Dec 2004 - Jan 2005

A MONTHLY DIGEST TO INFORM AND ENLIGHTEN MEETING PLANNERS

The Four Ps of Championship Selling Page 3 IN THIS ISSUE Five-Minute Life Coach

5, 16

Book review

6

Two kinds of tired

8

IMPAC milestone reached

9

Caged by our labels

10

Influence with ease

13

Image: Gestures

15

Words at work that don’t work

17

Dec. ’04/Jan ’05 Edition

VOL. 2 ISSUE 6

A daunting task: Being a public speaker

BY MARISSA LAROUCHE-SMART

Y

our heart is pounding, your mouth is dry, and your palms are sweaty. The self-confidence that has gotten you this far in life seems to have deserted you. You are about to talk in front of a group.

You thought you knew just what you wanted to say, and it sounded fine when you rehearsed it in your kitchen, but somehow it’s not quite the same in front of a live audience.

Well, if it’s any comfort, you’re not alone. In fact, I read somewhere that when asked what people are the most scared of, it wasn’t death, illness or poverty—it was speaking before a group.

Many people never conquer this fear and simply avoid making speeches. If you do, however, have to or want to make a speech, there are many ways to prepare.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

NOTES

FROM THE EDITOR

A time to rejoice Every Holiday Season, we think of the past year and the coming one.

So let’s stop and think for a minute: We live in a great country; We work in a people-oriented industry; We’re relatively healthy; What could be better?

Let’s be thankful!

New contributors: We have two new contributors this month: Huges Gibeault is one of Canada’s leading sales and marketing executives. He details the 4 Ps of Championship Selling... Jeff Mowatt is an international speaker and corporate trainer. We are very pleased to offer his “Influence with Ease” column that touches on a variety of topics related to the biz... Harriet Wezena is a Montreal-based freelancer and she has written her second book review for us...

See you in 2005: Our next issue will be published in February, and we look forward to hearing from you about what kinds of articles you’d like to see, so please keep those emails and phone calls coming. The staff at The Planner wishes you all a happy holiday season!

Other stuff: If you would like to be a monthly correspondent for The Planner providing 150-200 words a month for the Industry News section, please e-mail us at: info@theplanner.ca.

Best wishes from all of us at The Planner

Need to change your address?

Want to receive The Planner?

Next issue: February, 2005 2

Email us at: info@theplanner.ca What would you like to read about?

Please e-mail me at: lgervais@theplanner.ca

Our Mission and Goal Our mission is to inform and enlighten meeting planners. Each edition will have no more than 30 to 35 per cent advertising (all of which will be informative) with the rest of the publication dedicated to articles to help meeting planners in their day-to-day activities.

Our goal is to give out the accumulated profit as educational grants to planners.

Published by: 2105 rue de la Montagne, suite 100 • Montreal, Quebec • H3G 1Z8 Telephone: (514) 849-6841 ext. 333 • Fax: (514) 284-2282 We welcome your comments: info@theplanner.ca Editor: Leo Gervais Proofreader and researcher: Nathalie Caron Translator: Dominique Lamarche Administration: Patrick Galvin, Julie Boisvert Sales: James Paulson Contributors: Mike Auctor, Thomas Chalmers, Sharon Danley, Peter De Jager, Cathleen Fillmore, Huges Gibeault, Barbara Kelly, Marissa Larouche-Smart, Jeff Mowatt, Barry Siskind, Harriet Wezena The Planner is a monthly publication distributed to 10,000 professional meeting planners and growing.

Another 1,000 copies are distributed to individuals working in the service industry.

Poste-publication No. 40934013

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

The Four Ps of Championship Sales How to achieve the highest level of sales performance

BY HUGUES GIBEAULT

S

o you want to be Number 1? This is every salesperson’s dream-and if it isn’t, it should be. The best salespeople are extremely competitive by nature, want to be the best, love interacting with people and live to achieve outstanding results with customers.

Taking yourself to the highest level of performance, however, requires more than just a dream. Here are the four Ps, or key pillars of sales performance-Perspective, Playing catch, Preparation & knowledge, and Presenting-to help you achieve Championship Sales.

Perspective Approaching daily tasks and life with a positive, powerful and unique perspective sets the stage for success. If you believe you can, or if you believe you can’t-you’re right!

Research on human performance consistently indicates the value of a correct mindset to guide behavior. Attitude, attitude, attitude! There are a number of ways the right perspective sets you up for success.

First, your thoughts affect your behavior and emotion.

Thinking of your talents and successes instead of your shortcomings and failures will keep a spring in your step and a smile on your face.

Second, perspective means viewpoint or outlook. This means projecting into the future with knowledge of the present. Your well-managed perspective holds the information you need to carry you into success-build it!

Third, perspective means being present in the situation at all times, and gathering information that shapes it all the time.

And finally, perspective means knowing that others have one, too, and it is your job to understand theirs and share yours.

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

Playing Catch As salespeople we are well groomed in the art of pitching (i.e. talking, presenting) but at the end of the day, selling is more about catching than pitching. The most successful salespeople are great catchers, they have well honed communication skills, ask great questions, listen intently and with empathy in order to truly understand customer needs.

A sale is a relationship game. Playing catch is the most important relationship skill you are ever going to learn; it will help you in customer relations, and all your other relationships, too.

The time invested to really get to know your customer pays off in several ways. You build a stronger relationship, one that fosters loyalty and will help you through any challenges that may arise. You discover what the customer really needs, and can position your products or services to provide solutions.

Intentional listening with feedback also increases the likelihood that the favor will be returned-your customer is more likely to listen to you if you play catch with them.

Preparation & Knowledge Knowing your customer is key to success in sales, and this requires continuous preparation and knowledge development.

The goal is to understand the customer better than they understand themselves. Do this through blueprinting, i.e. developing a strategic understanding of how a customer operates and makes decisions, understanding who is involved in those decisions and what criteria they use to make decisions, and developing a plan of action to influence those decisions to mutual benefit.

Preparation and knowledge also means minding your customer’s business, for your sake and theirs, and using this information to effect favorable customer decisions.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

3

Industry Trends Avoiding the lines

Toastmasters and Dale Carnegie are two proven ways to improve CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Airports are expected to be increasingly crowded this holiday travel season. What should you do to avoid the lines’ • Check wait times: Since summer, the TSA has posted security-line delays at tsa.gov.

•Watch out for the coasts: Checkpoint lines can be longer because travelers tend to originate flights there instead of transferring - meaning more people going through security.

