21 July 2010
A week has passed since the last update and a lot has happened since then.
Firstly, a quick update on the Outbound project. I received an email from the outsourcing company who were not very happy with the responses that they were getting from their team and now that the change of remuneration had gone through (refer to previous post) they felt that maybe this wasn’t worth their while as they weren’t making enough sales.
I had a chat to Chris who agreed that it is probably best to cancel the agreement straight away if that company didn’t have their heart in it anymore. So I made the call and called off their involvement.
And all this, after I had gone down there last week and took their sales team and their team manager through a sales coaching workshop spending half a day. Oh well..
This was a learning experience as I had never been involved in negotiating rates and setting service level agreements at this level, and had definitely never cancelled contracts before.
NSM are still going ahead and we will continue to work with them on the remaining leads on this project.
Now if you thought that my workload would come down, oh boy, were you mistaken!
Earlier, Sarah pulled me aside and said that she had discussed my term at NZ Mags and was happy to inform me that I would be there until (possibly) the end of September. This meant that I was able to take back the project lead for Project Rook, which is going full steam ahead.
I found myself in two to three meetings every day, all of last week ranging from topics of HR to Properties; Technology to Sales, and this trend will probably be continuing for the next month, it seems.
There is a lot on the plate which means that my musings online will be reduced.
I got an email today from Bosco with the link to his blog (http://mbaoflife.blogspot.com/), his style of writing and the purpose of his blog is very different and should make for an interesting read. So if you haven’t already checked it out, do so. I am sure he would value your feedback as would I.
Peace out!
Showing posts with label wellington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wellington. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Life goes on..
13 July 2010
There has been development in the Outbound campaign.
We were reviewing the incentive payouts and realised that total sales being paid out for were not matching the verified sales that we were getting in the system. I spoke to both NSM and the Wellington provider about this issue and they were both very helpful in understanding the predicament of paying out for sales which do not materialise. We have since then changed our policy and will only pay out on verified sales from now on.
As part of this exercise I will need to pop down to Wellington to catch up with the troops and hopefully push them to generate some more sales than current. Our overall conversion rate is about 1.5% which is industry standard but very far off the 5% which we had originally aimed for.
On a different note, I got an email last night mentioning that Brendan Hopkins (APN Group CEO) has now resigned and will be leaving at the end of the year. He was a big supporter of this program and with his departure, one questions what the future for this program will hold.
I guess time alone will tell whether the incoming CEO will continue to see value in this exercise, in us….
There has been development in the Outbound campaign.
We were reviewing the incentive payouts and realised that total sales being paid out for were not matching the verified sales that we were getting in the system. I spoke to both NSM and the Wellington provider about this issue and they were both very helpful in understanding the predicament of paying out for sales which do not materialise. We have since then changed our policy and will only pay out on verified sales from now on.
As part of this exercise I will need to pop down to Wellington to catch up with the troops and hopefully push them to generate some more sales than current. Our overall conversion rate is about 1.5% which is industry standard but very far off the 5% which we had originally aimed for.
On a different note, I got an email last night mentioning that Brendan Hopkins (APN Group CEO) has now resigned and will be leaving at the end of the year. He was a big supporter of this program and with his departure, one questions what the future for this program will hold.
I guess time alone will tell whether the incoming CEO will continue to see value in this exercise, in us….
Monday, May 31, 2010
Final touches
31/05/2010
Wellington was cold and windy. As expected.
The outsourcing company was warm and friendly and being a small operator it meant that there weren’t layer after layer to go through for me to get the right message across.
After spending some time sitting down and working through the requirements and stressing upon the importance of maintaining customer relationships, I felt quite comfortable with what they had to offer NZM.
The Wellington trip was quite exciting as I realised while in Wellington that I had lost my cardholder and all my cards with it. A frantic search of my jacket and trousers confirmed this and when the people at the airport said that nothing had been returned back to them, I feared that all was lost.
So on the way back, I was very pleasantly surprised when the stewardess came over and informed me that they had indeed found my cardholder and it was ready to be picked up at Auckland airport.
I rushed straight to the counter upon my arrival and identified myself to the attendant.
She confirmed that such a card holder had indeed been found but she needed my ID to confirm that this was indeed mine; The fact that my driver's license was IN the cardholder wasn't good enough.
After a lot of convincing she agreed to (do me a "favour" and) open the cardholder and lo and behold there i was smiling back at her on the plastic driver's license!
Back to work: Things are looking good as they have sent through the contract which I have forwarded on to Chris to check and sign off so we can get this project underway.
NSM on the other hand is ready to kick this off from Tuesday.
We are all waiting very excited to see the results that come from this exercise.
