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Annie - Sales/Partner Programs
Marketing, Sales, and Partner Consultant
"My passion is in helping deliver great ROI to my clients."
Project:
DIG Program, US Partner Incentives
Results:
The client was in need of someone to run the partner-facing piece of her incentive program to help increase program awareness, which would ultimately scale the program and increase ROI. The client was looking for someone with deep partner channel and sales expertise who understood how to motivate the various different partners in the ecosystem.
With these goals in mind, we worked to build the right programs and a consistent, high-touch communication plan to partners. In just four months, we were able to quadruple the programs pipeline and increase the ROI to 34:1. Our partner satisfaction at the end of the fiscal year was 97% very satisfied. The program continues on in the current fiscal year and we have driven a pipeline in the first 6 weeks that matched that of the entire, previous fiscal year.
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Stacey - Communications
Marketing & Business Consultant
"I focus on understanding the outcomes my client needs, and making sure my contributions deliver those outcomes in the way that works best for them."
Project:
Internal Communications Strategy, Game Studios
Results:
The client has been going through a period of incredible change, and they wanted to improve the quality and consistency of their communications and begin to use communications to positively influence the organizational culture. The client’s business and employee base is rather unique within Microsoft; they needed someone who understood that business and the concerns of those employees. We set up a non-standard arrangement with the client to have me lead the strategy development and high-level execution, and have another Simplicity consultant deliver day-to-day execution. This allowed us to deliver the best combination of skill-sets and value to the client.
So far, we have improved the quality, rhythm, and clarity of their communications through an unexpectedly rapid set of additional change. We were able to use existing research to get a good idea of employee needs and areas of concern to adjust the communications for best impact. Now that the big changes are complete, we are establishing an overarching communications plan, aligning the communications rhythm with the business rhythm, and developing creative ideas to address some of the issues and deliver on the outcomes the client wants.
Young - Business Analytics & Planning
Business Specialist, Management Consultant, Business Intelligence Specialist, Trusted Advisor
"Enabling my clients to be successful."
Project:
OEM Scorecard, OEM CPE, OEM GPF, OEM AAA
I know I am being successful when my contributions enable my clients to be successful. I always try to put myself in the shoes of my client’s client when I problem solve or recommend solutions because everyone is interconnected in some way or another. Clients value my ability to connects the dots, to foresee possible roadblocks, assess risks and recommend solutions that meets the needs of the broad audience for the long term.
Results:
I’ve never been one to do things the conventional way. I like to problem solve and enjoy coming up with solutions that meet more than just the core business needs. This is because I love what I do and I love Microsoft. This should come as no surprise given that I am a shareholder and was an employee for nearly 10 years. I come to work each day with the mindset that I will make Microsoft better! I often go above and beyond the call of duty, or the scope of my SOW. This may be why clients continue to renew my contract year after year. My role in OEM was originally supposed to last just 4 months. Three years later, I am still here helping to drive success for my client on projects and programs such as GPF, AAA, Scorecard, and CPE. I strongly believe that their success is my success.
Sydney - Marketing Management
Brand and Marketing Strategy Consultant
"I consider my client’s success to be my success. By fostering trust and understanding, and customizing my approach to their unique needs, my goal is that we succeed together."
Project:
Windows Embedded Brand Strategy Refinement
Results:
The client was in need of help evaluating their existing marketing and brand efforts in order to refine their go-forward business strategy and drive results. I did a thorough audit and assessment of their existing customer research, brand strategy, brand scorecard and metrics, visual identity, messaging and other core marketing deliverables to identify areas that needed attention.
After this initial review and audit, I presented a series of recommendations to my client which prolonged the duration of my work with the team by 10 months. As a full-time contributor to the team, I drove numerous key work streams from the recommendations, including global qualitative customer research, qualitative and quantitative messaging research, the development of a new messaging framework, the development of a new brand framework (promise, personality, and attributes), creating/conducting a series of brand workshops with members of the business group (across marketing, development, product planning, sales, and others), the creation of a customized library of brand photography, as well as the communications to the broader team about each element in the project. This long term project has been win-win ; the client has a dedicated brand strategy resource to help drive business results, and I’ve made a big contribution to the direction of their business which is very satisfying.
Laura - Product Management
Marketing Consultant
"Meaningful results that are achieved through a combination of insight, planning, and execution."
