OCT 2016 EDITION

Inside Scoop

WELLNESS WEEK a huge success

NEXT brings joy to pets

PLP FINANCE launches XERO system

STRATITUDE launches 2 new websites

WELLNESS

WELLNESS WEEK

NEXT

WELLNESS WEEK

WELLNESS WEEK

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Word from Lloyd

Our business models are shifting, and we need to shift with it or run the risk of being left behind.

Although this market has been around for the entirety of our journey, it’s only recently started receiving the attention it deserves. I am of course talking about the Subscription Economy. To put this into perspective, the global subscription economy is expected to grow by US$500M in the next year alone.

Consumers are changing the way they engage with businesses. They are moving away from wanting to claim ownership to a space where they place more value on their relationship with businesses. They are looking for tailor-made solutions that will answer their needs; not a one-size fits all answer. They are searching for variety and flexibility. Most importantly, they want it on-demand, and they want it using technology. The Subscription Economy answers these desires. This means that corporations need to shift their focus from the product to the transaction. They need to be able to answer consumers not only when they request it, but also via a channel of their choice.

We’ve seen large corporations across different industries struggling to make these shifts to their business plans, although consumers seem to be adapting effortlessly, for which the key reason is cell phones and their capabilities.

With regards to PLP, everything we’ve been working on for the past four years has been about preparing us for this very time in our journey. I am proud to say that we are well along the way of transitioning our business to take advantage of these changing dynamics. Providing we innovate, and digitise our service delivery as well as meet or improve the user experience (UX) demands that our clients will insist on, only then will we be an industry game changer that’s constantly moving forward.

None of this is without risk, and whilst we have taken the necessary precautions and completed the needed research, we will need to continue to make strong technological investments to stay relevant. This means that we cannot sit back now. In fact, we have to step up the pace and become more relevant and efficient, if we are serious about moving forward. Our times have never been more exciting nor more dangerous, and whilst opportunity may favour the brave (and I do believe we are brave) we must ensure that our on-demand services, the UX outcomes we derive, the people skills we develop, and our business case all stay relevant. As the only way for us to succeed is to keep these attributes front of mind.

I call upon all of you to work together as one team, and not independent business units with your own agendas, and as one people, not hundreds of employees doing individual tasks. Be strong and brave, and through our initiative drive, we will take PLP further and further.

Until next time,Lloyd

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HR Corner A message from Estelle Carstens, Group Head HR

Celebrate Wellness Week 2016

PLP Group takes pride in supporting our employees to foster a healthy and active lifestyle. Thus, we started with the initiative to have a whole week of wellness activities to Celebrate Wellness. On Monday the 17th of October 2016, we kicked-off the week by providing health screenings and popcorn for all. It’s utterly important to know your HIV status, weight, cholesterol, BMI, etc. Tuesday followed with activities, which raised awareness about cancer, and staff enjoyed the spray-a-thon in aid of CANSA. We also hosted the Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa (CHOC) to raise awareness about early warning signs of childhood cancer. With the momentum going, Wednesday was welcomed with a fresh goodie bag desk drop and the scrumptious Sandwich Chef Cook-off. It was so much fun, and we weren’t sure who to watch – the chefs or the supporters. Well done to all the chefs on their creativity, not to mention the judges who just couldn’t stop tasting. Congratulations to the HR chefs on winning the games. We already have a waiting list for the 2017 judges.

We took to the streets on Thursday morning for a brisk walk around the quiet Randburg area, and to keep moving, we invited Virgin Active to present some Zumba classes. The workweek ended with an amazing event on Friday, which started with fires going so that we could enjoy a well-deserved boerewors roll for lunch. Our MC for the day was Barret Edelstein, who kept it all going. The games were kicked-off with the dance-off / war cry, and then it was all systems go.

The day’s victors were: Dance-off / War Cry: StratitudeVolleyball: NEXT (Gillian’s team) Egg & Spoon Race: Sithandwa Maluleka from NEXTWater Bucket Round One: LEAP Water Bucket Round Two: IT Team Well done to all!

But our wellness week did not end there; we also had a treat for our families. All staff members were invited to bring their kids to listen to Sonja & Tjokker’s music and educational message. They were both a hit and everyone enjoyed the show – maybe the adults more than the kids.

Thank you to our Celebrate Wellness Committee, and a BIG thank you to PLP Group for supporting Celebrate Wellness week!

