Face-to-Face Marketing

Looking for creative ways to relate to your clientele? Conferences for customers and prospects are an effective way to foster relationships. This article describes how to host a focused gathering that will add a new dimension to your marketing strategy.

OVERVIEW

In today's high-tech world, it is more important than ever for colleagues to meet in person. Human contact has taken on a new significance in the era of voice mail, the Internet, and e-commerce. Recognizing that the interpersonal skills of employees at all levels often spell the difference between success and failure in customer relations, corporations are taking renewed interest in what has come to be called relationship management. And what better way to cultivate relations with key accounts and prospects than by holding customer conferences on a systematic basis? As John Naisbitt points out in Megatrends, there is a natural balance between high tech and high touch; the more technology we add, the more meetings there will be, and greater the demand for specialized meetings.

Darryl Hartley-Leonard agrees that more and better technology will not diminish the need for socialization. Just the opposite. "While you will be able to 'virtually' touch a widget, that will still be a far cry from attending a widget event," says Hartley-Leonard, former chairman of Hyatt Hotels and currently CEO of Production Group International, an event and communications agency in New York City. "Where else can you visit with your favorite widget salesman? Compare notes with fellow widget dealers? Actually touch and compare widgets?"

Even Microsoft CEO Bill Gates is intrigued by the concept of the customer conference, so much so that he had one of his own in the spring of 1999. Afterwards, one of his senior managers told the Wall Street Journal, "Conversation is still the most efficient networking protocol that exists. There are still benefits to physical person-to-person interaction." (For more on Microsoft's conference, see Case Histories.)

It is unlikely that face-to-face contact will ever be replaced. For example, Meeting Professionals International's Professional Education Conference, which has increased its technological content in recent years, remains a high-touch affair. A technology education track and live Webcasts of some sessions have become highlights of the conference, but the attendees' mingling, networking, and learning could hardly be replicated online.

A customer conference is not only an ideal way to educate customers about the full range of your company's products, but it's also a good medium for fostering customer loyalty. There is an axiom in the sales profession that it costs ten times more to find a new customer than to maintain a current one. By inviting customers to a conference, you are letting them know that they are important to you. Conducted properly, the conference will provide your people with an opportunity to listen to customer complaints and suggestions. Thus the gathering can give customers the feeling that they have been heard, understood, and responded to.

DEFINITION

Customer conferences are a mix of education, entertainment, networking, and relationship management orchestrated into a brief gathering. A successful customer conference has at least four hours a day of meetings or conferences, an afternoon offering such enjoyable activities as golf or sightseeing, and evenings that consist of group dinners with entertainment. The goal for the sponsoring organization is to solidify relationships with top customers and build relationships with prospects. Unlike purely recreational events, however, senior managers are rarely invited to a customer conference unless they have hands-on responsibility for a function related to the topics being discussed. Sometimes, a product launch is the centerpiece of the conference. For investment bankers and other Wall Street types, customer conferences often take the form of road shows that include business presentations and networking receptions.

CRITICAL ISSUES

Attracting attendees. Unlike company-mandated meetings, attendees must be convinced to come to customer meetings, so it is important to make the conference intriguing. Attendees will want to leave with a new skill or valuable knowledge that they did not have before.

Achieving corporate objectives. Go over the content of the meeting several times to ensure that it furthers the goals of your organization. A conference should support your organization's business objectives and convey a clear message to your clients.

Adhering to ethical standards. When their employees are invited to any event sponsored by a supplier, companies want to be sure they are not being inappropriately wined and dined. There must be a business reason for attending. Some companies require employees to submit a proposal stating why they should attend a specific customer conference. For example, managers of pension funds and other large public trusts typically must present a business case for attending, say, a conference given by a large investment banking firm.

HOW TO UNDERTAKE A CUSTOMER CONFERENCE

Here are some planning tips on how to have a successful customer conference:

Keep it brief. Your clients have busy schedules and will be more willing to accept an invitation to a two- or three-day conference than sign up for one that lasts a week.

