Senior leaders from across Synchrony gathered at the Synchrony Pillars Project Summit 2019 at the headquarters of Inc. magazine in New York City to connect with this year's winners and share their best practices to simplify success.
In a series of informal seminars, the Synchrony Pillars Project winners were transfixed as these experts provided the group with educational, entertaining and actionable advice. While a trove of knowledge, expertise and experience was shared, here are five highlights:
Stand out in the job market.
In the intense competition for talent, small businesses should sell the opportunities they offer employees to connect with their mission, their culture, and how they impact the community. Differentiators like flexibility options, a sense of ownership, incentives for growth, and the ability to develop diverse skills are selling points that many larger organizations can't offer.
Liz Heitner, SVP, Talent & Transformation, Synchrony
Put all your data in one basket.
A modern POS is your cloud-based customer management system, your loyalty platform, your transaction system, your invoicing system, and more. Having all that in one place makes it really easy to grow, and because the information is centralized, it can be a lot simpler to deploy than you might expect.
Will Kievit, VP, Integrated Payments & Innovation Leader, Synchrony
Find your north star.
Social has made marketing more human and personalized. More than just business promotion, social media is about building relationships that last. Use it to tell your story: What value do you provide? What is your mission? What do you want to be known for? That's your north star!
Nicole Johnson, VP, Social Media, Synchrony
The rule of three.
The digital marketing trifecta--owned, paid, and earned-- are like legs on a stool. Today, customers control their online experience--they research, browse, chat, purchase, and review. Every digital touch point is a chance to influence customer decisions.
Lauri Vela, SVP, Digital Marketing, Synchrony
Stay on target.
Digital media can help smaller businesses show up as prominently as the large guys. When you find the right audience and get into that SEO and SEM bullseye, you can make a significant difference if you're willing to make an investment in paid media--even a small one.
Christy Kazlo, VP, Digital Paid Media, Synchrony