ICBA 2012 Segmenting and Scaling

SEGMENTING
At the ICBA 2011 Conference we tried something new in our Strategic Direction (SD) track. For part of one day SD attendees were segmented into groups based on their annual sales volume. We presented six custom programs built around identical content topics. Each of the six programs was designed for the specific group. Below are the six groups, the percentage of attendees that were in each group, and their rating of the Segmented Program based on this scale:

1 = Excellent

2 = Good

3 = Fair

4 = Poor

$30 to $50 million - 24% - 1.4

$20 to $30 million - 11% - 1.4

$15 to $20 million - 9% - 1.3

$10 t- $15 million - 26% - 1.9

$5 to $10 million - 22% - 1.7

$1 to $5 million - 9% - 2.0

When asked, What was the best thing about the Segmented Program, attendees gave us these comments:

"I liked being with other stores that could relate to our business size. Chance to meet others in similar situations."

"Nice to talk to folks with similar situations / concerns."

"A closer comparison of store size and sales makes the ideas more realistic. I think we were more comfortable sharing."

"Similar stores together."

"Meeting with folks from similar size stores and sharing successes."

"I think we can relate better to activities that are being performed in stores of like size."

SCALING

In evaluation of the Segmented Program we also asked attendees to complete this sentence; If it were up to me, one way I would improve the Segmented Store Program is by …  

"We were in the 20M to 30M segment, but I'd like to be in with the over 30M as well. We have goals to reach that mark, and learning from the ones already there would be very valuable."

"Small stores can learn from larger stores and vice versa."

"Including some other store sizes in the meeting, especially larger stores since they usually have funding to try new ideas sooner and we can learn from there experiences."

"Enlarge the groups a bit."

So the challenge going forward is to find a way to broadcast the take-aways from each group to all attendees in all of the groups. Then each store can find the best way to scale the value to meet their store's needs. We are working on that...

At ICBA 2012 we will be using segmentation for Strategic Direction and also in some other tracks with some changes. We will segment by system for some of the program. We will again segment by sales volume, but it may not be the same groupings as we did in 2011. Among other changes, for the session segmented by sales volume, attendees will be asked in advance to help create the agenda topics.

See you in Florida!

Posted by Stacy Waymire, ICBA Executive Director