• The downside of discounters: Airports like Dulles and Fort Lauderdale, where discounters have added capacity, tend to have more security logjams.

Gift bags the way to go With $5 billion worth of gift wrap tossed in the trash each year, reusable gift bags may be an idea whose time has come.

Wrapsacks ($3 to $8 at wrapsacks.com) are hand-dyed cotton bags designed to be recycled: Receive a gift in one, use it to give a gift to someone else. Each comes with a unique ID sewn inside. If all recipients enter the bags whereabouts at the Web site, you can track its travels. Check www.bizrate.com for some ideas on pricing on gift bags.

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The Dale Carnegie Institute is one, another way is through a membership with a Toastmasters Club, and both are in most major cities. There are also companies, such as Tandem House of Montreal, who not only help you prepare for a presentation, but also have full practice facilities. You can rehearse your speech with teleprompters and video record your delivery so that you can review and correct your mistakes. Tandem House’s training in communication skills is said to be the “ABCs of public speech, phone communication and intercultural communication.”

The Dale Carnegie Institute’s business training courses aim to build communication, leadership, self-confidence, stress management and human relations skills. Elaine Claivaz, managing partner of the Montreal office, said, “An important distinction to make is that we don’t give a public speaking course.

Dale Carnegie originally wanted to teach public speaking, but realized that he needed to teach other skills first. We use public speaking as a tool to teach other abilities. You need to be able to connect with your audience to get your message through.”

Claivaz suggests taking the Dale Carnegie Course (communication and leadership) if you have never spoken in public before or if you have a strong fear of it. It is a 12-week course, which meets once a week. The High Impact Presentation course is a two day seminar which is designed for people who have experience speaking in public and who wish to perfect their presentation skills.

Toastmasters is a non-profit educational corporation that provides a platform to polish up or to develop public speaking skills. Toastmasters Clubs are set up like small businesses and each member has a distinct role to play. Pierre Desrochers joined his Montreal club 12 years ago to conquer his fear and stress of speaking in public, “Toastmasters was a place to practice once a week. It’s about the art of public speaking, about developing your leadership. We need leaders!”

He says that in the meetings, you learn by listening and by watching others speak, and when you’re ready, you make your own speeches. The first award to achieve is the Competent Toastmaster (CTM), and the highest award is the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).

For further information, consult these websites to find out which method best suits your fears: www.tandemhouse.com, www.toastmasters.org, and www.dalecarnegie.com

I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of a national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.

Ronald Reagan DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

4Ps the keys to top selling CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

FIVE-MINUTE LIFE COACH Standing room only

Presenting

BY THOMAS CHALMERS

You need to know your customer, but your customer needs to know you as well. Presentations with the appropriate structure, the right processes and a dash of creativity will make this happen. Going back all the way to Aristotle, presentation means using language effectively to please or persuade. This includes demonstrating credibility, using logic and capturing attention.

Good sales presentations require that you do it all! You want to get to solutions- and use negotiation only if necessary... but not necessarily use negotiation!

Good presentations require structure-the right methodology and process to follow. Structure provides the substance of the presentation, and with process you have the ability to stay in control of the relationship with the customer.

The next critical factor is creativity. The customer’s attention is the real currency in a sales presentation, and sometimes you have to use creative methods to get their attention. This involves the use of props and other things to capture their attention and make presentations engaging and meaningful.

Consistently applying the 4Ps of Championship Sales leads to “transformational” versus transactional selling, making a tangible, lasting difference for the customer and his or her business, leading to sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships.

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••• Hugues Gibeault is one of Canada’s leading sales and marketing executives. He is Executive Vice President and Managing Partner for Optimé International, a leading Fortune 500 training consultancy that specializes in developing high performance sales organizations. You can contact Hugues through the National Speakers Bureau at 1-800661-4110 or www.nsb.com.

The 4Ps of Championship Sales, with each critical performance pillar built on the foundation of the other below it, starting with Perspective. Consistently applying all 4Ps leads to “transformational” versus transactional selling.

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

hen was the last time you stood ‘for yourself’? Or do you tend to say nothing to keep the peace and then regret your quiet cowardice?

You will always be racked with failure if you never stand up for what you believe in , and that includes yourself. There’s nothing worse than someone taking a loan of you and you letting them.

It is therefore crucial to establish as set of principles or core values to which you hold true, such as Fairness, Equality, Honesty, Integrity: a real life ready reckoner which establishes who you are and lets other people know where you stand.

Defining your drivers or guiding principles enable you to decide quickly and act consistently. You will know your own mind and people will respect you for it.

For example, if you value Fairness but someone is being unfair to you, then you know what you need to do. Think it through, find the words and then challenge them. Be assertive.

Stand firm to fairness and don’t back down. Tell them how you feel and leave them in no doubt about where you stand.

You need to be bold, so don’t compromise your principles.

Industry Trends Allergy-free cats?

“I’d love to have a cat,” your significant other tells you- “but I’m really allergic.” No problem, you reply. I just bought one of the new allergy-free cats from Allerca Inc (www.allerca.com).

The company says it is now taking orders for cats that have been genetically modified so they don’t produce the irritating substance, which comes out in their saliva and through their skin.

Of course, some of the early experiments produced a breed of carnivorous super-cat with a taste for human flesh, but now that they’ve got the bugs worked out everything should be fine.

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BOOK REVIEW

Bring Your Work to Life by William John Mills Being responsible

BY HARRIET WEZENA

I

t is Monday and you already can’t wait for Friday to come. Is your work-life out of balance? Then there is something lacking and that’s motivation and meaning in whatever you do.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be like this—you can bring your work to life as William John Mills gives us all the necessary tools to achieve meaning in our work and a work-life balance in his book Bring Your Work to Life: Applying the Best of You to What You Do.” “Relationships are the fundamental building blocks of existence,” understanding their importance, Mills writes, is key to activating meaning and motivation in your work and life. He devotes each of the three parts of his book, exploring three different relationships in this regard, namely: 6 your relationship with Self; your relationship with Others; and your relationship with the Higher Values.

In your relationship with Self, William discusses elements such as knowing who you are and what you want, understanding how you invest your time, taking your personal values to your workplace, achieving a reasonable work-life balance, taking care of your personal resources of body, mind, and spirit and bringing your consciousness to everyday events.

The way you choose to spend your time is an outward reflection of your relationship with Self. William suggests that, to understand who you are and what you want, it's imperative to analyse your present use of time in your work and personal life and then compare this with how you would ideally like to spend you time. If you neglect one aspect for the other you will pay the price.

