#1 Customer Retention Newsletter

As a Direct Response copywriter, I’ve enjoyed meeting those at the top of their game in this unusual career. One of the skills most highly regarded in my field is that of headline creation.

There are countless tests where nothing in an ad was changed but the headline, and yet the response rate resulted in an explosive 200%, 300%, and – in a case we had last year – a 454% increase. All from a headline.

As you’d imagine, great headline writers are sought for both clients and from eager students like me. One of the best ever in my opinion was Martin Eddelston. No need for you to know that name, but he was the top headline creator for Bottom Line, the #1 paid circulation newsletter magazine in the world.

At a seminar he held in Atlanta, one of his chief advisors was a man named Ken Glickman. Ken had pioneered a program called “I-Power” which was based on employee-generated ideas. I figured I’d listen to him before Martin took the stage, almost as a time-filler.

I was blown away.

Ken began to relate that their company, Boardroom Reports, had started getting ideas from employees. They reviewed and implemented these ideas at a frenzied pace, determined to take this company that was “stuck” in the mid $20m in sales for several years. Check this out.

In four years, they ballooned from $24m in sales to over $100m, with almost zero turnover, higher morale, with under 100 employees. We were riveted.

The I-Power System

The great thing about the I-Power System (named for “ideas, ingenuity, implementation”) is its simplicity, low cost, and dashing speed. Here’s how it works.

You tell your staff that you’re holding and Idea Meeting on a certain date, perhaps 3 weeks in advance. At this meeting, you’ll all assemble, preferably off-site, and have a nice lunch, after which employees will present their ideas in any of 3 categories;

1. Saves time
2. Saves money
3. Makes money

These ideas must be written and able to be stated in 2 sentences or less. No lengthy dissertations, no mountainous research. You want an avalanche of ideas. To keep the ideas flowing, there can be no negative responses. No one is allowed to say, “That’s stupid” or “I already tried that and it didn’t work”. You must announce this prior to the meeting.

Staff is required to submit at least two ideas for the lunch, but there is no limit on how many. Here’s where it gets fun.

As ideas are presented in turn, you will have a nice box of cash… all $1 bills. For every idea, the person gets $2. Big deal, right? Well, this makes it super fun and not as much pressure as the big dollar ideas that could incite jealousy. Even when an idea is presented that someone else may have also had, there’s no animosity when it’s just two bucks.

At the end of the session, all ideas have been presented (or until it makes sense to stop), look at what you’ve gained. Your employees have eaten well, had fun, have a wad of dollars, and congratulate each other. There’s been no negativity, and they got the afternoon off. Personalities are revealed, different sides are shown. Those deemed quiet or contemplative have been given opportunity to shine. It’s amazing.

The last step is that all ideas are sent to one person to compile. At a later date the owner can then choose the ‘best’ idea in each category for a big $10 prize, and then the ‘best’ idea gets $50. All in good fun.

Does it Work?

We’ve been doing this at Hudson Ink for 10 years, and just completed one last week. At this one, 94 ideas were presented. History shows us that about 73% of these actually get done, or about 70 new ideas that will save time, save money, or make money… all for a few hundred dollars and a huge morale boost. Not bad.

I assure you, I’d have never come up with most of the ideas presented. Quite a few are jaw-droppingly “obvious” but hadn’t ever come out. The staff member who generates the idea often feels (or accepts) ownership and wants to see it to fruition. A double win.

I’d strongly encourage any business owner to implement an “I-Power” Idea Meeting. You’ll be absolutely astounded at the quality and quantity of ideas that flow. Just deciding to have this meeting, is an idea worthy of merit. Give yourself two dollars!

Adams Hudson

Mr. Hudson is President of Hudson, Ink, a creative marketing firm for contractors at www.hudsonink.com . When not holding Idea Meetings, Hudson Ink is implements fresh, innovative marketing strategies for clients, many of which were originally ‘seeded’ at these meetings.