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Regional Gifts Offer Meeting Professionals Solution to Lower Budgets
With the economic downturn and tighter budgets, meeting professionals are finding it more difficult to offer convention attendees welcome gifts. Regional gifts are an excellent solution.
While meeting professionals want to offer welcome amenities, the current financial situation demands that they not send the wrong message to their members by appearing to overspend.
For gift basket designers that means taking the time to listen and understand what the customer needs and wants, which will help you position yourself as an expert in the field.
National Sales Meetings that are 6 Months Long?
That’s right. National Sales Meetings, Sales Kickoffs, Annual Meetings of any kind have the opportunity to be 6 months long! At least in the hearts and minds of your attendees. Sales Meetings, for most large corporations, are in the neighborhood of 3 days long. Often consisting of morning plenary sessions (or general sessions), with breakouts or district/regional meetings in the afternoon and maybe an Award Ceremony on the final evening. They often use a “Sales Meeting Theme” to help get their message across. In the scheme of things, and in the life of your typical, hard-driving sales rep, it’s flash-in-the-pan. Merely a moment in time. You’ll have to really impress her to make the take-home value stand out. I’ve heard many, organizers and sales executives ask “How do I get better sales meeting ideas?”
It doesn’t have to be that way. I know, you’re saying to yourself, “How can I possibly keep them out of the field any longer? You don’t. One of the most-overlooked opportunities for communication is the maximizing of the National Sales Meeting.
Franchise Companies and Franchisor Performance Reviews at Regional Meetings
All franchise companies should have regional team meetings with their franchisees and in these meetings as for reality based feedback and listen. It is important to keep an open mind even if there are times that bitch session looks as if it is breaking out. You cannot fix the system, streamline operations or improve efficiency of your franchised outlets without honest feedback.
You will be surprised as to what you will learn. Recently at a regional team meeting or regional director and the leader of the franchisee club regional group sat down before the meeting and had a one on one. We offer royalty reduction in areas of seasonality weather conditions to franchisees who will spend time with us and give us some suggestions. I believe all franchise companies should do this although in all the franchise books I have ever read, I have yet to see any of them actually doing it.