Video on Generating Business Value through Events

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzqUWq_s7lU

This video was shot by Joyce McKee on- site at TS2. This is a good overview of the planning process and how to ensure your event produces value. Planning and measurement orientation.

Ed

Reasons to Exhibit at Trade Shows

Our friend Mike Thimmesch at Skyline Displays posted an article 22 Reasons To Exhibit At Trade Shows

I responded in support of his view:

Right you are! Trade Shows and events are exceptionally broad in terms of what can be accomplished for the host company. I teach a planning model related to what you are speaking of.

Trade shows, and customer events in general, produce two main accomplishments for the host company.

1) Business Development
This includes:
*Revenue Generation
- Target Marketing
- Prospect Development
*Revenue Retention
- Customer Relationship Management
- Growth on the Revenue Base
*Channel Management
*Supplier and Partner Management
- Negotiation of more favorable terms or arrangements
*Influencers and Regulators Management
- Influence the conditions under which business is conducted and
products are sold (associations, standards bodies, etc.)
*Cost Savings through expense avoidance activity at an event

2) Marketing Communications
*Press Management
*PR Activity
*Analyst Management
*Marcom Objectives
- Brand Development and Reinforcement
- Program Communications
- Market Positioning
- Product Launch
- Loyalty
- Community Development (social networking)
- Continuous Communications
- Relationship Development
*Community Relations

These elements form the core of a robust planning structure that Skip Cox of Exhibit Surveys and I developed into an automated planning support and measurement tool. Information on that tool may be found on either of our websites.

Keep preaching the word that shows are about a lot more than leads and sales!

Ed Jones
President
Constellation Communication Corp.
ROI on Events, Event Measurement and Evaluation
www.constellationcc.com

It Might Be Wise to Pay Attention Here - Social Networks & Blogs Now 4th Most Popular Online Activity, Ahead of Personal Email, Nielsen Reports

Take a look at this. Social networking and on- lin communities are actually outpacing personal email among internet users and is the fastest growing segment on the web.

“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” says John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online. “While two-thirds of the global online population already accesses member community sites, their vigorous adoption and the migration of time show no signs of slowing. Social networking will continue to alter not just the global online landscape, but the consumer experience at large. This study explains why.”

Forewarned is forearmed!


Ed

Event measurement, evaluation, ROI analysis and research.

Visitor Management and Visitor Experience at Trade Shows

Response to a blog thread regarding visitor management and visitor experience –

Having provided evaluation and measurement at hundreds of trade shows and events, please allow me to offer some objective observations.

Many exhibitors do not teach their staff to properly engage and quickly qualify each visitor and focus their time and attention on those who are targeted. The big variable is how many of those who are attracted to your exhibit are targeted. If the percentage is big, then you will have a good show. If the percentage is small you will have a miserable result.

Too often the strategy is to attract a large unqualified crowd with give aways or magicians and such and hope that those people who are the targets will speak up, identify themselves and engage the staff! That is pretty unlikely and a clear recipe for poor results and low ROI.

Put yourself to the test and see how many of these success factors you have in place, or observe as a visitor: (Check the ones you practice or observe regularly)

___ 1) Define the targets addressable at the event by product set
___ 2) Attract them with targeted promotion
___ 3) Train the staff to engage visitors and separate the targets from the non- targets
___ 4) Have a plan to manage the visit of the targets
___ 5) Convey specific, consistent, benefits oriented, high priority information that is relevant to each target set
___ 6) Have a pre- determined set of target visitor commitment goals (specific steps and activities).
___ 7) Ensure the commitment goals are steps that sales agrees is are steps in the sales cycle
___ 8) Have a system in place to record the commitments
___ 9) Provide motivation and support to the committed visitor to follow-through on the follow-up step through at and post- event communications.
___ 10) Set as many pre-scheduled meetings as possible with customers, prospects, suppliers, partners and others who can improve your profitability in some way.

This does work! It takes focus, planning, training and execution, but it will deliver results and make for happier more productive staff members and visitors.

Ed Jones

(if you have a question or would like to discuss email me at edjones@constellationcc.com)

CRM Provides Greater Value than Customer Acquisition

I made the point, in recent classes dealing with changing event strategies and measurement for an economic downturn, that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) provides the greatest return to a company, especially in a tight economy. Customer relationship management and the associated customer/ revenue retention is one of the four elements of payback in my trade show and event ROI model.