5 YEARSRonelle BrinkDolly MofyaKervernthren ReddyStewart AnnamalaiTerrel Smith

Congratulations to our staff members for this great achievement.

10 YEARSRonette Micheals

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Organisational AnnouncementsJoin us in welcoming our new PLP recruits!

We wish you all success and enjoyment in your new roles.

PLP Group launches Xero Accounting!

Renielia Babugadu joined the Onboarding team as a Service Consultant, with effect from the 19th of September 2016.

In her new role, Renielia will report to Sayuri Pillay, Call Centre Team Manager. She will be responsible for onboarding clients and enlightening them on the diverse services we offer, allowing them to use our services effectively.

Bridget Majela joined NEXT as a Sales Consultant, with effect from the 1st of October 2016.

In her new role Bridget will report to Gillian Sampson, Divisional Sales Manager. She will be responsible for My Chocolate Box membership sales.

It is with pleasure that Stratitude annouces the appointment of Keyler Weber in the position of Account Manager with effect from the 1st of October 2016. She will be reporting to Stella Carter, Head of Client Services.

Keyler joins us with solid experience in account and brand management from previous companies such as Black Snow, The Main Attraction and Crimsonroom Communication. She holds a degree in BCom Marketing Management.

PLP FINANCE It has been an exciting and challenging month for The PLP Group’s Finance Team as we’ve implemented a conversion from Pastel accounting to the cloud-based XERO system.

As you can imagine, it’s no mean feat to manage a normal daily workload associated with 15+ companies, whilst at the same time training on an entirely new system and ensuring a seamless transition from one platform to another.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the team on an awesome job. They received numerous compliments from the XERO conversion team for their enthusiasm and their commitment to the implementation process. So, well done and a big thank you guys!

PENNY BISSELL, HEAD OF FINANCE

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Get ready to be blown away!

NEW GENERATION AWARDS

We felt that it was time to update our look a little; nothing major, just a nip here and a tuck there. And we’re proud to say that we’re over the moon with the results – it was totally worth all the late nights. When you have a moment, visit www.stratitude.co.za to check out our new website.

On the 13th of October, we attended the New Generation Awards for 2016, and are thrilled that we walked away with six awards!

- Blogging Excellence Gold: The Threaded Man - Best Low Budget Campaign Silver: NEXT Solutions- Best use of Social Media in a Loyalty Programme/Campaign Bronze: NEXT Solutions- Best Integrated Marketing Campaign by an Agency Bronze: Beyers Chocolates- Best Online Newsletter Bronze: Indwe Risk Services- Social Media WIZ Award Bronze: The Threaded Man

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Stratitude and NEXT Solutions launched My Chocolate Box, and the sales are streaming in. This is a monthly chocolate subscription.

For only R349 per month, you’ll receive a box filled with top quality deliciousness from around the world, delivered straight to your door.

If you think we’ve only created websites this month, you’d be very much mistaken. We created the first two Sebamed adverts that form part of the “balanced lifestyle means balanced skin” campaign – click here to view the first one.

We’re also happy to report that we’ve started the next phase of the Netstar Safe and Sound campaign, which is led by two new adverts – have a look at them here.

Last, but definitely not least, if you haven’t liked the My Chocolate Box Facebook page, do so now and watch our delicious stop frame advert!

If you’re in the Bedfordview area, be sure to stop by the Tastefully Yours shop in the Sunview Centre for delicious treats, beautiful packaging and anything in between.

Their factory shop opened on the 1st of October and the shop’s branding, that we created, looks beautiful.

There is never a dull moment at Stratitude, so stay tuned for more.

We’ve been hard at work and launched three other websites this month. UCount, the Standard Bank rewards site, and GetMore Plus, GetMore’s bigger and better brother that’s bringing new deals and specials to South Africa.

Standard Bank UCount

GetMore Plus

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CLUB TRIVIA

In an HR Programme, one of the Account Manager’s main roles is to make sure that the member base utilizes the services and that there is a, somewhat, even spread of services used within the programme. One is constantly trying to come up with innovative ways on how to create awareness amongst the members on all of the services and deals within a programme.

With that, a Club Trivia competition was implemented into the HR clubs recently, which not only exposed members to the different service offerings, but it also got the members to use the different communication platforms to access these services.

