I read a disturbing article by Martha White in the New York Times that conventions and conferences are being canceled because manufacturers and associations don’t think people will come so they don’t want to spend the money. 
At the same time, I’ve witnessed a bunch of groups who commit to hold a meeting and choose to save money by using vendors as their speakers.
I can’t imagine a greater recipe for disaster. Your best customers are depending on YOU in times like these. Here are my five reasons you need to have that conference and my five reasons to use a professional speaker.
Five Reasons You Need To Have A Conference Or Meeting.
1) Community. A conference is the one place the people who “get it” are able to come together and do a better job. The very power of a meeting comes from the community that forms for those couple days.
2) Competition. The old mantra you get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers is still true. Those 20% are looking for how to do better – these are the people who attend conferences. When you don’t listen to that need, you are cutting them off to fight for themselves. If you are a vendor, it is only a matter of time until they look for someone else who gives them the inspiration and training from a competitor. If you are an association, it makes them question what they get from being members.
3) Reality. A conference keeps you from being insulated from what is actually going on in the real world. It is important to hear what is going right with dealers, not just assuming they are all sinking which, if you watch the cable news shows is pretty much all that is presented.
4) Synergy. There is great power from people seeing possibility in the face of adversity. Those who come can pledge to move ahead, hold themselves accountable and form mastermind sessions to keep themselves up. You can’t do that unless you start off face to face and with shared stories.
5) Possibilities. Having a well-thought out keynote from someone like me sets the stage to brainstorming, not bitching. The goal is to get people to see possibilities of what they could change, not focus on what they can’t. They can take that message much easier when part of a group, not one-on-one.
Five Reasons You Need To Use Professional Speakers.
1) It’s not the products. While vendors know their products they don’t necessarily know how their products work on the sales floor. This has led to many businesses adopting an often technical approach to selling the products, which, in this age of downsizing and “I’ll wait,” falls flat. It isn’t the products fault.
2) Content. Choosing to use a vendor to speak because it is “cheaper,” means the budget for the food is more important than the content. I’ve heard from several potential clients who have told me as much. You’re shooting yourself in the foot! Content is king at a meeting!
3) The Future. Poor presenters who read off of PowerPoint or stammer from yellowing notes brings everyone down. The problem of that lingers – when you have the next meeting or conference, attendees remember they got “nothing new” from the last one. It is a downward spiral from there.
4) Challenge poor thinking. I was at a Best Western convention after 9/11 and James Evans, the CEO got up with a graphic of the world – kind of like a Sherman-Williams paint logo that had ice instead of paint covering the world. His keynote was deadly- no one was traveling, tough times, nothing we can do about it. This guy should never have spoken – it killed the conference.
5) Inspiration. I heard an amateur tell an audience a couple weeks ago they could grow their business by 50% this year - “just think you can.” What a crock. I am all for positive attitudes and feel it will determine your sales, but it isn’t that simple. A professional can give your attendees the tools they need to affect change. I’m known as the irritational speaker because succeeding in business isn’t the other guys’ fault, the Economic Stimulus act or anything else – it is what you do with your four walls. I hit audiences with reality and end with hope because presentation is everything. As they said when I was in Portland last month, “it was the positive message we were hungry for.”
Yes, I speak for a living and you could consider me biased but the reality is, I’ve helped thousands of business owners compete. Isn’t that what a conference is for? Isn’t that what they are looking for if they go to all the trouble to attend a conference?
Associations, franchisors and manufacturers, if you don’t bring them together – who will?
Likewise if you don’t go to a conference and demand better, how will you compete?
(If you are attending a conference, visit http://www.retaildoc.com/attend-a-conference-article.html
to read how to get the most from it.)
Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor, has helped hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses in every major industry, including hospitality, manufacturing, service, restaurant and retail. His clients have included independent stores with only one location to such well-known brands as Yamaha, Hunter Douglas Window Fashions and LEGO.
His book, You Can Compete: Double Sales Without Discounting, is the culmination of three decades of work highlighting a proven method every business in any market can improve the bottom line and compete successfully.
For more information or free articles visit www.retaildoc.com
1 Comment
April 4, 2009 at 8:55 pm
conferences enables us to think and explore new things while meeting a lot of interesting people that we will surely learn with by sharing our interest and our knowledge with them, I really don’t think that conference are just a waste of time..