He contends that, “business is personal” and affects peoples lives and how you choose to be at work affects all those you interact with. Compartmentalizing our life into work and personal life he says, “creates workplaces that are fearful, dispirited and unmotivated.”

This brings us to the second part of the book that deals with your relationship with others.

The only way to satisfy the need for meaning at work, asserts William, is through the “creation of genuine workplace communities” which are characterized by “compassion.” At the core of building this community involves caring for your colleagues, passion for your work, and effective communication.

Mills counsels that you have to treat all relationships as if they were long term because you just never know and keep in mind it's not what you say, but how you say it. Live by the “golden rule” and treat your colleagues the way you would want them to treat you.

Finally, Williams discusses your relationship with the Higher Values. These he says, provide you with a connection to the global community and helps you understand the web of consciousness that unites the world's diversity. You have to consider what Higher Values are most important to you and how best to make your relationship with them more present in your work life. For the purposes of the book, he talks about three values which are: divine, trust and response-ability.

The Divine he refers to as the “universal and loving intelligence that is both within you and beyond you the same time.” However, he points out you can experience the Divine by counting your learnings, meditation, and through the power of prayer. Trust, he asserts, keeps hope alive and that allows you to meet your life and work demands with energy, confidence, and optimism.

Being responsible he says, empowers you and the opposite is placing blame with stripes you of your power giving it to whoever you blame. You need to be response-able for your ideas to materialize otherwise, you will be stuck in dreamland with no power to exit into reality. It's necessary therefore for you to identify your abilities and work to improve areas where you're not very response-able.

An inspirational author, Mills resorts to various simple anecdotes as well as 32 different thought-provoking exercises that will enable you to discover all the secrets to finding meaning, motivation, and happiness in both your work and personal life.

His stimulating style of presentation totally draws you in until you turn to the last page smiling because now you know how true it is when he says “work is the sandbox of life. It's where grown-ups go to play.”

For more information on the book, go to www.creativebound.com Book: Bring Your Work To Life Author: William John Mills Publisher: Creative Bound, 2002 Price on Chapters.ca: CDN $20.95 (Softcover) On the Web: http://www.creativebound.com/book/ book117.htm

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

Evenemento holds its own event E

venemento, an event marketing company based in Montreal, celebrated its first two years in business at Boutique Harricana on November 24. An ice sculpture sitting outside guided the guests towards the entrance, a hall decorated with mini Christmas trees evoked the winter theme and its many pleasures. The guests sampled apple martinis, fresh oysters from the Oyster Bar and “après-ski” style hors d’oeuvres. Evenemento President, Marie-Josée Loiselle, had a message: the power of events as a marketing tool.

Evenemento practices what it preaches, and designed and orchestrated an event to demonstrate what they can do and invited clients and contacts to experiment with its

Boutique Harricana was the site of Evenemento’s two year anniversary party on November 24.

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

services. In a world where it is more and more difficult to differentiate from the competition, where the client’s attention is grabbed in a thousand different directions, Evenemento’s mission is to help companies and organizations to connect more strategically with their clients and prospects by designing experiences that accelerate the sales cycle. An event is not only a logistic endeavour; it’s really more about integrating all the elements to communicate a specific message. Whether prospecting for new business, working mature leads or fostering relationships with existing customers, there is a set of events appropriate to every industry, at every stage of the selling cycle, aimed at achieving measurable business objectives.

The 90 invitees discovered the unique recycled fur clothes by the famous designer Mariouche Gagné. For more info, please visit: www.evenemento.com

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The two kinds of tired W

e who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

— Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

O

8

ne of my all-time favourite songwriter/storytellers was Harry Chapin. He left this world too soon, a troubadour and servant, sharing his wisdom in his concerts and raising money and awareness regarding issues of world hunger. I often find myself listening to his music, a great companion for a drive in the country. On one of his “greatest hits” recordings, he speaks about his grandfather, the stories he told and the wisdom he imparted. He said, “My grandfather always used to say, ‘Harry, in this world there are two kinds of tired-good tired and bad tired.’” The words resonated with me as I remembered both the good and bad tired moments of my life. These days, I am grateful to be mostly “good tired.”

“Bad tired” can follow a day when you are seen as a winner in the eyes of others, but you know that you won other people’s battles or lived other people’s days, other people’s agendas and other people’s dreams. You achieved great things but for someone else’s cause. At the end of the day, you see that there was very little of YOU in there. You realize that deep inside yourself, the parts are not connected. When you lay your head down that night, you toss and turn; you don’t rest easy. You know your “doings” of the day are disconnected from your being, from your core values and from your sense of purpose.

Then there are the days when you are “good tired.” Good tired can be the result of a day in which you experience less success, trying but not always satisfied with the outcome. The key is that you are working at the things you truly love and enjoy. You don’t need to be hard on yourself because you know that you fought your own battles, you chased your own dreams, and you lived your days fully. This path is sometimes more difficult, but you feel better about yourself because your choices are in-line with who you are and what you believe in.

At the end of the day when you lay down your head, you rest

The key is that you are working at the things you truly love and enjoy easy. You know that what you did that day, what you achieved, was connected to your purpose and values.

If you examine your days at their close, are you good tired or bad tired? Is what you do, what you are trying to achieve, connected to who you are-your being, your values, your purpose?

I am sure that all of us experience days when we are bad tired and others when we are good tired. Bad tired is being exhausted because what we are doing steals our energy and power. It may be the work we are doing, it may be the environment we do it in, or it may be the people we are spending time with.

Whatever the cause, we become disconnected from our essence.

The days end in fatigue and disillusionment; we feel empty inside. Our sense of achievement is overshadowed as we are not sure that what we did that day had any real meaning for anyone.

Good tired is about having a deep sense of satisfaction. It is about living a life of meaning and sensing that what we are doing is of value and valued. We want to know that, in some small way, we are making a difference to someone, whether the recipient is miles away or sitting next to us. We want to know that what we do does not harm other people or the planet.

All of us have the capacity to serve in a significant way, whether we repair appliances, write computer programs, teach courses or drive buses. It is simply a choice that we make. If we are feeling bad tired, we need to identify why and understand that the solution lies within us. It may mean a change in our place of work, our career path or how we live. Or it may be as straightforward as taking the time to find the meaning in what we are currently doing, reconnecting with our values and purpose and seeing the abundance in our lives.