With enticing prizes as the incentive, the overall competition was successful. Members were calling in, researching on the websites or utilizing the Web Chat to ask agents questions. We had to restrict the Club Trivia to three questions, as the competition would otherwise be too time consuming for the members and they would lose interest. However, those three questions highlighting certain services, has led to an impressive usage of services during the competition period.

Reviewing the campaign, it is clear that we need to constantly engage with our members. By highlight certain services, the programme will be top of mind for the members and ultimately result in greater programme usage.

PLP SA MICROSOFT LAUNCHIt was the mother of all launches!

The 29th of September saw the launch of the new Life@Home website. This was a fun filled day, offering members an opportunity to experience Life@Home on a new, responsive website, which provides members with instant responses. In true Life@Home style, there were freebies up for grabs – massages and frozen yoghurt.

Having relaunched and renamed the Dial-A-Teacher service to ‘Tutor on Call’, Amy Kleinhans-Curd hosted a session titled ‘Let’s talk education with Amy Kleinhans’. The platform was an opportunity to reassure members

that the service, which has proven to be one of the more popular services, would still offer the great service and was only improved to suit the changing times and our members’ needs.

Thanks to Wheels for arranging the wonderful car show.

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Summer is around the corner in New Zealand, and business at PLP NZ is moving along smoothly. Time has just flown by and we can’t believe that we’re already busy with the last quarter of 2016.

Sarah-Jo Barley, our Country Manager, has been hard at work visiting clients in Auckland and Wellington, and engaging with new clients. Sarah-Jo and Sarah Powell, Head of Training, also recently visited our South Island clients in Christchurch. Together with Shayne Giddy, they spent time with ARC Innovations, learning more about their business and attending training on new developments. They had meetings with Garden City Helicopters and Switched On Group, which proved fruitful. We look forward to partnering with them in future projects.

Sarah Powell has been hard at work regarding our training and development, and has set up an interactive programme, which is beneficial for both new recruits and our current staff members’ ongoing training. With this programme we are able to include remote agents, and possibly in the future, interact with clients regarding any updates in training.

The recent East Coast earthquake, quite a biggie, again had the Eastland Faults lines keeping us on our toes as the quake affected many areas on their turf. Havelock North, a town just down the road from our Head Office was hit with the Campylobacter virus, which had around 4,000 people sick, many of these people having to be hospitalised. This sent bottled water sales through the roof and saw the Council sending in trucks with clean water for residents.

We’ve welcomed a few new members to our Outbound Team, and with the festive season coming into full swing, this team will no doubt be working at full-steam for the next few months.Lastly, but most definitely not the least, we can’t believe that PLP NZ is already a year old. In this past year, we’ve seen our staff expand to 30 members and business grow steadily. Next year will be another exciting time for us as we look to promote and improve our business to the Australasian market.

Bring on growth and challenges – we believe the PLP NZ team has what it takes to make a success of whatever they tackle.

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VOUCHERPLUS

NEXT is proud to announce that we are in the process of developing, designing and selling the first white label of the VoucherCloud platform in South Africa. The voucher platform is being developed for our new client, Overflow, a Durban-based call centre.The VoucherPlus programme will launch on the 15th of November 2016, to over 50 000 members. It will host a range of vouchers from fashion and dining to automotive items and finance.

PLANET FITNESS

Planet Fitness and NEXT have joined together to be the first call centre to complete sales on behalf of Planet Fitness. The Sanlam Reality Team will be upselling and activating Planet Fitness memberships, once they have successfully sold a Sanlam Reality membership. The campaign will launch in mid-November for a one year period.

“Good luck to the Sanlam Reality Team – I know you guys are all going to do great and make us proud.” Kylie

We need you!

PLP GROUP is a well-established company in Randburg with a continually expanding outbound sales call centre. We are in need of vibrant and dedicated young people with excellent communication skills, are highly productive and self-motivated. Preferable to start immediately. Applicants must have previous call centre experience, matric, clear criminal and credit record and contactable reference.

If you have a passion for sales, an outgoing personality and want to join our award-winning sales team, submit your CV to careers@clientservices.co.za.

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MESSAGE FROM GILLIAN

As we head into the last few months of the year, it becomes even more important to focus on doing everything possible to ensure that our divisions are functioning optimally.It’s not always as easy as it sounds, but it’s definitely worth it. In the coming months, it will be small, consistent improvements and changes in behaviour that will drive change, and ultimately, success.

