Sales Incentive Case Study: Diebold Master s Circle/Circle of Excellence Jewel of the Pacific

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1 Sales Incentive Case Study: Diebold Master s Circle/Circle of Excellence Jewel of the Pacific Client: Stephanie Monastra Senior Manager, Corporate Events Diebold, Incorporated Canton, OH Incentive Professional: Scott Siewert USMotivation Atlanta, GA Objectives: Recognize top performers who met and exceeded their 2006 goals and motivate them to attain even higher numbers for Encourage the open-ended Master s Circle honorees to earn the closed-ended Circle of Excellence honor. Present Hawaii in a fresh and compelling manner to motivate repeat winners who have attended Master s Circle for a number of years and generate and maintain excitement for the program throughout the year. Create team bonding to unify all participants from around the world. Promote the program using the Internet and to boost the program s ROI. Diebold, Incorporated employs more than 15, 000 associates with representation in nearly 90 countries. Approximately 60% are based in North America and 40% are based in Latin America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, South Africa and the Middle East. Associates range in age from 30 to 55 and are approximately 70% male and 30% female. The Master s Circle program is an annual trip that is awarded to top performers who meet or exceed their sales quotas. In addition, the Top 15 elite performers are awarded the Circle of Excellence distinction and attended an additional Master s Circle trip held following the Master s Circle trip. Diebold s highly diverse sales force had th become very familiar with the Master s Circle Program that was entering its 27 year. Many of the associates had previously attained the Master s Circle level and had attended the reward trips multiple times. Jennifer Childress of USMotivation was charged with helping Diebold inject

2 freshness and excitement into the Master s Circle Program. The challenge was to present this year s trip to Hawaii, a favored and frequent location for Master s Circle winners, in a new and exciting manner. This year s theme was Jewel of the Pacific and a custom logo featuring a hula girl surrounded by the magical tiki idol and a white orchid was designed to evoke the history and tradition of Hawaii. The Master s Circle program was launched internally through an campaign that directed all of Diebold s eligible sales force to the Master s Circle website. Once there, the website graphics depicted the Jewel of the Pacific theme and provided key details and program rules to all of Diebold s qualified participants. In addition, participants could view the Hawaii Kick-off video. All subsequent communications utilized the logo and Jewel of the Pacific theme to help continue the motivation, anticipation and excitement and to create a consistent brand that helped build recognition and excitement for the program and the trip. Once the top performers were determined, all communications directed them to the Master s Circle/Circle of Excellence website for all their travel and registration needs. Each participant was given the ability to register for activities, events and lodging via the Internet. Complete program rules and eligibility standings were also available on demand. The website also contained a complete winner list and photos from past programs. Preliminary itineraries and menus were available online, as well as information on the destination and activities that awaited the top performers. Subsequent communications pieces included a Master s Circle/Circle of Excellence handbook that included an overview of Hawaii and The Fairmont Orchid Resort, a list of all 2006 honorees and including the honorees number of years in the Master s Circle, Congratulatory Awards Banquet handouts, large-scale four-color signage on site, banners, party invitations, menus, meeting agenda sheets, itineraries, resort information and local maps, room gifts reflecting a

3 Polynesian theme (pewter fish platter, crystal pineapple, etc.), CD of the Awards Banquet performer, custom room and gift cards, leather document wallets and Diebold leather luggage tags. Those associates attaining Master s Circle level in 2006 attended a 5-day, 4-night extravaganza at the Fairmont Orchid Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii from February 28 to March 4, The 15 Circle of Excellence honorees stayed on for additional festivities from March 4 to March 7. To welcome honorees and guests, a sunset welcome reception was held at Turtle Pointe, a panoramic site off one of the hotel s largest lawn areas. The theme of the night was An International Dinner to celebrate Diebold s international sales force and featuring representative dishes. Local hula dancers, and a Hawaiian musical trio, a Fire and Knife dancer provided entertainment. The reception décor reflected local culture and showcased the tropical setting. While guests were enjoying the reception, hotel staff delivered special Aloha baskets to each room welcoming participants to Hawaii. All participants were also invited to attend a Pirates of the Pacific Party with an eat til you drop theme featuring gourmet seafood, Hawaiian specialties and tropical desserts. Décor for the evening included bamboo thatching, parrots, large dock pilings with huge ropes, cargo nets, custom signage, barrels and crates, flags, a 14 foot dory with mast and a Diebold safe filled with 300 US $1.00 coins. The spirited party featured all participants fully dressed in pirate garb provided by Diebold and each participant received a pirate kit containing flashing skull jewelry, goblet, sword and other pirate paraphernalia, and a clue about hidden treasure in the Diebold safe. The evening s activities included a Pirate Jail Photo, Peg Leg Pirate Captain Cut-out Photo, Skull Basketball, Wine Bottle Toss, Treasure Darts and a Pirate Doubloon Pitch. The event was hosted by a live dangerous scoundrel and a lovely wench while a large projection screen allowed participants to continuously view The Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Additional activities offered participants the opportunities to win real Pirate Doubloons once they obtained the secret clue to unlock the safe. Pirate themed gift bags containing The Pirates of the

4 Caribbean DVD and other pirate loot were delivered to each participant s room during the party. The final special event of the Master s Circle trip was the awards dinner and presentation. This event is had a more elegant theme and gave the top performers an opportunity to dress up and receive their award for all their hard work. A champagne toast by the president kicked-off the evening followed by dinner and entertainment by Grammy-nominated singer, Amy Hanaialii Gilliom. Along with Amy, three backup musicians and four hula dancers complemented the performance. Each of the music segments complimented the four-course dinner and was specially designed for this event. In addition to the theme parties, participants were offered the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of hosted activities. A 50-fot catamaran was booked for a day of sailing, snorkeling, swimming and sightseeing. A guided bicycle tour offered a journey back in time to the days of the Hawaiian cowboy. Horseback exploration rides through the Waipi o Valley known as the Valley of the Kings was available. Participants enjoyed nature through a Kohala Waterfall hike, ATV ride along the rugged Kohala coastline cliffs, and a helicopter tour of the Kohala coast. Sportsmen could enjoy two 18-hole golf course, deep-sea fishing, scuba diving and rafting adventures while animal lovers could participate in a Dahana Ranch Station cattle drive or participate in an exclusive VIP dolphin encounter. For the less adventurous, pampering was available at the award-winning Fairmont Spa Without Walls. As a trip memento, multiple photographers digitally captured every special moment that could be viewed on site at a special kiosk and would be incorporated into the Master s Circle/Circle of Excellence photo memories CD sent to all participants after the program. Each participant s package contained the DVD of the entertainment as well as the executive speeches from the Awards Banquet. The Awards Video showcasing each winner was also included. This video was shown on the last night of the Master s Circle program and each participant had their picture and story shown on the big screen for all to see.

5 Results: 175 participants qualified for the Circle of Excellence Program Total revenues increased 12% (an increase of $319,183,000) Post-event surveys rating every aspect of the program showed composite scores ranging from 7.53 to multiple 10.0 perfect scores (on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest). The overall impression was 8.98 with 28 perfect 10 scores The combination of open-ended and closed-ended incentive strategies worked together to motivate the sales force to ensure increased net revenue and net sales. The ever-increasing success of the program guarantees its continued operation and the expansion of the program. Incentives do work, and Diebold continues to prove this year after year.