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258 Part 2 Strategy and applications

A more mature online channel that has significant crossover with offline will at the
very least need to share elements of their P&L with other business units.
For instance, if an initial enquiry is made online and a sale is converted from the
lead by telephone, who gets the credit?
A sensible approach would be to give the telephone centre 75% and the website
25%. If the telephone centre has a code to give customers when they go online, the
reverse can be true. The point being, the P&L should be used to encourage a symbi-
otic relationship between channels.
If e-commerce is solely a cost-centre for other units, decision making will be slow,
political manoeuvring common and the team fragmented.

Q. Where should e-commerce sit in the organisation and who should be the
senior person responsible for it?
Sharon Shaw, Standard Life: We strongly recommend a dedicated team run
e-commerce. The channel requires people with appropriate skills and experience to
drive it forward and a mandate to give it their complete attention. The integration with
the rest of the business should happen through collaboration on the ground and only
through reporting lines at the most senior levels.
The organisation at the senior level is a point of some debate. It is fairly common in
retail for a Commercial Director to take responsibility for e-commerce sales but the
marketing team has a significant input and interest.
The online marketing budget to advertise and attract customers is growing all the
time and there is a powerful need to integrate communications and the customer
experience across channels.
One approach is to create a multi-channel role responsible for all online activity and
how it is integrated with the rest of the business. This role could report into the Sales
& Marketing Director or directly to the MD.
In terms of incentive structures and targets, if each channel has its own target, how
do you avoid channels competing with each other to the detriment of the overall organ-
isation’s goals?
The challenge here is to motivate and reward the team that is tasked with growing
a new channel without upsetting other channels that may be experiencing slower
growth. The P&L attribution is a key factor but incentives can also help.
Most companies reward on total business performance to target first, followed by
an individual’s performance.

One way to motivate a channel team might be to introduce a middle-tier related to
the channel performance to target, a factor that will give them a boost if they see strong
growth in their area.

Q. Do you have any tips on staff recruitment and retention – finding and retain-
ing the right skills for a reasonable price?
Sharon Shaw, Standard Life: The main issues for digital workers seem to be the
environment in which they work, the variety of their work and their opportunities for
personal development.
With a dedicated online team there is a great opportunity to create a fun and fast-
paced workplace that feels dynamic and creative (even for the techies!). There is a risk
of giving people repetitive work when administering a site so it is also important to
make sure staff have a chance to try their hand at different tasks and project work.
Back this up with the security of good HR and corporate benefits.
Finally, don’t forget that the digital world doesn’t stand still. Give all the team plenty
of exposure to the latest research, emerging trends and breakthrough technologies.