In our division, we have seen some wonderful growth. Added to our brilliant Hotel Express International Team, we are expanding into the business of making people happy with our wonderful My Chocolate Box. This product is sure to put smiles on many delighted faces in the coming months as we head towards the season of giving.

We have also diversified and adopted the very energetic, super-skilled and drivenAltech Netstar Go Team, who have added much excitement and happiness into our lives. The GetMore Direct Team have also joined us, giving us some much-needed girl power. One of our most exciting developments is our GetMore PLUS product, which launched on the 1st of October 2016. We are going to make this product our biggest success yet with a brilliant, talented team headed up by Preston Murugan.

I am looking forward to see what incredible results all of these teams are going to produce in 2016’s last few months. December is just around the corner, and I know we all want to live like kings over the holidays. So let’s put our heads down, focus on our goals, and smash them.

Good luck to the NEXT Projects Team for the last stretch!

HAPPY TAILS

We are very excited to be partnering with Happy Tails to launch an outbound sales campaign, whereby we’ll be selling a monthly delivered entertainment pack filled with premium toys, treats and chews sourced for your cat or dog.

Each box will be sold for R499 per month, and every month a new selection of hand-picked products, that’s not to be repeated, will feature. Should you, your family or friends be interested in a Happy Tails box for your furry friend, please speak to Kylie in NEXT Solutions or email her atkylie@nextsolutions.co.za.

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So, what does it take to be a successful salesperson?

Common sense dictates that a person’s approach to work plays an important role in their performance on the job.

Four key qualities are essential for success:1. Empathy2. Focus3. Responsibility4. Optimism

EMPATHYEmpathy is the ability to identify with customers, to sense what they are feeling and to make customers feel respected. It is more than just understanding their concerns from an objective standpoint. A salesperson showing empathy can gain trust and establish rapport with customers by being on their side and not appearing judgmental. Empathy allows the salesperson to read the customers, show concern, and clearly demonstrate his or her interest in providing a proper solution.

FOCUSA person with focus is internally driven to accomplish goals and can stay attentive to one topic. Focused individuals are more demanding of themselves than other people, and they are self-motivated. They are able to organise themselves and recognise what needs to be done in order to achieve their goals.

RESPONSIBILITYA person with a strong sense of responsibility does not place blame on other people when placed in a difficult situation. This type of person, referred to as an “agent”, gets things done and when obstacles arise, accepts any errors or omissions that have occurred. He or she does not get defensive nor do they try to blame the situation on circumstances or other people.

OPTIMISMA salesperson with a healthy amount of optimism can be described as someone who is slow to learn helplessness. This person has persistence. They see themselves as being more resilient and that a customer’s refusal is NOT a rejection of them as people, but of the opportunity being offered. Salespeople who possess a large amount of optimism like themselves, and when they encounter failure, although disappointed, it does not destroy their positive self-worth. They consider themselves in the running and able to turn the situation around. They believe that they can make things better by using a different approach, or by trying again.

NEXT TOP ACHIEVERS

GetMoreWell done to Knowledge Ngwenya, who made 140 sales for the month.ABSA RewardsWell done to Musa Mitileni, who made 167 sales for the month.

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Getting to Know the TeamWhen did you start working at PLP?I started working at PLP in April 2016 – still a newbie.

What is your position?Payroll Administrator.

Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to join the PLP Team?I never thought I’d be sitting behind a desk with a calculator. Been everywhere career wise, done most of it. But love where I am currently!

Before working at PLP, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?I was a waitress at an aviation bar.

What would you be doing if you weren’t at your current job?I’d definitely be a pilot or maybe a psychologist.

How do you recharge?I dance, I love dancing and for some reason it gives me my energy!

What super power would you like to have?To be able to go into the future, that has got to be exciting!

When did you start working at PLP?Nov 2015.

What is your position?BI Analyst.

Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to join the PLP Team?I’ve pretty much always been in IT and Databases. I got an interview at PLP through a recruitment company.

Before working at PLP, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?My previous employer where my boss was bipolar.

What would you be doing if you weren’t at your current job?I’d probably be a commercial pilot.

How do you recharge?Netflix and chill, or I just go out with a few friends.

What super power would you like to have?The ability to see the electromagnetic spectrum.

MEET MARIA BAMBO

MEET JACQUES STEYN