Make it interesting. Your company must feature a product or service that is provocative. "There must be information that is truly appropriate to the business community's needs," says Kevin O'Sullivan, president of ConferenceTrack, a Morristown, NJ, firm that specializes in meetings, conferences, and special events targeted at an organization's clients and prospects.

Make it convenient. Before booking the space where the conference is being held, check with as many of your customers or prospects as possible to see when they are free. Make sure there are no major trade shows related to your field that might conflict with your dates.

Create excitement. Before sending out invitations, use direct mail to create excitement about your event. Another way to do this is with a public relations campaign. Articles about your company and its products will make your conference that much more intriguing.

Don't skimp on invitations. Invite everybody you want to attend your conference, not just those you know will come. Most successful companies have an extensive database loaded with pertinent information about their customers and prospective customers. Use it to put together your invitation list. Large customers are easy to keep track of, but countless smaller ones can slip away unnoticed if there is no system in place to snag the escapees. Some companies have computer printouts that highlight drastic drops in business from individual customers. Others use note cards or tracking forms. Be sure to invite these smaller customers to your conference, taking care to maintain the balance outlined in the paragraph below. After sending the invitations out, have your salespeople follow up with their clients.

Get the ratio right. Ideally, your audience should be 80 percent customers and 20 percent prospects. Those with whom you have an ongoing relationship will help sell your products or services to those who are not familiar with your company. But strive to maintain the proper balance. "If the conference consists of 100 percent existing customers," says O'Sullivan, "you are losing an opportunity for new business to develop in a natural way in the best of all scenarios: rubbing elbows with happy customers."

Go solo or get outside help? If you decide to use a meeting planning company, make sure you are dealing with an expert in customer conferences. Look at the firm's other clients and its track record, and make sure you spell out precisely what you expect it to do. It is possible to hire a company to do everything from site selection to on-site management of the entire conference.

Bring out the brass. A successful conference needs a strong "relationship management" presence. For example, if there are 200 clients and prospects attending, you want at least 15 of your company's top executives there and maybe 50 to 100 of the field managers as well. Make sure everyone understands the importance of being gracious hosts so that they mingle with their guests and not with one another.

CASE HISTORIES

Nomura Capital's customer conference differentiates it from the competition. After the crash of 1988, real estate languished in a five-year decline marked by loan foreclosures and plunging values. The federal government formed the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), which temporarily inventoried a variety of valuable properties. When the market began to show life in 1993, old sources of capital no longer existed. With assets ready to emerge from the RTC, the question was, How is new capital to be generated?

Nomura Capital entered this market along with a number of other major players. Nomura's goal: to capture a market leadership position in commercial real estate finance for whole loans and collateralized securities. An annual customer conference became the key means by which Nomura established a strong brand identity and got the word out that it was making a major commitment of capital and personnel.

In 1994, it staged its first showcase conference at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. An exclusive guest list was developed, setting the tone for subsequent years, and the invitations were created and mailed in record time. The point was to make this event truly distinguished, and it succeeded from the beginning. Senior developers and real estate managers, some well-known even outside their own field, accounted for half the attendees. The other half included investors, advisory groups, managers of pension funds, and others with an interest in real estate.

Qualified speakers addressed the fine points of real estate financing. Not only was there detailed analysis of technical issues relative to capital deployment, but a program of social events encouraged person-to-person interaction.

Within three years, Nomura Capital became the leader in real estate finance. Strong capital reserves and exceptional management contributed to this success, but other companies had those resources, too. Nomura's key differentiating element was its customer conferences, not only the annual showcase event but also sponsorship dinners at trade shows, office-opening parties, and other special events.

Scudder Kemper Investments (formerly Scudder, Stevens and Clark) is a global investment management firm that has long-standing relationships with blue-chip companies and wealthy individuals. On the institutional side, the firm is committed to maintaining good relations with large investor groups.

The Scudder Client Conference, characterized by dynamic speakers and social events that encourage one-on-one contact, has proven to be an invaluable relationship-management tool since its introduction in the late 1980s. This four-day program is held annually at various upscale resort properties, and it is deliberately kept small to preserve its exclusive feel. An invitation to this event is highly regarded, and acceptances run 60 percent or higher. While there are no hard numbers to connect client participation with corporate revenues, Scudder is confident that the conference contributes significantly to its relationship management efforts.

