Home > Case Studies > EYI : @Random

Problem: To motivate sales force and add a more personal element to the corporate newsletter.

Solution: The Company had developed thousands of commission sales home-based agents who sold their products and signed up new affiliates. They mailed an email newsletter to this list weekly, mainly to announce product promotions and schedule conference call sales training.

As I read the background information about the sales force it became clear to me that belief in success was a vital motivating factor to encourage new affiliates to sign up, as well as to re-energize existing affiliates. I decided that profiling affiliates who had succeeded would instill a belief in the field of "if they can do it, I can do it."

I developed a column which I named @Random. I used the @ symbol in the name because the column was to be delivered via email and to show that any agent might be the one to be profiled. I selected a well-performing affiliate each week for profiling. I interviewed the person by phone, acquired a picture, and wrote a one page profile of each. A new profile appeared in each weekly e-newsletter to consistently deliver the message of success with timeliness and variety.

In the phone interviews, I dug for the point at which an event or situation in the life of the affiliate moved them to take this new turn of attempting a home-based business. That trigger was often the result of a job layoff, job dissatisfaction, desire for a second source of income, freedom from a nasty boss or a long commute, or just a spirit of entrepreneurship looking for a home based business with good corporate support and a low start-up cost.

I structured the profiles to follow a format of introducing a little background, finding the motivation for starting the home-based business, and describing the financial and personal satisfaction of the outcome of that decision.

Result: I wrote a dozen @Random columns for the weekly E-newsletter. New affiliate sign-ups increased and the already well-performing affiliates whom I profiled were even more motivated by the peer recognition. They would clip the profile and use it as a marketing tool. Also, the newsletter itself became more personalized and riveting. For any association or large field of seals affiliates this is a proven tactic for success.