Maritz CEO: Engagement is Based on People, Strategy, and Science, Not Just Technology
Having completed the recent acquisition of Convention Data Services, an event registration and lead management company, Maritz CEO David Peckinpaugh recently sat down with RRN to provide an update on the company’s purpose, goals, and objectives. Effective program design and implementation, not technology alone, help drive measurable and sustainable performance results in the world of engagement, he insists.Engaging Stakeholders Across the Enterprise
Program Design and Implementation Trump Technology
People and Expertise Are the Ultimate Barrier to Entry
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As a 130-year-old family-owned company, St. Louis-based Maritz doesn’t have to jump to address the latest fad, says David Peckinpaugh, CEO. In fact, he believes the company’s greatest strength is its focus on sticking to its knitting: helping organizations “unleash the potential of every individual, which ultimately then can enhance their performance and ultimately the business results of those organizations.”Engaging Stakeholders Across the Enterprise
At Maritz, that means working with organizations on strategies and tactics to engage employees, distribution partners, customers, and event attendees in multiple ways and in many industries. Its solution teams address enterprise engagement, including sales and non-sales employees and channel partners; the automotive field; events and conferences and the back-office support provided by its global business solutions team. “No matter what aspect of our business, we look at it from the perspective of performance. It all goes back to our core purpose of unleashing human potential.”
According to Peckinpaugh, the company’s services span the entire engagement market: meetings and events; employee experience; incentives and rewards for sales and non-sales employees and channel partners, and customer loyalty.
While the private equity and venture capital companies in the engagement space continue to focus on technology, Peckinpaugh believes that true value creation is based more on effective program design and fastidious implementation supported by ongoing analytics. “Technology is just a tool to facilitate the process. The true value created in the halls of Maritz are by the people, expertise, and years of experience supporting our clients. Our core value is first taking care of each stakeholder--our clients, our people, our communities, and our partners. We put everything through that filter, how do we unleash the potential of all stakeholders and how do we inspire them to drive better results.”
Program Design and Implementation Trump Technology
When it comes to technology, “I think a lot of companies have gone to the easy button and thought if they just set up a tech platform to send recognition and points and people are using it, that’s fine. For a lot of the organizations we work with, they take that personal relationship and those touch points a lot more seriously, so they engage in programs that have more opportunities to create a personal relationship with their people in a way that provides measurable results.”
Peckinpaugh thinks “the days of being focused on transactions are over. Success is about how we engage all those different audiences and those stakeholders. It’s about building relationships, and focusing on how they can be nurtured, developed, and monitored over time.”
So, “when we’re talking about the automotive solutions team, we’re helping car manufacturers sell more cars, parts, or service. In our engagement solutions business, we’re helping our clients increase channel partner, retail sales, and employee performance. What it comes down to is how can organizations best engage with a key audience. How do we use our practice and deep understanding of human behavior and neuroscience to design better, more engaging programs that inspire and drive better business results.”
As a private company, Peckinpaugh says, Maritz doesn’t have to answer to private equity or venture capitalists focused on scaling technology when “what Maritz clients seek are sustainable results.” To that end, he says, the company is not wedded to any technology. “Today, with the power of APIs (application programming interfaces that connect software platforms), we can bring whatever is the best solution to our clients provided that it’s an established, reliable platform.”
Rather than seeking a focus on technology, “Our clients buy us in a large part because of the expertise of our people; the individuals and the teams that they get to work with that make us stand out and that provides the foundation for a long-term relationship.”
People and Expertise Are the Ultimate Barrier to Entry
The focus on people, professional services, and program design, Peckinpaugh believes, creates a barrier to entry for the many competitors funded by investors with little understanding of the role of expertise and because so few business professionals have much knowledge of this field or effective process design and implementation. Technology investors “would take one look at the labor and multiples involved with providing such expertise, and it would ruin their technology business models. A large percentage of our costs are people. We’re okay with that because at the end of the day that’s what makes us a hard to replace, tough competitor. We have relationships with customers that go back in some cases for decades.”
Reflecting what he says is his own focus as a leader, Peckinpaugh has joined the Tugboat Institute, an organization of CEOs of privately held “evergreen companies” that “go from being underappreciated to being broadly recognized for what they are—attractive employers, partners, suppliers, customers, and community members that aren’t going away because they are adaptable, well-run, share in their success, and are not for sale.” These values, he says, align with those of Maritz and it’s approach to helping organizations engage people across the enterprise in a common, sustainable purpose.
After the company faced a stormy period during the pandemic in its events business and the rapid resurgence highlighing the importance of face-to-face meetings post pandemic, Peckinpaugh sees a bright future for the business based on the need for engagement in so many sectors of the economy and the lack of competitors with deep expertise.
To him, the family-owned business model combined with a heritage of 130 years in the business creates a powerful unique selling benefit for the world’s largest enterprises. With multiple Maritz family members on the board of directors and one working in the business, the company is here to stay as a private company for the foreseeable future, Peckinpaugh says.
In his view, “successful businesses come down to purpose and people. That’s what attracted me to Maritz and what drives me in my current role. How do we further that within our business in a way that leaves a long-term legacy. That’s what we’re really focused on here at Maritz.”
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