Credit Suisse First Boston brings on the movers and shakers. CSFB, a leading global investment banking firm, holds an annual client conference that brings together hundreds of institutional investors and leaders of the top high-tech companies. CEOs and CFOs from such companies as Compaq, Lucent, Amazon.com, Gateway, and Dell attend regularly to share their views.

In 1999, the four-day conference was held at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. The number of clients in attendance was limited to 400 so that investors would have ample time to talk with the key executives from the high-tech world.

CSFB never has a problem getting its clients to attend this event because of the high caliber of people it attracts. "We get all the CEOs so our clients can hear about what's going on in the company from the number-one person," says Cheryl Popp, CSFB vice president of marketing and communications. The agenda is publicized in advance so that clients pressed for time can attend only those sessions devoted to their particular interests.

CSFB invited the press to the conference for the first time in 1999, and the resulting coverage gave CSFB's technology clients increased publicity that reached thousands of investors who might invest in these companies through CSFB. "The coverage really showcased the conference and gave it more stature," says Popp. "It helps make it a gotta-be-there event for next year."

Throughout the year, CSFB sponsors other client conferences, which have a narrower focus. For example, more than 400 institutional investors and corporate clients attended a high-level conference in New York City. Leading executives from telecom and cable firms assembled in Rockefeller Center's Rainbow Room to discuss the future of telecommunications and Internet access.

Microsoft makes the most of face-to-face interaction. Since 1997, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has sponsored the three-day Microsoft CEO summit. It attracts such high-profile executives as News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, Michael Dell of Dell Computer, and Martha Stewart, who heads her own media company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia LLC.

This forum gives Microsoft the opportunity to network with 107 top-level executives, including the heads of more than a dozen foreign banks and telecommunications carriers. At the 1999 conference, Gates gave a keynote address that focused on "knowledge management," the term he uses to describe the gathering, organizing, and distributing of information within an organization.

FINDING SUPPLIERS

To find a supplier, go to #9520, Supplier Finder

PCMA Membership Directory, listing all members of the Professional Convention Management Association, is a valuable networking resource. Call 205-823-PCMA; go to mailto:tracklink@@http://www.pcma.org

CMP Directory. Available through the Convention Liaison Council (CLC), this directory lists more than 4,000 certified meeting planners. $30. Call 303-422-8522.

ASSOCIATIONS

Meeting Professionals International (MPI). The world's largest association of meeting professionals, with more than 17,000 members in 64 countries. Has a resource center that serves as a clearinghouse of information related to the meetings industry. MPI also has a special interest group for sales and marketing professionals. Call 972-702-3000; go to http://www.mpiweb.com.

Convention Liaison Council. Has information on the 26 associations that serve the meetings, hospitality, and business travel industries. It also coordinates the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) program, which certifies meeting planners. Call 303-422-8522.

Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). An association of approximately 4,600 meeting and convention planners, PCMA provides industry news, education, data, and information on meeting properties. Call 205-823-PCMA; go to http://www.pcma.org.

American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) is an organization of more than 24,800 association executives and suppliers of products and services. It offers publications and studies on meetings, and it has a special Meetings & Expositions Section. All events are open to nonmembers. Call 202-626-ASAE; go to http://www.asaenet.org.

Society of Corporate Meeting Professionals (SCMP) consists of meeting executives from large corporations as well as convention services specialists from hotels. Call 770-457-9212; go to http://www.scmp.org.

International Special Events Society (ISES) is a not-for-profit organization with more than 1,800 members. It offers an online information service, a membership directory, and education. Call 800-688-4737; go to http://www.ises.com.

American Marketing Association (AMA), the world's largest professional society of marketers, has more than 45,000 members in 92 countries. Call 800-AMA-1150 or 312-648-0536; fax 312-648-5625; go to http://www.ama.org/.

CONFERENCES

PCMA Annual Meeting. Jan. 12-15, 2001, at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Call 205-823-7262; go to http://www.pcma.org.