In support of my observation, I saw this today in a "Business Management Daily" post:

"Although it’s difficult to measure ROI with the level of accuracy achievable in some other areas of running a business, researchers continue to explore the impact of customer service training on customer loyalty, as measured by customer retention, and a company’s customer service standards. Customer satisfaction research by Richardson, Texas–based KnowledgeBase Marketing Inc. concluded that investments in customer retention (such as money spent on customer service training) provide a far greater return than investments in customer acquisition. The research also showed that, compared with other customers, long-term loyal customers:

• Buy more per year
• Buy higher-priced options
• Buy more often
• Are less price-sensitive
• Are less costly to serve
• Have a higher lifetime value"

- Fuel Net

If you have not yet considered this element as an important part of your 2009 event strategy you should. An example is giving your customers access to executives, and introducing special programs for mutual benefit.

Keeping a tight grip on existing customers may prove essential to your company's well- being.

Ed

Honored Awards and Nominations

Spring and early summer have been very good to Constellation Communication Corp.

First, our Trade Show Planning and Measurment Tool won the Innovation Award from "Trade Show Executive Magazine."

See the full article here:

http://www.tradeshowexecutive.com/data/pdf/June08InnovationAwards.pdf

and

We were nominated for an Exhibitors Choice Award from TSEA!

Voting is still open - please consider voting for us!

100 + LEADING TRADE SHOW INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS NOMINATED FOR
TSEA’S NEW RED DIAMOND AWARDS

Chicago, IL –June 22, 2009 – The nominations are in, and 100+ leading trade show industry suppliers have been nominated for the new Trade Show Exhibitor’s Association “Exhibitor’s Choice” Red Diamond Awards. Voting is now open for the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) Exhibitors’ Choice Awards at http://www.tsea.org/Foundation/ExhibitorsChoiceAwards/tabid/281/Default.aspx. The awards will be presented at the TSEA Foundation Gala on the evening of July 22, 2009 (during TS2.) The nominees include:

. . .

• Favorite Best of the Rest – APCO; Constellation Communications Corp.; Creative Training Solutions; Exhibit Surveys; ExpoCall; Kaon Interactive, Inc; ListenNational Corporation; NMR Staging and Events; Siskind Training International; Spearhead Creative; Trade Show Teacher; United Service Companies

“We’re thrilled at the enthusiastic response to this new program,” said Margit Weisgal, TSEA’s President. “Exhibitors and attendees are this industry’s ultimate customers, and these prestigious awards will be quite a marketing tool in the future.”

Voting will continue until July 8, 2009. Tickets to the Gala, at Chicago Illuminating Company, http://www.chicagoilluminatingcompany.com are available for $20 at www.tsea.org or can be purchased during TS2 at TSEA’s booth during show hours. The event is sponsored by several leading industry companies and Chicago restaurants.

###

See the full article and vote here:

http://www.tsea.org/Foundation/ExhibitorsChoiceAwards/tabid/281/Default.aspx

Thanks to those who nominated us.

Ed

Suite of On- Line Tools Now Available to the Exhibit Managers

I was a bit surprised to realize that we now have a complete set of on- line tools to support exhibit managers with some of the most important success steps in their program:

• On- Line Planning and Measurement Tool - (Simple and Full ROI. Joint venture with Exhibit Surveys, The Trade Show Planning and Measurement Tool)
• On- Line Pre- Event Staff Orientation and Training - (Simple and Comprehensive versions, annual license and per user fee, low cost for small shows)
• On- Line Post Event Staff and Stakeholder Survey - (Turn key, providing internal customer feedback, database of results analysis over the event year, by product group or division, 24/7 access to results and analysis)

Our goal is to make inexpensive, automated support for tasks that have a high degree of influence on effectiveness and efficiency of the exhibit program. Exhibit and event managers rarely have time for additional tasks, yet these tool provide essential support for measurement and accountability across a wider range of people in the organization.

Call me if you would like to know more about automated support for your program.

Fear of Negative PR Not the Only Reason for Budget Cuts

An exhibit manager chimed in on a message board recently, to remind us that the perception that shows and events are frivolous or the potential for negative PR exposure are not the only reasons events are cancelled or cut back. "... certainly not because we see the shows as unnecessary, a luxury or some trumped up PR stunt to try and present an image of a socially-conscious corporate citizen - it is simply self-preservation. Significant cuts are necessary to keep many companies in business. The marketing budget is an easy target for quick money - it's a lot harder to carve money out of production if you are already a lean, efficient organization with good strategic sourcing and operations practices in place. It is sad that this has to become politicized. Nothing should be read into the practice of cutting back trade show marketing other than it is simply one of many tools corporations are using to try and get through this recession."

