How is INSIGHT similar to most approaches?
INSIGHT seeks, like all Business Retention & Expansion programs to work with a collaborative group of resource partners to connect with businesses in their community/area/region/state, develop relationships, gather information, and help those businesses grow and succeed. They all typically use some type of Customer Relationship Management system or tool to help manage the overall process and track success.
How is INSIGHT different from most approaches?
INSIGHT differs in four significant ways from most approaches:
1. Number of Questions - most commonly used surveys ask 40+ questions.
Synchronist, an extremely popular approach and tool developed by Blane Canada Ltd., asks
42 core questions with the ability to add more. Vernon, California employs another very popular technology and approach called
Executive Pulse. Their survey had
100 core questions (cf. p. 5.) Our "survey" has half that, with six core questions and up to 14 additional questions, with a flexible approach, depending on the circumstances.
2.
Number of Businesses - The Tiffin Retention & Expansion Survey program documented in the
Tiffin Community Plan (1994, see p. 9-1) had 39 businesses surveyed. One example of an award-winning Summit Business Partnership Program hosted by a major Ohio metro Chamber allowed one county to touch 100 businesses in its first year, and since 2003, the central city has reached 1,000 businesses (or roughly 100 per year) since inception. In contrast, INSIGHT is targeting
1,000 businesses every year (out of a county business population of about 2,000, representing about 50 percent of the business population.) It also targets all sizes and kinds of businesses, from mom and pop retail to larger manufacturing.
3. CRM Tool - the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool used by the INSIGHT program is
salesforce.com, which is the choice of the state of Ohio (both JobsOhio and the Ohio Development Services Agency) as well as some regional and municipal organizations.
Synchronist and
Executive Pulse are both great solutions and dominate the market. Salesforce.com is still the exception. In Ohio, the Ohio State University Extension
Ohio BR&E Initiative is another major player using a different technology.
[caption id="attachment_1408" align="alignright" width="150"]
Chamber event at Allen Eiry Center[/caption]
4. Flexible Interaction - many Retention & Expansion programs focus on setting up "Retention & Expansion" visits, conduct onsite visits in teams of two and ask the specific survey questions. The INSIGHT approach allows for this kind of in-depth interview meeting, which can last sometimes between one and two hours. In this case, the INSIGHT team member(s) may not only cover the basic and intermediate questions, but get to dive into the advanced ones. But, INSIGHT also allows for quick interactions at networking events that may last five minutes or cold calls on the phone, where only some or all of the core questions get asked. These also constitute a valid "R&E Call" within the system. Thus, the system prioritizes and contextualizes the questions.
How is INSIGHT similar to most approaches?
INSIGHT seeks, like all Business Retention & Expansion programs to work with a collaborative group of resource partners to connect with businesses in their community/area/region/state, develop relationships, gather information, and help those businesses grow and succeed. They all typically use some type of Customer Relationship Management system or tool to help manage the overall process and track success.
How is INSIGHT different from most approaches?
INSIGHT differs in four significant ways from most approaches:
2. Number of Businesses - The Tiffin Retention & Expansion Survey program documented in the Tiffin Community Plan (1994, see p. 9-1) had 39 businesses surveyed. One example of an award-winning Summit Business Partnership Program hosted by a major Ohio metro Chamber allowed one county to touch 100 businesses in its first year, and since 2003, the central city has reached 1,000 businesses (or roughly 100 per year) since inception. In contrast, INSIGHT is targeting 1,000 businesses every year (out of a county business population of about 2,000, representing about 50 percent of the business population.) It also targets all sizes and kinds of businesses, from mom and pop retail to larger manufacturing.
Chamber event at Allen Eiry Center[/caption]
4. Flexible Interaction - many Retention & Expansion programs focus on setting up "Retention & Expansion" visits, conduct onsite visits in teams of two and ask the specific survey questions. The INSIGHT approach allows for this kind of in-depth interview meeting, which can last sometimes between one and two hours. In this case, the INSIGHT team member(s) may not only cover the basic and intermediate questions, but get to dive into the advanced ones. But, INSIGHT also allows for quick interactions at networking events that may last five minutes or cold calls on the phone, where only some or all of the core questions get asked. These also constitute a valid "R&E Call" within the system. Thus, the system prioritizes and contextualizes the questions.