ASAE Annual Meeting and Exposition. Aug. 4-7, 2001 in PHiladelphia. Call 202-626-2723; go to http://www.asaenet.org.

MPI World Education Congress. Jul. 22-24, 2001, in Las Vegas. Call 972-702-3000; go to www.mpiweb.org.

BOOKS

There are hundreds of books available on the basics of planning a meeting but none that concentrate solely on the topic of planning a customer conference. Here are some of the better generic meeting-planning books:

Meetings: Do's, Don'ts and Donuts. The Complete Handbook for Successful Meetings, by Sharon Lippincott, will help with the planning, organizing, and running of a successful meeting. 220 pp. 1999. Lighthouse Point Press. $16.95, from Amazon.com $13.56.

A Guide to Successful Meeting Planning, by Suzanne S. Weissinger, is a complete guide to planning, negotiating, organizing, promoting, marketing, and running winning meetings for any type of organization. 224 pp. 1991. John Wiley & Sons. $52.15, from Amazon.com $52.15.

The Essentials of Meeting Management, by Richard Hildreth. Covers such subjects as goals, budget, programming, site and menu selection, scheduling, promotion, and evaluation. 256 pp. 1990. Prentice-Hall. $69, from Amazon.com $69.

Big Meetings, Big Results: Strategic Event Planning for Productivity and Profit, by Tom McMahon. 159 pp. 1996. NTC Publishing Group. $12.95, from Amazon.com $10.36.

Complete Guide to Professional Meeting and Event Coordination, by Catherine Price. 441 pp. 1998. $59.95, from Amazon.com $59.95.

Special Events: The Best Practices in Modern Event Management, by Joe Goldblatt, director of the event management program at George Washington University. Gives the framework of the five phases of event management. 1997. John Wiley & Sons. $59.95, from Amazon.com $59.95.

PUBLICATIONS

Marketing News. A biweekly newspaper published by the American Marketing Association that reports on the latest marketing activities in national and international companies. Free for AMA members; $75/yr. nonmembers. Call 800-AMA-1150.

Marketing Tools. Published ten times a year by American Demographics, the magazine covers tools and services used by marketing professionals. $39/yr. Call 607-273-6343; go to http://www.marketingtools.com.

Sales & Marketing Management. This monthly magazine is for executives who want to build sales, stay ahead of the competition, keep up with technology, and market their companies to today's tough customers. $48/yr. Call 212-592-6263; e-mail mailto:service@salesandmarketing.com

Convene, the journal of PCMA, publishes 11 regular issues and a special edition in August. The magazine has articles on trends in the meetings industry and on such topics as meeting management, technology, legal issues, negotiation, and continuing education. Free to members, $50/yr. nonmembers. Call 205-823-7262.

The following magazines regularly feature articles on how to plan conferences, including customer conferences. Qualified subscribers receive them free, and other pay the prices shown here.

Meetings & Conventions. Monthly. $79.90/yr. Call 800-446-6551; go to http://www.meetings-conventions.com.
Successful Meetings. Monthly. $48/yr. Call 212-592-6263; go to http://www.successmtgs.com.
Meeting News. 18 times a year. $65/yr. Call 800-447-0138; go to http://www.meetingsnews.com.
Corporate Meetings & Incentives. Monthly. $65/yr. Call 847-427-2072; go to http://www.meetingsnet.com/.

ONLINE SERVICES

Sales & Marketing Executives International provides access to 350,000 articles and research studies. Its Resource Center bills itself as having "more sales and marketing information than any library on earth." Go to http://www.smei.org.

Meeting Industry Mall is an online gallery of several hundred destinations, properties, services, and products used by meeting planners. Go to http://mim.com/.

RELATED SMN ARTICLES

For more information about planning meetings and conventions, see #5010, Meetings Overview; #5020, Plan a Great Meeting!; #5023, Hosting Multicultural Meetings and Events; #5024, Choosing and Using a Meeting Planning Company; and #5025, Choosing the Right Speaker. For more on event planning, see #2015, Corporate Events.