Case Study
Situation:
GE Money (GEM) is part of the GE conglomerate that includes organizations such as NBC and Universal Studios Theme
Parks located in Orlando, Florida and Hollywood, California. Each year, millions of guests attend the parks and GEM
solicits those guests to apply for the GEM credit card. This credit card is complete with Universal Studios branding and
provides new card holders with benefits including, but not limited to, food and ticket discounts, access to movies and
concerts, giveaways, and introductory interest rates. GEM’s unique business model enables instant credit approvals
through specialized technologies developed by GEM. This allows GEM to take an application, approve and provide a
fully functional, customer embossed card within 15 minutes of taking the customer’s application. The two business
functions, which are operational 7 days a week at the parks, include credit card sales and order fulfillment centers.
GEM objectives:
• Leverage the unique nature of the high volume of guests at the parks
• Obtain 3% penetration of park attendance on application volume
• Obtain .25% penetration of park attendance on approved applications
• Up-sell the card benefits and increase immediate usage within the parks
• Impact card usage beyond 6 month APR introductory period
• Focus on workforce flexibility, productivity and profit
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Challenges:
The credit card sales vendor working with GEM was not meeting performance objectives in sales nor upholding strict
park guidelines in professionalism, which caused friction with park management. These challenges were compounded by
a declining economy, a tightening credit market and decreased park attendance.
Reasons:
Aside from the economic challenges, the credit card sales vendor did not field a full, qualified staff each day as required
by its contract with GEM. In additional to unprofessional behavior, the vendor was unable to retain “A” players or
productive employees. This was based on a lack of quality recruiting and training processes, employee benefits and site
management structure.
Solutions:
Source2 (iplacement rebranded) conducted an operations analysis of the business process. As a result of that analysis,
Source2 has created a client-centric workforce with high quality, productive employees including supervisors and
managers. Solution components include:
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Through iterative process, redesigned employee compensation structure to align GEM goals with individual sales
staff goals
Institution of a targeted, specific recruitment model to locate better quality candidates
Creation of a custom training program to better train and equip sales staff
Implementation of production-driven workforce model
Creation of competition-based incentive package to recognize top achievers and motivate staff
Restructured employee package to provide more stability and retain quality employees, including paid time off,
healthcare benefits, and base compensation
A dedicated, single point of contact for GEM
Management structure that included a General Manager with multi-site oversight and dedicated site managers
with supporting leads
Results:
Within the first 2 years of the program, Source2 was able to increase the number of approved cards by 100% while
reducing the cost per unit by 50% and greatly improving staff professionalism. Source2 was compensated strictly on
productivity output.