So let’s talk about those lapel pins, because, well, you already are. And not just here—lapel pins come up pretty frequently when we talk to you guys about what you’d like to see offered as part of our certification benefits.
Frankly, I’m kind of nonplussed.
It’s not that I don’t get the appeal of the Microsoft Certified lapel pin… I sported one for years myself (on my backpack, though, because it’s been more than a decade since I’ve worn anything with a lapel). I understand how gratifying it is to catch the look of recognition and instant respect when someone sees that pin… and not just in IT environments… the MCP lapel pin is reported to pay dividends when dining out, or even dating.
All of that, I grok.
What’s puzzling is that the lapel pins never showed up on the “benefits we really like” radar until they went away.
Tangent/Flashback: 1997
If you were an MCSE circa 1994-1997, you received a benefits package that—apart from the certificate—bears little resemblance to what we provide today. Yes, there was the lapel pin, but there was also a free one-year subscription to Technet, along with some free product support incidents, usable on any Microsoft product.
In early 1997, we examined the utilization rate of the various benefits and found that the product support benefit had a ridiculously low usage rate—pretty much no one was using their incidents. That was bad news for the certification team, because we were purchasing those vouchers from Product Support (yes, we did and still do transfer a lot of money around the company) and weren’t getting any value from it.
Or so we thought.
Believing the benefit wasn’t valued, we removed it altogether. And then the cards and letters started pouring in from upset MCPs. We got it wrong, they told us: the value of the product support benefit didn’t come from using it, it came from knowing that you could use it if you needed to. In other words, the product support benefit was an “in case of emergency, break glass” thing… you might never use it, but you’re sure glad it’s there nonetheless.
So we briefly entertained the notion of adding it back when we revamped the benefits package in 1999, but by then the community had moved on: MCP Magazine ran a survey asking for input on benefits to add or enhance, and product support was pretty far down the list.
So we scratched our collective head over that one for a few moments and moved on, having learned a valuable lesson: don’t rely on benefits usage data as an indicator of perceived value—especially when we can ask you guys directly, which we started to immediately thereafter in our annual (sometimes twice-annual) MCP satisfaction survey.
Fast forward about five years:
Preparing to introduce our new generation of certifications, we revisited our benefits package yet again, this time with years of satisfaction data in hand. As it turned out, the lapel pins consistently performed poorly when we asked you to rate their value as a benefit.
Frankly, we were really glad to hear that. Here’s a secret: while as a customer I dig the lapel pin—and while as an evangelist I really dig the idea of MCPs around the world wearing them—from a fulfillment perspective, we hated the lapel pins. They were responsible for an appalling amount of damaged shipments—the adhesive would often rip off, or the pin backing would dent the certificate. The costs of the pins themselves wasn’t such a big deal—but the cost of all the replacement welcome kits was, especially when our customers were telling us they really didn’t care about the pins anyway.
So we removed them.
And for a while, we could hear the crickets chirp… but slowly, steadily, and with increasing volume: the choir began to sing.
Back to the present:
Yeah, everyone seems to be talking about the lapel pins these days, and even those who don’t want them back focus mainly on the clumsiness of the form factor rather than on the concept of a way to subtly display their credentials.
So back to my original question—why the resurgence of interest? I’d like to hear your thoughts, but I’ll offer my hypothesis at the outset: the last few years have seen a resurgence for Microsoft certifications. Empirically true in volumes, but also, our studies and surveys show, in the perceived value of our certifications. And with increased value comes increased pride, and I think people enjoy having a way to show off their accomplishments. Am I on the right track? Let us know.
Moving forward: as Sarah mentioned the other day, we are indeed revamping the MCP benefits package—and this time, it’s a big revamp.
Some of the existing benefits will go away, like the little-used member directory and partner knowledge base (we’re actually forced to remove them, as the internal team that built and supported those tools are retiring them).
As for what’s going to be added, Sarah will have that discussion with you guys over the next few months.
To set the stage for her, though, let me offer one factoid for you to ponder:
With over 2.3 million MCPs worldwide, it costs us more than million dollars just to send you an empty envelope in the mail, let alone actually putting something in the envelope.
Even by Microsoft budget standards, a million dollars is a really big number. So in revisiting our benefits package, we’re focusing on the following principles in order to provide the most value in return for your investment:
Even with regard to lapel pins, I’ve asked my team to keep these principles in mind.
Tomorrow begins two solid days of meetings to start hashing out the model, so this would be an excellent time to provide your input!
We’re listening.