MAXIMIZE YOUR CONFERENCE ROI

Sports travel industry conferences and trade shows have come a long way since I started attending them over 20 years ago. From more in-depth educational sessions with expanded subject matter to more engaging networking functions, these industry gatherings have become a primary tool for destinations to utilize as part of their overall event recruitment strategy. While education and networking are both beneficial and worthy elements for any conference, the most valuable component from my experience in terms of event recruitment is one-on-one appointments. To maximize one’s effectiveness in this area, preparation and follow up are clearly key. Below I’ve listed the most important items I consider before and after attending an industry trade show that help keep me organized and on task. Contributing Writer: Sean Doherty, CSEE, Sales & Sports Marketing Manager, Punta Gorda I Englewood Beach Visitor & Convention Bureau

Preparation Do your homework: Once the list of event organizers has been released as part of the appointment scheduling process, I prioritize researching each entity to educate myself as to what opportunities exist that may be a fit for my destination and its facilities. Although I may feel a high level of familiarity with certain event organizers from previous interactions or due to the high-profile nature of particular organizations, I resist the temptation that I know all I need to know about them. Rights holders and their organizations are continuously evolving, whereby they may add events to their portfolios or even an entire sport. I recently experienced this when I met with an organization that I had not had much contact with the past few years due to an incompatibility with the sports they operated and our facility availability. I learned in our appointment session that this respected event organizer is now entering into the pickleball arena which potentially could be a great fit for our newly opened PicklePlex of Punta Gorda.

Another item I keep in mind while doing my research is looking at the organizer’s event history. Do they typically only select large metro areas to host their events? Do they have a pattern of rotating geographically or have they ever had a presence in my region of the state or country? Is there an exorbitant bid fee that is out of reach for my budget? Which direction has their participation been trending? Answering these questions on the front end helps me maximize how I spend my time at the trade show.

5 STEPS OF PREPARATION

1DO YOUR HOMEWORK

2KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW

3WHAT’S NEW?

4KEEP YOUR MESSAGE FRESH

5INITIATE A CALL TO ACTION

Know what you don’t know: Once my schedule of one-on-one appointments has been established, I like to create a game plan of how I plan to approach each meeting. After conducting additional research on each organizer on my schedule, I create a binder or other organized file with the rights holder’s profile sheet along with at least 3-5 questions that will help me determine my destination’s capability or likelihood of hosting one of their upcoming events in the near future. Having these questions mapped out in advance can be very advantageous, as all trade show veterans know the 10-12 minute appointments go by extremely fast. Of course, these conversations can be fluid and as I never want to interrupt an actively engaged rights holder, I oftentimes run out of time before I’m able to ask all my questions, so having these questions in writing makes it easier to go seek out that organizer later in the show to get any critical questions answered. Following up onsite also helps to amplify your interest in the organizer’s event.

What’s new?: Although there are always a few new rights holders on my schedule at each show, a significant percentage of my one-onone sessions are with individuals I’ve met with before who are at least somewhat familiar with my destination and its sports venues. As I only see many of these people face to face once or twice a year, it’s always beneficial to reconnect, but more importantly, it’s a prime opportunity to educate them on what’s new or upcoming in my destination. Obviously if there is a new venue specific to the rights holder’s sport it’s important to focus on that, but other areas of development in your destination may be enticing enough to gain that higher level of interest from the organizer to take the next step. For example, are there new hotels, resorts or attractions that have recently opened or are scheduled to in the near future? Is new air service coming to your primary airport? Has a new local league or club been created in that particular organizer’s sport? Local clubs can sometimes be an invaluable resource for organizers to provide logistical and volunteer support. What about your grant or incentive program? We all know that financial assistance can go a long way in helping recruit an event, so make sure organizers are fully aware of the scope of your program and application criteria. Keep your message fresh: While this item ties into the “What’s New” section above, it’s important to not just wait until a new venue or attraction comes along before reviewing your existing collateral. If any component of your branding has changed, make sure it’s reflected in your collateral, including your printed marketing materials, your booth display and any promotional giveaways. I also conduct a regular review of my collateral to ensure the imagery and copy best encapsulate the message we want to relay to all existing and potential clients. Not only do destinations evolve, trends do too, so what was cutting edge or dynamic three or four years ago may be tired and cliché now. Make sure you’re sending a positive message to the rights holder that your organization is innovative and creative, not lazy or complacent.

