Sysco revamps iCare, aims to keep entrepreneurial spirit

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 22, 2007 by Caroline Perkins

Sysco Corp. has re-engineered its iCare strategy to ensure that the program will remain entrepreneurial going forward. It might seem an oxymoron to describe as entrepreneurial a company worth more than $35 billion, but a willingness to stay flexible and creative is paying off in Sysco's business with independent restaurants. The corporate giant just reported net earnings of $1 billion for fiscal 2007. Sysco execs credit business reviews and increased customer contact headcount for the milestone. The iCare program is central to this customer satisfaction model.

At the advanced age of five years old, the iCare model makes a number of value-added services available to Sysco customers, ranging from financial to marketing to operational programs. Sysco negotiates terms and pricing from its position of strength and offers each service to operators at a cost much more attractive than they could attain individually.

So why the re-engineering, and how will the program remain entrepreneurial? About a year ago, Sysco Marketing Services, led by John Miko and selected execs, took on the project of analyzing the iCare system with the goal of crafting a long-term strategy to foster significant growth, both from the supply side and from the demand side. The system was becoming more challenging to manage in-house. A new paradigm was needed. Enter Chris Hemmeter, entrepreneur.

Hemmeter originally was president of Dynamic Payment Ventures, one of the earliest service partners of iCare. After three years he took over management of the program. The re-engineering team decided that iCare needed its own structure separate from Sysco corporate and looked around for potential partners. Hemmeter won the search. He has now founded iCare Marketing Inc., which has an exclusive multiyear agreement to manage the services program. While the Sysco marketing team will work closely with Hemmeter, having him at the helm of the spinoff will allow the team to focus on business development, which includes the growing business review initiative.

Sysco customers are the winners in this new iCare model. All of the services are offered through the broadliner's individual operating companies, or op-cos, and are managed at the local level. Each op-co can select the services it wants to offer through the corporate program and also can partner with local providers. Since the program has been in place for five years, however, the majority of services most likely are contracted through iCare.

The services are offered as needed by individual operators. Each customer's needs are assessed by their sales rep and the op-co's business review team. The customer is matched up with the appropriate service providers.

For instance, an operator might need online marketing tools, such as Web development or even online takeout ordering. Voila: Restaurant.com, an iCare partner, steps in.

Focus Marketing is another service provider for menu engineering. Again, Focus is available if the op-co doesn't have its own in-house option. Focus provides graduate-level solutions to issues identified through menu analysis by the sales reps.

Hemmeter's role, Miko said, will be to increase the portfolio of services and systematize the process through technology to smooth out delivery to the op-cos and Sysco's sales force of 8,000 street reps. Services also will include management of trade shows and local promotions, when desired.

The "new" iCare seems to be a workable solution to the dilemma of having corporate services available at the local level. Sysco has done a terrific job of conducting customer business reviews. This more flexible--and, yes, entrepreneurial--strategy should provide a solid support system for continued business development in the independent restaurant arena. Check the program out at www.syscoicare.com.