Wellington was cold and windy. As expected.
The outsourcing company was warm and friendly and being a small operator it meant that there weren’t layer after layer to go through for me to get the right message across.
After spending some time sitting down and working through the requirements and stressing upon the importance of maintaining customer relationships, I felt quite comfortable with what they had to offer NZM.
The Wellington trip was quite exciting as I realised while in Wellington that I had lost my cardholder and all my cards with it. A frantic search of my jacket and trousers confirmed this and when the people at the airport said that nothing had been returned back to them, I feared that all was lost.
So on the way back, I was very pleasantly surprised when the stewardess came over and informed me that they had indeed found my cardholder and it was ready to be picked up at Auckland airport.
I rushed straight to the counter upon my arrival and identified myself to the attendant.
She confirmed that such a card holder had indeed been found but she needed my ID to confirm that this was indeed mine; The fact that my driver's license was IN the cardholder wasn't good enough.
After a lot of convincing she agreed to (do me a "favour" and) open the cardholder and lo and behold there i was smiling back at her on the plastic driver's license!
Back to work: Things are looking good as they have sent through the contract which I have forwarded on to Chris to check and sign off so we can get this project underway.
NSM on the other hand is ready to kick this off from Tuesday.
We are all waiting very excited to see the results that come from this exercise.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The negotiator
27/05/2010
Yesterday was all a bit of a blur as a lot of things happened at the same time.
Chris and I both agreed that the pricing quoted by the outsourcing company was a bit steep for us as it brought our cost per sale quite to more than what we were prepared to invest in at this time.
I then took it upon myself to call the director of the outsourcing company and explained the situation to her. She understood our position and resent the proposal with a much better pricing option which we were happy with.
While this was happening on one end, I was busy working with NSM putting the finishing touches on that front so we can get this underway next week. I sat down with Sati (NSM Trainer) and gathered the requirements from him and liaised with Nicki Steers to get updated collateral for NSM. Sonali is comfortable with the cost structure and we are all set to go!
I also got tickets booked to go down to Wellington today to meet with the outsourcing company and finalise the deal.
All in all, it was a bit of a lesson in juggling for me and I felt quite happy with the way that I had handled the situation, especially proud of how I negotiated the price to an acceptable level.
Time to head off to Wellington now. Ciao!
Yesterday was all a bit of a blur as a lot of things happened at the same time.
Chris and I both agreed that the pricing quoted by the outsourcing company was a bit steep for us as it brought our cost per sale quite to more than what we were prepared to invest in at this time.
I then took it upon myself to call the director of the outsourcing company and explained the situation to her. She understood our position and resent the proposal with a much better pricing option which we were happy with.
While this was happening on one end, I was busy working with NSM putting the finishing touches on that front so we can get this underway next week. I sat down with Sati (NSM Trainer) and gathered the requirements from him and liaised with Nicki Steers to get updated collateral for NSM. Sonali is comfortable with the cost structure and we are all set to go!
I also got tickets booked to go down to Wellington today to meet with the outsourcing company and finalise the deal.
All in all, it was a bit of a lesson in juggling for me and I felt quite happy with the way that I had handled the situation, especially proud of how I negotiated the price to an acceptable level.
Time to head off to Wellington now. Ciao!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Decision times a coming
24/05/2010
The catchup with Listener did not take place due to all the reporters being in Wellington for the govt’s budget announcement. I will go to the one that will take place this week.
I did go to the Crème WIP catchup and got a feel of how the editorial team work with advertising. It was quite different to most meetings I've been to, not only because I was the only guy at that meeting but also just watching the way they work through things. Alice (crème editor) is one cool chick and has even offered me use of one of the empty desk in their area if I wanted. I might just take up that offer!
The proposal from the outsourced company in wellington has come through and I will need to discuss that with Chris to see if it is a viable option for NZM. Also caught up with Sonali, Lawrence and Sati (NSM Trainer) to discuss the NSM side of the project so we can get things underway by the 31st of May.
The catchup with Listener did not take place due to all the reporters being in Wellington for the govt’s budget announcement. I will go to the one that will take place this week.
I did go to the Crème WIP catchup and got a feel of how the editorial team work with advertising. It was quite different to most meetings I've been to, not only because I was the only guy at that meeting but also just watching the way they work through things. Alice (crème editor) is one cool chick and has even offered me use of one of the empty desk in their area if I wanted. I might just take up that offer!
The proposal from the outsourced company in wellington has come through and I will need to discuss that with Chris to see if it is a viable option for NZM. Also caught up with Sonali, Lawrence and Sati (NSM Trainer) to discuss the NSM side of the project so we can get things underway by the 31st of May.
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