Two Kinds of Tired is an excerpt from roadSIGNS: Travel Tips for Authentic Living (19.95 CAN) by Betty Healey. F or more information on the firm’s services, speakers, trainers and book resources, or to order a copy of roadSIGNS, please call 1-800-2878610 or e-mail us at: resources@creativebound.com

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

IMPAC hits a membership milestone with 100 members

T

he Independent Meeting Planners Association of Canada (IMPAC) announced on December 1 it has reached a membership milestone of 100 meeting planning companies.

IMPAC is committed to providing credible, professional and experienced meeting planning support to the corporate, association, government and not-for-profit sectors.

IMPAC members can seamlessly execute international meetings, public events, weddings, religious assemblies, social events, trade shows and symposiums, regardless of size and/or complexity. Services provided by IMPAC members include coordination of event logistics, conference registration, staffing, contracting guest speakers, venues, transportation services and exhibit space, program design, development, and event promotion and marketing.

Exclusive RFP process Clients benefit from the reassurance that they are accessing experienced meeting planners who are able to manage all aspects of meeting and event marketing. Many members carry industry designations such as CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) and CMM (Certified Meeting Manager).

Through an exclusive on-line RFP process clients have the benefit of finding the best meeting planner(s) to meet their needs by accessing IMPAC members via their website at www.impaccanada.com Founded in 1995, IMPAC is the innovation of Joy E. Fox; now a semi-retired meeting entrepreneur based in Vancouver.

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

When asked what inspired Fox to start this unique group of professionals, Joy said, “I wanted to get together with people who were independent meeting planners like me who were working in non-corporate, autonomous environments. As meeting planning was a relatively new profession I felt the need to liaise for support and information.”

IMPAC is now one of Canada’s most influential professional meeting planning associations, handling hundreds of meetings and events each year. When asked about her vision, Fox explained, “I saw the need to promote the profession through education and support.” Fox is looking forward to the day that IMPAC becomes a Canada-wide organization.

Many benefits for members The benefits for IMPAC members are nurtured through business alliances, referrals, education and professional programs. Each year there are networking opportunities and educational events, including an annual conference (Quebec, October 20-23, 2005), Golf Tournament (July 21, Lionhead Golf & Country Club & Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre), education sessions, supplier showcases (November) and monthly meetings featuring topical guest speakers.

Members are provided with a forum for camaraderie, information exchange, as well as group insurance plans. The highest professional standards are outlined in the member code of ethics. IMPAC is affiliated with the Canadian Meetings & Incentive Travel Symposium, Canadian Special Events & Meetings Expo, and BiZBash TO. ••• Full and associate memberships are available for independent meeting planners, proprietors of a meeting planning companies or their employees. For more information on membership or sourcing the services of IMPAC members contact Carol Ford, Executive Director at 905868-8008, 1-866-IMPAC-99, 1-866-467-2299 or email mail to: impac@impaccanada.com

9

Caged by our labels, boxed in

BY PETER DE JAGER

I

f you’ve done any reading in the area of Creativity or Innovation then you’ve certainly come across the advice “Think outside the Box”. Even though it’s almost a cliché, it hasn’t outlived its usefulness. “Think outside the box” is a brilliantly accurate description of the primary goal of the creative process. I wish I’d come up with it.

It isn’t totally perfect though, it contains a neatly hidden assumption, pointing to the real reason why creativity is sometimes so difficult to achieve. The problem is, it focuses our attention on the “Thinking outside” aspect, rather than on the “box” part. “Thinking differently”, once we can identify how we’re currently thinking, is not exceedingly difficult. It’s knowing a) that you’re in a box, and b) becoming aware of the boundaries of that box, that is almost impossible.

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Here’s an exercise I use to illustrate this problem in concrete terms. I separate the class into teams of 2-4 people and hand them an unopened deck of playing cards. Their instructions are: i) They have 10 minutes to build a tower of cards as tall as possible. ii) They cannot speak to me during that time. iii) They cannot use any other resources.

iv) The team with the tallest tower from bottom to top, ‘wins’ the exercise.

If they’re very digitally skilled, the most they manage is a tower two, maybe three cards high.

The reasons they offer for their level of performance is that the cards are new and slippery and the surface of the desk isn’t a good place to build a tower of cards.

The real reason for their squat towers, is something they seldom mention. More to the point, they’re typically incapable of mentioning it, because they’re rarely aware of it.

They insist on respecting the label of ‘cards’ arbitrarily assigned to stiff pieces of printed cardboard. Folding these cardboard rectangles and/or cutting structural slots into them, would turn ‘slippery cards’ into extremely effective building blocks. Towers ten or fifteen cards high are possible when we stop seeing the available resources as ‘cards’.

As an experiment, I have on occasion handed out a new deck of 3x5 index cards... these are immediately bent, twisted and mutilated into shapes more appropriate to building tall towers. We don’t have the same ‘respect’ for the lowly 3x5 index card that we do for playing cards.

If you’re saying to yourself “this is an unfair exercise you can’t/shouldn’t fold, spindle or mutilate new playing cards” then you’re falling into the same restricting box of thought as have my students. Yes! They are “cards”... but they are also pieces of stiff cardboard.

The greatest challenge of “Thinking outside the box” is knowing when the box is self imposed.

A simple trick to aid in the identification of these imaginary boxes is to consciously stop using labels, not forever, but just when you need a sharper creative edge.

Whenever you are faced with a problem, one of the first things we do is identify our resources. If we can get into the habit of stripping away all the labels associated with those resources then we can better see what we have available to us. e.g. A paper clip is also a piece of wire, a pin, a conductor of electricity, a piece of metal...

What labels have placed you in an invisible box? You cannot follow the advice to “think outside the box”, until you identify the box in which you’ve caged yourself. (®) 2004 Peter de Jager. A mutterer of words (speaker) and advisor to those who look at others while they do all the work (Management Consultant). To contact him, or for information on his seminars, visit www.technobility.com

Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.

Benjamin Franklin DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

The ABCs of alcohol budgeting controls concepts

Wanted!

Change Management Case Studies When it comes to Change Management, what works?

What fails? What's more difficult? And what do most of us do when it comes to large change projects?

Enterprise columnist Peter de Jager and The Planner are collaborating on a large survey to answer some of these questions. Over the coming months we're going to collect somewhere between 20-25,000 Change Management case studies from all over the world. If you'd like to participate in this massive study, then visit: http://www.technobility.com/docs/sisyphus.htm This survey will take 15-45 minutes to complete depending on how much you're willing to contribute.

Your personal contact information will not be made available to anyone, for any reason.

