Overview

pMarketSource is a sales and marketing company that designs and delivers innovative, turnkey field sales solutions to hundreds of organizations in every major metropolitan area in the U.S. and Canada, including many of the world’s most recognizable and respected brands. MarketSource hires, trains, and deploys highly specialized in-house sales, field sales, and marketing teams to effectively increase sales, launch new products, attract new customers, improve the customer experience, and grow market share for its customers. With a highly empowered team of up to 10,000 employees – backed by 45+ years of expertise – MarketSource leverages best-in-class sales enablement technology to achieve its clients’ desired results./p

Supernova Award Category

Future of Work: Employee Experience

The Problem

pMarketSource’s workforce primarily consists of thousands of Millennials and Gen-Z representatives who don’t regularly use email. Instead, they rely almost exclusively on their phone for communication and productivity, as well as engaging with social media and video. They also expect greater flexibility and more options through easy-to-use app/web app-based solutions – something MarketSource didn’t provide. Additionally, prior to late 2018, MarketSource relied on disparate scheduling solutions used by event/shift-based representatives and traveling brand advocates/trainers, which made scheduling reps working both types of roles incredibly complex. During the holiday season, client opportunities increased up to 30 percent, however, the company couldn’t always capitalize during short peak seasons because it couldn’t easily offer reps opportunities across the two job types. These challenges, along with the rise of the gig economy a few years ago, led MarketSource to rethink how it interacts with its employees in order to provide a more engaging and empowering employee experience. /p

The Solution

pIn collaboration with a major consulting firm, MarketSource identified more than two dozen potential technology partners; conducted rigorous evaluations; compared them to its vision and required capabilities; and surveyed employees to understand the challenges, opportunities, and ways to strategically move ahead of the marketplace. MarketSource determined that – through the latest, most advanced SaaS technologies and with open APIs – it could create one place, one tool, and one way for its people to connect to the organization and its clients more efficiently. The result was the Representative Engagement Platform (REPfirst) that, among other things:/p ul liAllows employees to select from job types that match interests, skills, and schedule availability;/li liElevates the employee experience to meet the need for flexible work schedules and additional shifts; and/li liProvides training to reps via mobile devices about sales, products, and services./li /ul

The results

pAs a result of REPfirst, MarketSource discovered many new, large-scale opportunities where brands and retailers are excited about the ability to capture the flexibility of the gig economy without the risks associated with it. Security and stability are two of the biggest concerns of 1099 workers in the gig economy and, through this solution, workers have a flexible model and tools to deliver on those needs. Additionally, while many organizations struggle with the disparate and complex nature of their systems, as well as determining how to capitalize on open APIs and cloud-based platforms, few have successfully integrated their entire suite of tools into a single, unified solution. Additional, critical benefits of REPfirst include: /p ul liThe ability to integrate both shift-based workers and field, service-based workers on driving routes. For example, a shift worker could finish their shift, pick-pack a box for delivery from the store and deliver it to a customer(s) on their way home;/li liMarketSource can train employees on multiple jobs and products, schedule current part-time staff for more shifts, meet short peak-season staffing needs without hiring additional staff, and recruit fewer people; and /li liVia mobile devices, managers can see shifts where employees are assigned and can schedule and move staff as needed. Also, with retailer approval, employees can swap shifts in the app with limited-to-no manager intervention./li /ul

Metrics

pWithin one year of designing and implementing REPfirst, MarketSource experienced a significant increase in the engagement of its teams, with nearly 400,000 chats per month between managers and teammates. This led to enhanced understanding, as well as improved speed and accuracy of communication. Additionally: /p ul liThe organization saw a 20% increase in the ability to optimize its employees to increase utilization, while simultaneously reducing recruiting and support costs by more than 11%. This allowed MarketSource to reinvest elsewhere to further drive performance for its teams and clients;/li liA third fewer additional employees are needed during the holiday season, as part-time MarketSource employees now have the ability to pick up additional shifts and easily swap shifts with teammates; and /li liMarketSource is now able to supply 8-10 million hours of in-store labor each year, translating into millions of customer interactions. /li /ul

The Technology

pMarketSource utilized Kronos Workforce Dimensions for self-scheduling, timekeeping, predictive analytics and compliance, and developed REPfirst on the Kronos D5 platform, leveraging the open-API framework to layer its own user experience on top of integrations from:/p ul liForm.com for mobile data collection and task management;/li liPassport for smart routing and geo-location capabilities;/li liRodio for workforce communications and collaboration;/li liVenu for learning management./li /ul

Disruptive Factor

pBy releasing a solution nearly two years ago that merged the employee flexibility and benefits of the gig economy, while maintaining the organizational security and stability of a traditional employee model, MarketSource found the balance — successfully hurdling a major workplace obstacle that so many in the marketplace face. Additionally, REPfirst, an employee-facing solution that both engages employees and optimizes their workflows, gives MarketSource a competitive edge. The organization has heard directly from many household brands — most of whom recognize they are vulnerable to being undercut by gig-like technology companies developing new ways to approach customers and workers — that they, too, need to adjust the way in which they engage employees. And while many small gig companies offer technology solutions, they lack thickness in either work or workers and often depend on independent contractors (1099) in order to operate. MarketSource identified this as a strategic gap 5+ years ago and began working towards REPfirst. By listening, understanding and ionly then/i designing a solution that puts employee needs first and foremost, MarketSource created a platform that puts the organization on the cutting edge of human capital management technologies and will continue to allow MarketSource to iterate and innovate through its Agile product team to stay ahead./p

Shining Moment

pImplementing REPfirst was a game-changer for MarketSource. Employee satisfaction scores nearly doubled during the first six months of usage. The organization has also provided additional work opportunities for its people, resulting in more efficient operations, happier workers, lower turnover, and better performance with clients – distinguishing MarketSource as an industry leader via its use of cutting-edge technology./p