skills are most at play when it comes to luring clients away from the alternative.
For most organisations the opposition comes in the form of rival companies ie. fallible creations that can be discredited to your advantage, but when as in Meechan’s case the competition is cash it’s hard to make a counter argument. It may be the root of all evil but it’s hard to find flaw with money. Since 1997 [when the company was formed in the UK] it’s been a case of persuading agencies and corporates to give vouchers instead of a bonus. Convincing those in charge has been a challenge and Meechan has found that the higher-up people [in the organisation] get it, whereas middle management struggle. She adds that this may be indicative of how middle management are paid in the UK.
The crux of the argument for vouchers over cash is that the former can convey a personal touch and they have a trophy value that can get people in the business talking. She says, People talk about rewards, they rarely talk about bonuses or what they buy with them. Illustrating this point Meechan quips that her bonus went into building a conservatory an activity which does not carry the same conversational gambit as a spa day or weekend away in a country hotel.
But where the competition has been formidable, the market has been very receptive. Meechan’s marketing activity has been light some advertising in the trade press and a number of direct mail campaigns to marketing managers. The pervasiveness and power of the Marriott brand is central to this and there’s no doubt that Meechan’s team benefits from its marketing and advertising activity. Though there is another factor in this and that is the time-poor society we live in. Staff are generally working longer hours thus spending less time with family so rewarding them with a voucher which can also be enjoyed by a spouse is the perfect solution.
Meechan says, We recently moved office and the IT department had to work nights and the weekend to get everything in order. So, from the marketing budget, I gave them all a voucher for a meal for two. This worked perfectly because their wives were getting fed-up and it showed them [the wives] that the extra work was appreciated. Although the need for marketing is not urgent Meechan adds that she will write this up as a case study to show potential clients.
Our consumer society is also conducive to what Marriott Incentive Vouchers offers. To get a competitive edge you have to be material. We’re all more materialistic we buy things when we want them rather than waiting for a birthday or Christmas, Meechan adds. In other words a pat on the back will no longer suffice people expect treats (a mini-break for beating target, a meal for appeasing an angry customer, an overnight stay in a hotel for implementing a new system) and once you’ve rewarded staff one time it’s difficult, nigh impossible, to avoid doing it again as you set people’s expectations. So what once sprang organically suddenly becomes part of the crop cycle.
Vouchers can be used to act as an incentive or as a reward. Meechan states that, at present, their use is evenly split between acting as an incentive (ie. to increase morale or reduce absenteeism) and acting as a reward for employees who have done that bit extra, going beyond the call of duty. Meechan’s approach to selling this to prospects is hard hitting she argues that the voucher should be self-funding. She asks them how much issues such as absenteeism cost the business.
Once the prospect is sold she sheds her selling chrysalis for a more consultative role. At this stage she may advise on the best choice of voucher for the target audience. A high street retailer carried out a staff incentive recently for a suggestion scheme. The person with the best suggestion received a meal for two. She states that this was perfect for this audience as they work in London and like going out for meals in nice restaurants. She adds The reward has to be relevant to the recipient there’s no point giving dinner ladies a bungee jump.
However her advice is not always taken on board. Sometimes, in fact, it’s explicitly rejected though this could owe itself more to cultural differences than Meechan personally. Marriott Incentive Vouchers is an American-owned company, in fact, the Marriott brand was set up by a Mormon, J Willard Marriott, in the early 20th century. And Meechan’s experience of working for an American-owned, Mormon company throws up some interesting cultural differences one of which occurred on the marketing field. We were in Frankfurt discussing how we could capitalise on the upcoming World Cup. And one of the ideas was that we run a competition in partnership with Visa where we’d give away a coupon with every ticket. The coupon might say ‘Congratulations, you’ve scored and won a two night stay in a Marriott,’ or it might say ‘I’m sorry you hit the post’ or ‘just missed’. But they [her American colleagues] thought it was a dreadful idea. They felt people might perceive it as Marriott saying ‘you’re a loser’.
It’s bizarre we have the same language, market, product but they were horrified by this suggestion whereas we saw nothing wrong with it. Although she counters that this is probably because theirs is a much more litigious society where someone might indeed argue that such a campaign effected their self-esteem.
Another quirky difference Meechan has noted is how American marketers and sales people always leave a gift at a meeting like a pen or a mint. She says that they are regularly bemused by her empty handed approach. The Mormon influence manifests itself occasionally for instance Marriott cannot enter into any sponsorship involving alcohol ie. it would never sponsor a champagne reception or a beer tent. (However this has no bearing on the contents of the mini bar at Marriott hotels.)
With two small children and a full-time job Meechan is lucky that relaxing is built into her job. She has to test the whole customer experience for potential training issues. That means luxuriating at a day spa, dining at a new Marriott restaurant or weekending at the newest country club. A good perk but it has not been sufficiently enticing for Meechan to swap sides: I did nine years of customer facing and it’s much more labour intensive than the business side. I got out of it before I punched someone.
The danger of picking up an Asbo, however, is not Meechan’s only reason for staying B2B-side, in truth, she seems to be one of those people who genuinely love their job. I feel very fortunate to have found a job I love so much in an industry which is peopled by some great characters. Though I hasten to add that she was spending the day after our interview at a spa… work, of course.
And before you write in, no, we did not spot Angelina!
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