Her response raises the question again, why cut marketing when things are down?

Profit often comes from serving the existing customer base. New revenue is often expensive to obtain and expensive to support, partially answering the question "why do companies cut sales and marketing budgets during an economic downturn?" Leaning out the organization as Karen has indicated and keeping the revenue streams you already have is a common approach.

Many companies are shifting weight to Customer Relationship Management at events in which they continue to participate, aka "putting their arms around their existing customers." Keeping the business you have safe from price attacks by starving competitors, offering solutions to existing customers that help you both mutually deal with the economy, and making sure that you get any additional business that is to be had from your current accounts are productive goals for events in the near term. Scheduled meetings with top accounts, where you offer real support and solutions for weathering the storm are a wise investment of time and resources.

So, if you are still counting leads as a major part of your event measurement, count meetings with high value accounts at least equally in your measure of success.

What if You Could Have Your Event Certified for Business Improvement?

One would think that after the furor over knee- jerk reactions by our politicians regarding events that the news agencies would have gotten the message too. Unfortunately, Fox News has decided that events are frivolous too and make good sensational expectorate for their talking heads . Fox and other new agencies are lurking around corporate events looking for a story to sensationalize, so be forwarned and thus forearmed.

However, wouldn't it be nice if your event had a stamp of approval that said "This event planned in accordance with business best practices, Certified Business Improvement?"

A few weeks ago I came to the realization that any company who follows the planning discipline we put forth for clients on events is able to prove the business orientation and value of said event. We are planning to formalize that process with a Certification designation for events that qualify. So when a reporter asks, "Why are you wasting all of the stockholders and taxpayers money on a lavish meeting?" You can reply, "because these customer executives spend $3.3 billiion dollars with us each year and have pending proposals for $382 million more in the next three months. Our event strategy and plan was planned in accordance with business best practices and will deliver a profit for the company."

For more detail on how you can insulate your events from a "drive by evaluation", read the case study on our website "The ComCo Classic Winner's Circle Pro-Am" found at http://constellationcc.com/case_studies.htm

Have a great weekend.

Ed

“How to Rescue a Worthwhile Event” - CASE STUDY

Current economic and political influences are inhibiting participation in big events for many if not most companies, particularly the most expensive, highly-visible events. In many cases, events have been canceled. Some companies are finding it more expedient to cancel an event for “PR” reasons, or because they are unsure of the value delivered relative to the cost.

A factor in these reactionary decisions is events may not be clearly understood in terms of their direct influence on near-term business improvement. Stated another way, there may be little fear that negative business impact will result from event reduction or cancellation. These perceptions may be affecting you right now. So, what can you do about it? To help you formulate a plan, I have revived and revised a post from last spring dealing with justifying valuable events.

Protecting or rescuing an event depends upon identifying its’ payback in terms of business improvement goals. The number of valuable outcomes and amount of payback may surprise both you and the boss. When a productive event is in jeopardy, it is time to identify the payback streams and make a rational case to continue or discontinue it based upon the impact on the bottom line.

The case study, “Cancelled, End of Discussion,” is about a multi- million dollar sales incentive travel program that was cancelled by the chairman of a Fortune 50 sized company. His cancellation decree came mid- year, for exactly the same reasons cited, the need to cut cost and because the program was highly visible. As the current program neared its’ final conclusion, a comprehensive measurement program was initiated to determine the true value of the program for the company. The same study also identified the potential negative impact on the company if it were to be discontinued. The chairman, not known for changing his decisions, not only reinstated the program, but increased its’ scope once the value and potential loss was clearly understood.

This case study may be found in the Solutions Center section of the Constellation website http://constellationcc.com or go directly to the document at http://constellationcc.com/cancelled.pdf.

So, what can you do if you have a good event that is in jeopardy? Mount a campaign to save it. Any event can be analyzed on a forecast basis (before the next occurrence), a post-mortem basis (after the last occurrence) on an actual (current) basis to determine its business improvement value. This type of analysis also provides prescriptive steps to increase the value of an upcoming event to the bottom line. This process results in development of a presentation to senior management that clearly delineates the business results associated with the event and the results that flow from it. Once the magnitude of the results is determined, the decision becomes an economic one, not an emotional one.

