What can we learn from Sir Dave Brailsford?

Marginal Gains

He's the one without the sideburns

It's the mantra that Dave Brailsford and many other top trainers and coaches live by. Don't attempt the impossible (certainly not all at once) but see where small improvements can be made across all the board. What can we learn from this? After all it's taken British Cycling from insignificance to world domination and British athletics from a single gold at Atlanta (26th in the rankings) in 1996 to 29 at London 2012 (3rd).

For us, in review management, it has to be to not attempt to 'build Rome in a day'. To strive for sustainable marginal gains. What does this mean in terms of detailed strategy?

1. Don't set impossibly optimistic short-term targets (100 reviews to Google, up 100 places on TripAdvisor) and then give up when they're not achieved
2. Set realistic medium (3-6 month) and long (3-5 year) term targets and stick to them. Remember that even one review a month adds up to 36 over a three year period)
   
3. Embed review management into your overall business and marketing strategy, don't see it simply as an in-vogue add-on; plan and budget for it
4. Target and reward teams and key staff (sales, client services, front-of-house, reception) based on the volume of reviews they attract
5. Review progress every three months (any more often and the statistics won't be meaningful, any less frequently and you run the risk of slowing progress towards you goals) 
6. Speak to us, as often as you can. We are learning by the day, and one of our most important jobs is to pass on the fruits of that learning to you, our clients