If you have questions regarding this survey, please contact Peter at: Pdejager@Technobility.com

DATEBOOK — Upcoming Events — JAN 5-8 2005 The Special Event 2005 Conference Trade Show Miami, Fla. http://specialeventsshow.primediabusiness.com

JAN 7-10 2005 Association for Convention Operations Management (ACOM), 17th Annual Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii. www.acomonline.com

JANUARY 9-12 2005 Professional Convention management (PCMA), 2005 PCMA Annual Meeting Honolulu, Hawaii. www.pcma.org

Association

JANUARY 25-28 2005 Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA) St. Louis, Missouri. www.rcmaweb.org

JANUARY 23-25 2005 Professional Education Conference North America 2005 (PECNA) San Diego, California. www.2005pecna.mpiweb.org DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

W

ith the Holiday Season at hand, the age-old question holds even more relevance, “How much is too much?” or for that matter what if what you planned for is not enough.

Below are some general guidelines, all be it not carved in stone, are time tested.

As a general rule, Women consume more wine then spirits and the focus has shifted from quantity to quality of beverage being served. You can expect to have consumed three glasses of wine during a two-hour reception, with consumption being reduced if passed. For a cash bar lasting one hour before an event, 1.5 drinks on average will be consumed. An open bar lasting the same time, consumption will be on average 2.5, increasing to 3.5 for a hour and a half.

Some other general guidelines are, never allow attendees to mix their own drinks, and never allow bar staff to free pour.

Serve high protein foods, and have coffee available at least one half hour before the end of the reception. Do not announce last call, and always have a plan of action for those who have consumed too much alcohol.

Whatever you plan for during your reception, be it entertainment or scheduled speeches, consumption will be reduced. Please use the above guidelines to help you manage your specific event, knowing that every situation is slightly different. And remember no matter what the season, no matter what the reason, don’t drink and drive.

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FIVE FOR 2005 Five trends to watch for next year

“W

here do we see things going?” is a question which we are often asked at The Planner.

Now, we don’t have a crystal ball but here are a few sure bets: We will all have more and more to do and we won’t have more time to do it in, so let’s start with what we do at The Planner.

wanting to organize small- to medium-size events. They are usually less restrictive than hotels and have no rental fees, take reservations for periods greater than three months, and have comparable fare that is trendier and more up-to-date.

Restaurants are now offering private banquet rooms from Café Ferreira and La Queue de Cheval in Montreal, to Biff and the Academy of Spherical Arts in Toronto, to name a few.

Audio-Visual Communicate, Communications, Communicating We see a few trends within this trend: First, we believe more and more Planners will equip themselves with BlackBerrys from RIM (www.blackberry.com). Once you’ve tried one and see an increase of about 20 percent in your productivity, you too will be sold. You won’t work any harder, you will just put those two- and three-minute holes to better use. Second, everyone wants everything now and the BlackBerry allows you to handle it now. Which leads me to the next point in this trend: Written communications. It has always been important to know how to write in our industry, but never more so than in the coming years. We feel that planners should focus on creative writing to be able to sell themselves, their ideas, and to generally communicate with suppliers in a clear concise fashion. If you barely have time to do things once, imagine when they have to be redone—often a consequence of inadequate communications.

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Hotels to offer more flexibility Hotels will start offering more flexible 24 hour Check-in/ Check-out times. All it takes is for a few to start and others will have to follow, and it has started at the Faena Hotel in Buenos Aires to The Peninsula in Beverly Hills to some of the Raffles Hotels and Resort (Singapore, Beverly Hills, Hamburg and Montreux Switzerland). This flexible check-in/check-out means that if a guest checks in at 8 p.m. he has until 8 p.m. the following day to checkout, giving him a choice of arrival and departure times. It’s a concept whose time has come and it will take a while to be universally accepted, but we see that starting this year.

The other trend we see for the hospitality industry will be restaurants becoming more and more of an option for planners

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The next trend we see is also in the communications-related industry. What we predict is more to set the mood and that will come from LEDs (light-emitting diodes). As lights can create a mood and these lights have the ability to literally produce thousands of colours at the touch of a button, you will see them at more shows. Forward thinking companies such as Vision Audio-Visuel (www.vision-av.com) in Quebec City are already doing great things with them.

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Video Conferencing

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Another trend will be the continued growth of videoconferencing. Most videoconferencing centers in Montreal and Toronto have seen huge growth in the last few months and predict it will double in the next year.

LifeStyle Last, but not least, more and more planners will combine work with pleasure through self-help courses from flower arranging to Spanish courses, from cooking and wine tasting to Tai Chi and kickboxing. Planners will use their spare time to grow spiritually, mentally, and physically. Professional Associations and accreditation will also increase – there may be small drops in larger associations but there will also be an increase in smaller, more focused associations such as IMPAC (please see article on page 9).

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Only time will tell if our five for five was on target but you can bet we won’t be far from the mark. If you have thoughts you would like to share with us on these or other subjects, please drop us a line at: info@theplanner.ca.

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www.cansailexp.com / 877.429.9463 / 902.429.1474 DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

INFLUENCE WITH EASE Phrases that Pay Simple Statements that Increase your Perceived Value

By Jeff Mowatt

Quick - name two words which,

A boss, co-worker or customers asks you when frequently used by waiters and to do something. waitresses, increases tips by 12%. (Hint: Without training (any of the following): it’s not please or thank you).

“OK, I’ll try, I’ll do my best, uh-huh, sure” Give up? The answer is, ‘for you.’ With training: “No problem.”

So, rather than saying to a customer, “OK” or “sure” are adequate responses. But “Would you like some more coffee?”, the who wants to be perceived as ‘adequate’? On savvy waiter would say, “I brought more the other hand, imagine asking someone to do coffee over for you.” The patron thinks, a series of difficult, inconvenient, unpleasant “Gosh, you did that for me, how tasks, and they respond instead with, “No thoughtful!” and tips accordingly - on problem.” That conveys the impression of a average 12% more. positive, confident person. Again, we don’t That’s what I call easy money. have to actually feel excited or want to do the If you answered correctly - ignore the rest of task, but using the right phrasing creates that this article. If on the other hand you’d like perception. more phrases and tips that increase your perceived value, then read on.

“While you can never be It’s OK to be in a bad mood I don’t buy-in to the conventional ‘wisdom’ that an employee must bubble with enthusiasm to provide great service and high value. In the real world of upset customers, long hours, and stress, an employee’s enthusiasm will occasionally wear thin. We all have bad days. So, front line employees need to be trained on how to convey a positive, helpful attitude even when they’re not having a zippity-do-dah day.