If you are a corporate event manager or director, consider mounting a campaign to save a productive event. If you are an event organizer or provider, such as an event production agency or exhibit house, consider supporting your client in need with event measurement and ROI support. The result will be not only the potential salvation of a productive event, but a change in the way events are viewed internally by the company.

Call +1.770.391.0015 or email me edjones@constellationcc.com with questions or to explore a rescue mission for an event you know is worth saving.

****************************************************************************

Related Services from Constellation Communication Corp.

Event “Business Best Practices” Certification

Constellation Communication Corp. is offering clients an independent certification for face-to-face internal and market facing events that meet Business Best Practices Standards (as defined by Constellation.) This certificate attests, to any interested party, that the named event was planned and measured for specific business improvement results. It further certifies that the expected business results are achievable and reasonable relative to the event cost.

Constellation will assist a company to produce event objectives and plans that will produce tangible business improvement results. Constellation will also provide event evaluation services to prove business improvement value.

Post- Mortem Trade Show Justification and ROI Analysis

A service of value to corporate exhibitors, event services providers and show organizers is the post-mortem trade show marketing analysis. This analysis identifies and summarizes tangible value from a recently completed event. The analysis is conducted through collaboration between key corporate event team members and senior level consultants from Constellation Communication Corp.

The analysis is run using the Constellation Return on Investment in Events Model. This model provides a complete picture of the business value obtained from the last event. The analysis also examines and makes recommendations regarding resources in a process referred to as “Right-sizing.” The analysis will identify how much space, how many staff and how much budget should be allocated to a particular event. The analysis looks at all sources of profit improvement delivered through event participation to the company, and makes conclusions regarding the benefits relative to cost.

The analysis is also useful in that it will generally expand the number of objectives and associated results that may be reported as business improvement. The types of objectives considered are:

• Executive Participation
• Thought Leadership
• PR Impact and Media Equivalence
• Business Development Goals
• Return on Stated Objectives
• Technology, Product or Service Show Casing
• Cost/Expense Reduction
• Return on Investment

Show organizers or events services providers experiencing attrition in exhibition and sponsorship levels or budgets for client projects may want to consider offering a post- mortem business value analysis to key clients who may be cutting- back. There is generally more business improvement value to be reported than the typical exhibitor may recognize and report. The result is a logical, fact based report of the estimated value of continued participation in an event or for an overall event program.

The cost for a post- mortem (or forecast) analysis and ROI valuation is approx. $2,500. Additional research may be required for complex events. A post- mortem or forecast analysis takes between seven and ten days to complete. The deliverables are:

• Return on Investment Event Summary
• Right-Sizing recommendations regarding budget and resource levels
• Recommendations regarding event performance improvement, strategies and tactics
• Power- point presentation for internal, executive level presentation to senior management
• Focus on investment justification

Please call +1.770.391.0015 or email edjones@constellationcc.com with questions or to explore a rescue mission for an event you know is worth saving.

Kerry wants Feds to Ban Certain Events - Are We Partially to Blame? ...and What Should We Do?

The time of reckoning has arrived. According to the National Business Travelers Association, "Senator John Kerry has introduced legislation that would ban all 421 firms including the nation's largest banks that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events." The federal government now thinks it must regulate what is acceptable business practice with regard to meetings. This is another glaring example of politicians setting destructive, sentiment based legislation in motion with real unintended consequences.

Are we partially to blame? I think we share some responsibility. We have produced many glitzy, high profile events without discernible, measurable business objectives in place to justify their cost. Now, a couple of very visible events have made the news, with little in the way of defense. In too many cases, we have ignored the need and opportunity to report value.

What can we do about it? First, contact John Kerry and let him know that tens of thousands of jobs will be affected by his ill-conceived reaction. http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm . Here is the message I sent him this morning:

Mr. Kerry,

Even though the sentiment for anti-event legislation may seem worthy, it will hurt tens of thousands of meeting and event producers, hotel and food service employees, transportation workers and countless others. Many of those employees are union workers. This most assuredly would not stimulate the economy.

Events produce valid, reportable business results. Visit http://constellationcc.com if you want to understand meeting and event measurement and the impact of meetings and events on business results and profit.

Ed Jones

Next, investigate and join any one of several movements at work to counter this legislative trend. The NBTA Action Alert can be found here: http://capwiz.com/nbta/issues/alert/?alertid=12773376, also the Keep America Meeting initiative has good momentum. You can visit this organization at: http://www.keepamericameeting.org/ (You may want to be cautious about joining the mailing list for the host organization that provides the web hosting for this movement.)