Initiate a call to action: In today’s society, even with advances in technology, everyone seems to be busier than they were 20 years ago which can make it tougher to move prospective business to the next step. As a result, it’s important to be able to grab the organizer’s attention and generate a sense of urgency. One way to do this is to create an attractive promotional offer. For many event organizers, their projected bottom line is one of the most important areas of concern when making a decision on where to host an event. Anything the prospective host organization can do to help alleviate the rights holder’s financial burden will help boost their chances of being selected. Following are a few things I keep in mind when formulating a promotional offer:

-Make the offer valid only during peak need times. -Include an expiration date as part of the offer. This not only helps create the sense of urgency but also keeps you organized from a budget perspective. -Provide something that will make your event memorable to the decision makers, coaches and players and stands out from the previous events. Sponsor a reception for staff and officials, partner with an existing festival or sporting event to offer free or discounted admission, work with the primary host hotel to provide an additional incentive or activity such as a reception with live music or a pool party. -Offer additional money or other incentives for a multi-year deal.

Now that the closing party is over and you’ve traveled home, the real work begins. It’s in this phase of the process that you can really differentiate yourself from the competition and maximize the depth of your relationship with an individual organizer. Although for some of us (raising my hand) it may be very tempting to play catch up with other job duties that may have been neglected while on the road, it’s imperative to immediately focus on and prioritize at least some type of quick follow up whether it be an email recapping your conversation at the show, a brief handwritten thank you note or a phone call to ask any questions you may not have gotten to at the show, this timeframe can be critical for setting the tone for the relationship moving forward.

Cultivation Immediate follow up: I set a goal of following up with each client within a week of meeting with them at a trade show. My preference is to follow up with as many as I can as soon as I get back to my hotel room if time permits. However, in some cases my follow up may require that I do a little research or have access to files I’m unable to retrieve remotely, in which case, I typically try to block off the first couple days after returning from a show to conduct these tasks.

Another part of my immediate follow up is to request an RFP of any event the organizer has available that was determined to be a good fit for my destination, assuming the RFP was not provided at the show. A well-developed RFP typically will provide the most comprehensive picture of the event requirements and history, providing the valuable information needed to decide whether moving on to the next step is warranted.

Build the relationship: I’ve attended many educational sessions and have read numerous industry articles focused on the sales process whereby various research studies have been cited. Most seem to indicate that the average sale is closed after having 5-8 touch points with the prospective client. As a result, it’s extremely important to track all your potential and existing clients in an organized fashion so that a lead doesn’t go cold due to a lapse in communication. In 2020 it’s likely that most organizations have invested in some type of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program. This invaluable tool is an efficient and effective platform for organizing those touch points, tracking deadlines, storing rights holder information and running a variety of reports that can be shared with your board of directors or other stakeholders. Of course, this tool is only as good as the information that is inputted so it makes sense to enter any new organizer into your CRM during the immediate follow up phase.

Hot lead identification: Once I’ve determined which events my destination has the capacity to host, I loop in the respective facility managers as to the dates, scope of use and any unusual requirements that may be included in an event’s RFP. In my experience, it’s always beneficial to include these stakeholders as soon in the process as possible. Having them involved early, where they can have input from the outset, not only provides the opportunity for creativity in the proposal phase but also helps foster a team approach rather than a mere lessor/lessee relationship. The more your facility manager is bought in, the more likely of landing an event as well as its successful execution.

Follow up to the follow up: After a lead has been determined to be a strong potential fit and the facility and other stakeholders are on board, I make an immediate effort to initiate another touch point with the organizer to emphasize our interest in the event and remind them of any promotional offer or incentive program that can benefit them and the event. At this juncture, if the organizer is not familiar with my destination on a firsthand basis, I will invite them for a site visit. Just like a picture is worth a thousand words, a well-executed site visit helps an organizer visualize how their event will fit into the destination’s infrastructure and can spark their creativity allowing the destination to sell itself. Be a fan of their sport: Selling your destination, just like selling anything, is all about relationships. One of the best ways to build that relationship with an event organizer is to show your true interest in their sport and/or event. While it’s fairly common practice to conduct a site visit of an event after your destination has been selected to host it, I believe doing a site visit before the decision has been made, or even prior to submitting a proposal, can carry a lot of weight with the decision-makers. Although budget and/or staff constraints may make this unreasonable for every event you bid on, this face to face touch point can be well worth the effort for those select events that are expected to generate a significant level of economic impact or where you feel you might need a leg up on the competition. If possible, try to bring along the facility manager or other representative as this could plant the seed for cultivating an additional relationship between the event organizer and your destination.

Above all, I feel it’s important to be patient and focus on building a solid relationship with any prospective client. If this is effectively accomplished and your destination is a strong fit for the organizer’s event, it’s likely just a matter of time before you can close the sale.

5 STEPS OF CULTIVATION

1IMMEDIATE FOLLOW UP

2BUILD THE RELATIONSHIP

3HOT LEAD IDENTIFICATION

4FOLLOW UP THE FOLLOW UP

5BE A FAN OF THEIR SPORT