Here are several situations along with phrases that convey a powerful positive impression - no matter how stressed you may be.

A customer asks for something and you don’t know if it’s in stock.

Without training: “I don’t know if they’re in. I’ll have to check.”

With training: “I don’t know if they’re in, but I’ll be happy to check for you.”

The trained employee conveys a better attitude. The irony is that she didn’t work any harder than the untrained worker - they both checked inventory. But the trained employee gets a lot more credit because she used better phrasing. What’s more - she didn’t have to feel happy or enthusiastic to get the extra credit. She just used wording that made a better impression.

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

“sir” or “ma’me” the customer is reminded that they’re not friends, but business associates. Most of us are much more loyal to friends than we are to businesses. Of course there are exceptions where you may choose to be more formal; such as when you’re dealing with certain senior citizens or someone from a conservative cultural background (anyone from England).

You want to be believed Without training: (Prefaces the statement with any of these phrases): “The truth is... believe me..., honest..., true story..., I really mean this...”

With training: Omits all these statements and just makes the statement of fact.

Prefacing a statement with a phrase that essentially says we’re about to tell too polite with a customer, the truth, implies that everything we’ve said you can be too formal.” up till that point has been a lie! These statements hurt rather than help our credibility. So trained employees just don’t A customer asks about a delivery date.

Without training: “We might be able to get it use them - especially when having a sales conversation. to you by Wednesday.”

With training: “We’ll deliver it by Friday.”

The guideline is, underpromise and The e competitive edg edge overdeliver. In this situation, if the delivery Having a technological advantage over the is made on Thursday, the untrained employee competition is almost impossible to sustain looks incompetent while the trained person in today’s marketplace. Customers can looks like a hero. Keep in mind that it’s not almost always get a similar product to yours just your organization’s reputation that’s at somewhere else. The easiest way to stake - it’s also your personal reputation. So differentiate you and your organization is by make promises sparingly, and then keep them providing value added service. That doesn’t - no matter what it costs you. mean everyone has to work harder. It does mean you need to speak the language of You’re addressing a customer professionals. That’s when using the right Without training: Says, “sir, miss, or ma’me” phrase really pays. frequently.

With training: avoids using sir or ma’me and instead uses person’s name.

While you can never be too polite with a Jeff Mowatt, CSP is an international customer, you can be too formal. When I speaker and corporate trainer. His ask participants at my seminars how they feel focus is, “The Art of Client Service… when a front line employee addresses them as Influence with Ease.”™ For tips, self“sir” or “ma’me” the overwhelming response study kits, and information about booking is, ‘old’. Not a good feeling. What’s more, it Jeff visit www.jeffmowatt.com or call creates a barrier between the customer and 1-800-jmowatt (566-9288).. employee. The customer may be starting to think of the employee as a friend - which we want. But the moment the employee uses

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Questions, questions, questions...

BY BARRY SISKIND

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ver the past few months, I have received several questions from exhibitors that also might be on the mind of some of my readers. Here are five that I think will be helpful to you. So please, keep the questions coming...

Question 1 If I don’t expect to sell anything at a show and can’t measure my return on investment, how do I know if I am doing it right?

Answer

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Very few exhibitors actually sell something from their booth. Most either gather leads for future follow-up or strive to achieve a soft objective such as brand awareness, image, or presence. Some exhibitors think that because their objectives fall into this latter “soft” category they are not measurable. In fact they are. They can be measured in post-show activities such as increased hits to your website, phone calls or follow-up surveys. What these activities indicate is whether the people to whom they were intended to entice are receiving the messages.

Before every show, astute exhibitors set measurable objectives and then ask themselves the question, “How will I know when I have achieved them?”

Setting benchmarks for success is a step in the right direction to ensure you are achieving the goals you set in your exhibit program.

Question 2 How many people do I need to staff a booth properly?

Answer The rule of thumb is that every booth person needs 50 square feet of unoccupied space. This is enough space to carry out a semi-private conversations with one or two show visitors. In a 10 X 10 booth you will need two booth people. Once your exhibit grows the number of booth staff does not grow proportionally. The operative word in the rule is “unoccupied.”

The more space, the greater the tendency to also include inanimate objects such as furniture, displays and products.

Therefore in a 10 X 20 booth you would optimally need three staffers.

Question 3 Are trade shows losing their relevance as a marketing tool?

Answer In an age when people are relying more on technology, it’s a rare situation when we get to meet business people face to face.

Trade shows have been called the “last vestige of face to face selling.” At a well chosen show, business people have an opportunity to meet more targeted people in a shorter period of time that with any other marketing tool-that’s relevance.

Question 4 How much should I budget for each show?

Answer Another rule of thumb is to ballpark your exhibit cost by multiplying your space rental by a factor of three. Therefore $2,500 in space rental equates to an exhibit budget of $7,500.

Keep in mind that this is ballpark and each exhibit situation is different.

Question 5 What is the biggest mistake exhibitors make?

Answer One of the biggest mistakes is not developing a follow-up plan in advance of the show. Studies have shows that nearly eighty percent of show leads are not followed up properly.

Further studies have shown that many exhibitors with nonsales objectives fail to test their results against their initial goals. Without some sort of post-show activities planned for immediate implementation, your exhibit investment is destined to become an exercise in good intention with no real results.

•••

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

Gestures can increase believability

BY SHARON DANLEY

Ed. Note: This is the fourth part in the series on Image.

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hat we say with our body language and facial expression brings believability to what we

eyes and see through the filter of our ears in response to surrounding stimuli. Often, the most powerful moments are in observing the presenter listening and feeling sensations within themselves before they transmit them through their visual cues.

Performance Tools — Making the most of improvisation, props, equipment, and memory techniques coupled with directing nerves, adequate preparation, and utilizing your physical tool box of the body, face, and brain are essential components in delivering great performances in any arena.

say with words.

7 Ways to Get Your Body and Face Fit The silent language of the body and face are the outward • Animate your expressions by reading to children or the extensions of a convincing image or presentation. The body and face always broadcast the sender’s feelings or thoughts no elderly with “character” in your thought, face body and voice to bring life to your words and expand the imaginations of matter what they are thinking. your listeners.

