How Pro Motion builds dedication, commitment and the best Brand Ambassadors in the world.
One of my favorite “guy” movies of all times is Stripes; it’s still funny today, more than 25 years later. One of my favorite lines is when Bill Murray’s character answers his superior as to what kind of training they received and his answer was “Army training, sir!”
Everyone can picture Army training right? Eight weeks of boot camp, lots of running in the rain, push-ups for punishment and getting up at the crack of dawn…Army training! Then, at the end of 8 weeks, you’ve been beaten down, built back up and now you are a US soldier…that’s what the movies have taught us.
Maybe the movie Stripes is the reason we have such extensive training here at Pro Motion too? No, not Army training, sir…comprehensive Brand Ambassador training. For our touring Brand Ambassadors, we do our own version of boot camp (without getting up at 06:00 and we’re quite proud of it! And, it far exceeds the Experiential Marketing Agency standard.
Our training lasts two to four weeks, depending on the complexity of the program and the program’s operations. No, not two to four days or even two to four hours as so many of our Brand Ambassadors have experienced in programs with other Experiential Marketing agencies. We believe 90% of the success of a field marketing program happens when you find the right Brand Ambassador and your training ROCKS!
Here’s where we are different. We have 3 goals for our in-house Brand Ambassador training.
- Make each Brand Ambassador feel special and know they are part of a bigger team
- Set the Brand Ambassador up for success with the knowledge necessary to deliver the program
- Build their dedication, ownership and commitment to the program and Pro Motion
The team building begins when we pick up the new Brand Ambassador from the airport. We take them to dinner, get them their transportation and check them into their hotel. On their first day at Pro Motion we celebrate their arrival. They meet everyone in the organization, get their training manual, schedule (including happy hours), some SWAG and we have a “Welcome!” lunch for them. Sure they have to fill out all of those documents we all do on the first day, but we make it more fun.
Then we start filling the Brand Ambassadors with our knowledge, procedures and expectations. During this “passing of the torch” process we provide extensive information about the client, the products, the program’s goals and what can and will happen on the road and how to handle it. We have several managers who are responsible for different days of training. This provides familiarity with the team and the Brand Ambassador has the opportunity to learn from multiple staffers. And, as a practice, each team member spends time with me to make sure they know how important they are to the success of the organization and why we selectively chose them for this position.
The net result of so many touch points throughout the process is they bond as a team; they feel the ownership of the program and have the commitment necessary to activate a successful Experiential Marketing program at Pro Motion. All of this is on purpose, with purpose and this is one of the many reasons we continue to get repeat programs with our clients and are building long term relationships.
It’s not Army training; it’s Pro Motion training, sir!
Photo: Stripes. Dir. Ivan Reitman. Columbia Pictures Coproration, 1981.