Calculating ROI at Westec
Do you dream of delivering record ROIs on your communications projects? Staff at Westec Security discovered the value of testing pilot schemes to calculate potential savings that could be made across the company.
Sampling pilot schemes
In the early ‘90s, I was VP of communication for the parent company
of Westec Security. Kristain Mills, the
communication manager at Westec, thought she could help reduce vehicle
accidents and related insurance premiums through
a change in how safety communication was handled. Rather than just
launch a new campaign everywhere, she piloted the campaign in three
of the
company’s seven California branches so she could measure the
impact her communications had. She worked with the safety and loss
prevention manager to ensure that anything else he did to improve
safety during
a year’s
period he implemented in all seven branches to avoid tainting the
pilot study.
Rather than just launch a new campaign everywhere, she piloted the campaign in three of the company’s seven California branches so she could measure the impact her communications had.
Pilot schemes deliver results
By the end of the year, accidents went
down in the three pilot locations to the extent that the vehicle insurance
premium
was
reduced by US$1
million a year. There was no change in accident levels at the
other four branches.
The safety manager requested an expansion of the same communication
program at all seven locations the next year.
See Figure 1, below, for how we were able to calculate a 1150% ROI on communication for this project.
Figure 1. Calculating communication’s
ROI at Westec Security
© Angela
Sinickas 2005. Reprinted with permission.
Angela Sinickas is the president
of Sinickas Communications, Inc., an international consulting firm dedicated to helping
corporations achieve business results through focused diagnostics and practical
solutions.
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