As Tom Flores, a former NFL • Tai Chi, callanetics, Pilates, coach says, “A total commitment is ballet, or any form of dance brings paramount to reaching the ultiawareness and flexibility to the mate in performance.” Excellence Did I make the right gesture? What body. requires the complete involvement • Make use of video cameras if I didn’t? I used to be decisive but of these components. film yourself from all angles doing Whether for the podium, board- I’m not so sure anymore... a presentation, introducing someroom, camera, interview, or oneone, having a mock conversation, on-one interaction, keeping an or response to one. open, yet directed and flexible • Practice excellent posture and body stance and engaged facial sincere smiles everywhere and expression while utilizing effective everyday. emotional states, a skilled voice, • Take an improvisation or act- 15 and an appropriate image are ing class - its always great to utilize essential to making a positive and the stimuli from others and expand lasting impression. your full range of emotional states.

A flexible body and face can • Play act with your family and exude any expression, make definfriends whenever possible. The itive connection, be totally dinner table with everyone taking involved and-most importantly-be on a “character” and a bit of supbelieved. porting wardrobe or hat goes a long way to unleashing everyone’s Here are four “Power Tools” alter egos and having one pile of utilized by great speakers and perfun in the process. formers that will rev up your pre• Watch TV commercials with the sound off and then with sentations and bring harmony to your message whatever it is: your eyes closed to increase the acuity of all the senses.

Decisive thought, suitable gestures, sincere facial expression Intention/Motivation — What is your purpose or desired outcome? Are you looking to entertain, motivate, persuade, and eye contact, active listening, effective voice, and a harmoactivate, or give information? Is your delivery system comedic, nious exterior are still the most effective forms of communicadramatic or narrative? Is your audience 10 or 10,000, on stage tion and masterful presentation.

Act Your Way Out of that Wet Paper Bag is a comprehensive or a camera close up? Always know why you are doing or saymanual loaded with proven techniques to improve ing something from moment to moment. performance in any situation in any arena. Buy one for yourself Body & Facial Language — The silent language that gives your message believability. It’s the outward expression of your and a colleague. Best of all, mention The Planner and receive a inner thoughts and an important source of information about 20 percent discount (see website below, personal section). your emotions. Your thoughts wash over your face, then your © 2003, Sharon Danley. Reprinted with kind permission from body, and then your voice is expressed through this veil. When it doesn’t match it’s a mixed message. When congruent there the author. Sharon is an educator, designer and consultant with 30 years experience in perspective, image, performance and is a feeling of harmony.

Active Listening & Observing — The heart of successful voice mastery. Visit her at www.presentation-management.com interaction in any situation. We listen through the filter of our or e-mail her at: info@presentation-management.com

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

FIVE-MINUTE LIFE COACH Listen...

Do you want to know a secret?

BY THOMAS CHALMERS

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Cast your mind back: When was the last time someone really listened to you and how did that make you feel?

Satisfied? Delighted? Euphoric?

You might not have to think too far back for this one: When was the last time someone didn’t listen to you? How did that make you feel? Annoyed?

Frustrated? Exasperated?

Have you ever been semi-engaged in a conversation with someone who is constantly looking over your shoulder for the next best person to talk to?

When you listen to someone by giving them your undivided attention, without butting in or going one better, you impart the silent, priceless gift, of being heard. Good listeners zoom in on their subject to the extent that everyone and everything else is excluded.

Consider the converse: when a camera focuses on the background, the foreground subject becomes blurred.

Listening demands concentration.

And when you really listen you often hear what’s not being said. Tone of voice often speaks louder than words.

Let the other person know that you‚re listening by paraphrasing what they are saying. Maintain eye contact. Lean forward. Tilt your head. Nod in agreement.

Mirror their facial expressions.

Everybody needs somebody to listen to them some time.

Website: www.idealife.co.uk

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Canadian Industry News Calgary Art Central, a "grand" arts complex in the heart of downtown Calgary, opened its doors on November 5th. Art Central offers 37,000 square feet of studio and gallery space around a 3-story skylighted atrium. The complex takes up an entire, totally renovated, 75-year old building that was originally the Arts & Media Club. It also houses a bistro-restaurant and a cafe, and is a short block from the popular 8th Avenue pedestrian "mall".

Art Central is the brainchild and initiative of David Neill and his company EnCorp, the man and company behind several similar restorations across Canada. Among his many restoration projects are the old cork manufacturing plant in Lindsay, Ontario, now a multiple tenancy industrial complex, and the artsy Le Centre du Design in Montreal. Art Central is a great addition to Calgary's vibrant arts scene, and a very interesting new venue for special events!

An appointment and an award of note: Joe Fardell, President & CEO of

Tourism Calgary was recently elected Vice-Chair of Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC). And, Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire was recently awarded the Dodd Media Sales 'Business of the Year Award -Single Unit' for having made "significant contributions to excellence in the tourism industry through the positive energy of its staff, commitment to high standards of service, and vision for the future".

Goes to show, as Peter Mansbridge suggested as he was hosting the CBC National News from Calgary on December 8, that Calgary is no longer Cowtown (although most Calgarians relish the moniker), it's hot, it's hopping!

Halifax Yes, President Bush was here for 2.5 hours on Dec. 1, and did a presentation at our famed Pier 21 Historic Site for a select audience of about 300. He was served a decadent lunch by RCR catering (sorry, don't have the menu) and enjoyed meeting some of Halifax's most prominent citizens...

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DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

Words at work that don’t work...

BY BARBARA KELLY

I

f you can tailor your speech and writing for maximum impact in your work life, you can make dramatic increases in your effectiveness. Are they colourful words, or profanity?

Some people may hear, as very offensive language, expressions that others consider merely colourful and not profanity.

It’s accepted that profanity and ethnic stereotyping have no place in the workplace and in polite social conversation.

Differing opinions on the appropriateness of certain expressions and images can seriously hamper relationships.

This trouble often arises where the people form a diverse mix of age groups, cultural backgrounds, and lifestyles. As diversity is very common in today’s workplaces, it’s important to follow the time-honoured advice to check, and think, before you speak. It’s much easier to put a brake on our train of speech than to apologize repeatedly for having offended people.

Expressions Past Their “Best Before” Date We keep hearing overworked words or phrases that irritate us because they are so stale.

Think of the phrase, “weapons of mass destruction” (or WMD), which has been in constant use since the lead-up to the current situation in Iraq. Stale expressions work against us in our speech and writing. People “turn off” when they hear or read them, and stop paying attention to the message.

A poll that Kelbar Consulting and Development took last

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

year revealed other wordy workhorses that should be turned out to pasture. “To the next level”, as in “I’m taking my business to the next level”, is one. “Awesome” is another.

“Dysfunctional”. (It seems that every problem is caused by “dysfunctional something-or-someone”, one respondent wrote.)