Project:
OEM Consumer Marketing, Server & Cloud Product Momentum Planning
Results:
The client was in need of developing world-wide partner-ready marketing for online services. After delivering on the initial need, we fielded research to assess awareness and intent to use. As a result, we were able to create a framework that prioritized marketing to drive customer awareness and discoverability and is now being used by multiple business groups. By simplifying the marketing tactics, we were able to optimize resources and focus on things that would have the most influence.
Anne - Marketing Management
Senior Integrated Marketing Consultant
"Anticipate client needs. Be proactive."
Project:
Games for Windows Marketplace re-launch (Project). IEB/Consumer Engagement (Group)
It’s such a simple, base concept — yet the comfort zone for most people is to be reactive. If you learn to anticipate your client’s needs and have the answers before they ask (or better yet, suggest solutions in areas you know need improving), then it not only builds client-consultant trust, but it frees up their time to focus on the critical areas of their business.
Results:
The Games for Windows LIVE has been re-launched two times already, but never had the marketing support that its “Big Brother,” Xbox, had. In its third go-round, they dedicated the resources needed to making the brand a success, knowing that the customer perception was wary given the previous launches. In October 2010, Games for Windows Marketplace was re-launched with a new look, new functionality, and new life. To support the launch and build momentum and customer engagement, we created a bi-weekly digital newsletter that features hot deals, exclusive games, and interactive content.
To-date, our open rate is three times that of the Xbox newsletter, with seven times the click-through rate. Granted, we have just a fraction of the Xbox audience, but our customers are highly engaged. We are about to launch Phase II of the consumer engagement program, which will include cross-platform integration, sweepstakes, social media, external partner promotions, transaction-triggered engagements, and Refer-a-Friend campaign. We have the benefit of leveraging Xbox best practices, and the drive to make this a great underdog success!
John - Project Management
Senior Project Manager
"My goal is to take complete ownership of the various operations projects I’ve been assigned so my clients can instead focus on the more strategic parts of the business that drive long-term success."
Project:
Consumer & Online Operations Team. Planning project management including MYR action resolution, communications, and FastStart participation.
Results:
Initially the client need a project manager to create a process for driving resolution of the over one thousand field generated actions that arose from C&Os quarterly ROB process. This process was recognized as a best practice by SMSG leadership. The scope expanded to include various planning projects including managing the C&O FastStart process (100% employee participation involving over 1,000 FTEs) subsidiary planning and WWSMM memo creation.
Jae - Business Analytics & Planning
Facilitator
"I develop individual awareness and accountability to improve organizational health and performance."
Project:
Work Life Balance and Stress Management
Results:
The client was faced with low organization health numbers, as a result of reorganization, change in leadership and increasing workloads. The team was experiencing low morale, low productivity, and increasing tension between managers and individual contributors resulting in increased stress and lack of work life balance. We facilitated a half day work life balance workshop which resulted in the team creating agreements around work flow and process. The team laid the foundation for continued open dialog on the topic that has increased awareness and accountability around what each team member can do to improve organizational health.
Michelle - Digital Marketing
Program Manager
"Build trust, be flexible, and always follow through."
Project:
Beyond the Box
Results:
Client X wanted to grow and expand a partner readiness program worldwide in order to drive server sales. The budget was limited so we had to think outside the typical scope for ways to create awareness and drive demand. By leveraging a low-cost solution, such as digital marketing, we were able to scale and create strong momentum for the program and were able to gain worldwide reach. We created a 3rd party website, web syndication, leveraged internal awareness engines, and social media engines to achieve our goals. Our program has seen significant growth in a very short amount of time and continues to be one of the fastest growing programs in OEM.
Allison - Business Analytics & Planning
Business Manager
"I listen, listen, listen, then design and implement solutions to remove roadblocks to my clients' success."
Project:
Microsoft Retail Sales & Marketing
Results:
The client was operating in ‘fire drill’ mode, trying to land programs at Retail and respond to customer needs while dealing with cumbersome internal processes and lack of visibility to upcoming corporate deliverables. They needed someone to identify the team’s pain points and create a clear planning framework that would allow them to be proactive instead of reactive. We listened to people in all different functions of the org, and then created a framework that moved the marketing and sales planning process forward early enough to allow for successful retail execution. The communication plan, including a new team Sharepoint site and a regular feedback loop, was the key to giving the team early visibility to upcoming milestones, which drives more effective collaboration sessions. Finally, I coached key team members on how to be more effective in their roles, resulting in a higher performing team.
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