“Basically”, used as a preface to a statement, and “not rocket science” are two more stale expressions. Fortunately, the use of the adjectives, “big fat”, applied to almost any noun after the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” played in movie theatres, has dried up like last week’s pita bread.

It’s wise to check our speech and writing for words and phrases that no longer have colour and impact, and to find stronger substitutes.

Weak Words Work Against Us Using weak words can keep women, in particular, from being seen as strong and powerful. Using low-power words is a trap that women often fall into, because of the way that they are socialized.

Few men would say that they “dream” of a promotion or a big sales coup. They would describe these successes as “goals“ or “objectives”. Men are not likely to describe a presentation or event as “delightful”, or to say, as a woman recently said to me about my presentation, that it was “enjoyable”.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 17

Developing discipline over your choice of words adds positive energy CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Men would provide an assessment: that it was a “well-thought out” presentation, or that it “covered all the bases”.

Carrying over “party chatter” words, such as “fascinating”, instead of “compelling” or “kept my interest”; “thrilled”, instead of “very pleased”; and “I would love to”, instead of “I would welcome” into workplace conversation works against women being seen as strong and capable.

Using the word “hope” in connection with a goal, as in “I hope to become Executive Director”, suggests that fate — not the speaker—is the decision-maker.

Using the word “plan” instead signals strength and purpose.

“Appreciate”, as in “I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me”, is another expression of weakness, as is the trite expression “Thank you for your time”. Both suggest that the speaker is not only thankful, but also may not be deserving of the opportunity. Instead, the use of an evaluation, such as “This

Using the word “plan” signals strength and purpose was a very helpful meeting”, is a stronger response.

Verbal Discipline Developing discipline over our choice and use of words adds positive energy to self-talk and to conversation. If neutral and positive words are used, instead of words that label people or events in a derogatory manner, we (and the others) would be happier.

Referring, mentally or verbally, to others with a negative nickname (Oh, no!

It’s “Mrs. Cranky” again!) sets up an atmosphere of negativity that pollutes interactions.

Re-framing our perceptions of people in neutral, rather than negative, terms eases the situation. There’s a more positive attitude conveyed by “This person is detailconscious” than “This person is going to make me dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’”.

It’s hard to discipline ourselves to avoid the negative and judgmental, especially when many people around us may be cynical, critical, and crabby. Working, one day at a time, to avoid saying negative or judgmental things about another person or about ourselves can build a powerful habit. We will like others and ourselves more, and the positive energy will usually come back to bless us!

Consultant, writer, trainer and speaker Barbara Kelly, PPP (“Pretty Positive Person”), is the owner of Kelbar Consulting and Development, a firm that helps attract and keep clients, staff and volunteers. She freely admits to ongoing word choice challenges!

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DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

Making the most of your database

BY CATHLEEN FILLMORE

Ed. note: Part 1 in a series of related articles.

I

t’s hard to believe that the advent of database marketing was less than two decades ago. Today, meeting planners can develop a sophisticated marketing strategy that allows them to profile and pursue their ideal repeat or prospective client.

The possibilities are now infinite—and that’s part of the problem. While database marketing has opened up an entirely new way of doing business, it presents, of course, a whole new set of challenges.

You might feel virtuous collecting lots of data but unless you have a solid return-on-investment based strategy behind it, you’re better off with pen and paper! Make a point in the New Year to create a workable completely customized plan that will give you more effective returns.

The results can be quite dramatic.

Susan Sweeney, CSP, author of Internet Marketing for your Tourism Business and 101 Ways to Promote Your Website says: “Clearly defined objectives are key to determining your database marketing strategy. If the objectives are broad-based brand awareness, you should take one approach, but if the objective is to strategically market to a specific group of customers, the approach would be quite different.”

The difference is that a brand-based awareness campaign would aim for greater name recognition without necessarily direct returns whereas marketing to specific customers would aim for a direct measurable response from them.

“Marrying VIP customer-relations management with dataming systems is the way to go,” says Brian Griner, PhD, Vice President of Customer Relations Management and Data Mining Systems with the Angus Reid Group in New York. “This represents a new way of thinking about building up relationships with customers on an individual basis and most meeting planners could be doing a lot more in this area.”

In other words, if you have a database of 2,000 prospective clients, break it down into the top 100 repeat or prospective clients and set up a separate campaign to keep in touch with these “VIP” customers. They’ll be the ones who get the Christmas cards, the personal invitations and so on. That way, you’re making the most valuable use of your time and will get the best return on your investment.

User-friendly software will help you make the most effective use of your database. You may only want to analyze your database once every two or three months and need to be able to do that easily without a steep learning curve every single time.

DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05

ACT software a very useful tool Don McKenzie, technology consultant, recommends ACT software. “It’s affordable and it’s certainly adequate.

ACT really gives you the basics. The problem is most people only use about 10 percent of it and just use it as a phone book. To really get the most out of it, you should be using the software for sending out batch mailings, newsletters and other follow-ups to a targeted segment of their database. There’s also a function where you can share information on your VIP client with others in the office so you’re not both chasing the same client.”

Finding out all the different uses for your database software is important and so is keeping it clean. With everything changing at the speed of light today, information can get corrupted and outdated really quickly.

Keep databases lean and mean Cleaning up databases is a specialty for Doreen AshtonWagner and her company, Greenfield Services. “By conservative estimates, 20 to 30 percent of any business-tobusiness database becomes obsolete every 12 months due to staff turnover, promotions, building moves and ongoing economic activity such as mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies. This applies to “traditional’ contact information such as name, title, company, phone and address. When 19 you factor in fax numbers and email addresses, the “spoilage rate” of data in some industries can be as high as 50 percent annually!”

Set aside a certain amount of time to stay on top of your database rather than leaving it to the ‘techy’ person in your firm. It’s important to know what’s happening and what your software is capable of doing. Make sure everyone in the firm has at least a fundamental knowledge of how to use the software.

A solid day spent doing nothing but brainstorming with others or with yourself on how to best make use of the powerful technology you have at your fingertips will result in a huge payoff and put you ahead of the competition.

And yet technology will never replace the human touch.

Ultimately it will be one-to-one communication and attention to detail that will win customers over.

Database marketing will only work when meeting planners follow up with great personal customer service.

Electronic mail can easily be deleted - but meeting planners who do the little extras for their clients will be rewarded by repeat business. You can’t transmit the warmth of a smile over the internet.

••• Cathleen Fillmore owns and operates Speakers Gold, the proactive speakers bureau. , 416-532-9886. 1-888-242-0224.

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DEC. ’04 – JAN. ’05