In addition, we must begin now tying our event planning and measurement squarely to business improvement objectives. The results of these events must be presented in “Business Speak.” There can be no doubt that event cost is aligned with event outcomes in terms of business profitability.

As I have said in the past, identifying what to measure is perhaps the most difficult hurdle in event measurement. Once crossed you are well on your way to justifying an event expenditure. You may have 1,000 customers and prospects visit your exhibit or conference, but none of those visitors have an identifiable value until you can link them to an element in the simplified profit equation. Revenue – Expense = Profit.

To be successful you must think of event activities in terms of their value to the company. The event activity must accomplish two main goals. Business Improvement and Communications.

Under the goal of business improvement, interactions with people should include meetings with customers for the purpose of existing revenue retention and growth on the customer base, prospects for the purpose of expanding market share and the customer base, suppliers for the purpose of reducing cost and increasing availability or improving process, partners to make better solutions from your offerings, and regulators and legislators to keep market conditions conducive to success. For employees, meetings must result in changes in job behavior that improve profitability. Cost reductions through speed, accuracy, improved process, better teamwork, and superior decision making can be demonstrated and valued.

In a recent blog post I detailed a simple way of tying event accomplishments to business value. Consider the simple relationships between typical event activities, business processes and the simplified profit equation:

• Seeing and documenting new prospects (sometimes referred to as developing leads) is really customer acquisition.
• Seeing existing customers and thanking them for the business, providing executive access and introducing them to preferential programs is really customer retention.
• Briefing customers at a conference on how to use, manage and troubleshoot a system or product is really customer support.
• Asking customers and prospects questions at an event is really product or market research.
• Spreading and reinforcing the brand and priority messages is really advertising.

So, tying event accomplishments to business improvement and value might be fairly straightforward. In any case, it is quickly becoming a requirement. Linking event activity to these types of business accomplishments puts events squarely in the context of business improvement and will help us insulate them from knee-jerk reactions of ill-informed politicians.

Ed

A Brilliant Piece of Peer to Peer Marcom by a Non- Marketing Grad Student

Sometimes, albeit rarely, I am amazed by the clarity of a marketing piece. This video,
is produced by Adam Winn, a graduate student at the Center for Information and Communications Sciences program (CICS) at Ball State University (I am an advisory board member of this program.) The purpose of the video is to promote the CICS program to potential students through YouTube and other outlets. He is a graduate student in the computer and networking sciences field, and not a marketing major. He was a telecommunications undergrad.



There are many lessons here. 1) It doesn’t take a creative genius or experienced marcom practitioner to create great communications. This phenomenon, of which this piece is one of thousands of examples, is the result of ubiquitous, social, digital media exposing that many types of people, of varying personality types, interests and disciplines can be great communicators. 2) The resonance of “peer to peer marketing” is extremely powerful and may equal or exceed that available through traditional marcom output.

3) User produced media is reshaping how we communicate, are entertained and most definitely, how we are influenced.

Comments are welcomed.

Why Do Companies Cut Sales and Marketing Budgets in an Economic Downturn?

...How Events Can Help Solve the Problem and How You Might Increase Your Own Value to the Company

A common rhetorical question heard among sales and marketing colleagues these days is, “Why do companies cut sales and marketing budgets during an economic downturn, when they need to sell more?” The truth is, it may be essential and in some cases, pushing for more new business could contribute to the problem.

"New revenue" from new customers often comes at a high cost. For many companies, existing customers are the greatest source of actual profit because they are the easiest to maintain and to sell. So, when things are tight, smart companies hold even more tightly to their existing business. CFO’s in survival mode know that expensive sales and marketing campaigns to attract business that might not be profitable for a while, may not be practical. Keeping existing business is essential.

Also, net new business volume requires investments in resources and people to produce and deliver products and service to new customers. Servicing new customers can be expensive, because they don’t yet know how to use the products and they are not part of the ordering and service systems. Increasing the size of the workforce may not be an option, and a survival strategy may be to handle the existing business volume with fewer people until the crisis passes.

How Events Can Provide Solutions –

Events provide a way to reach large numbers of people at once, at a relatively low cost. Remember, the purpose of an event is to motivate people to act in a way that benefits the host. Here are a few ideas to consider:

• You should strongly consider aiming events at existing customers to protect and grow their business. User and customer conferences actually result in near term sales and reduce service costs for companies that know how to plan and run them correctly. (See the Case study "What is Your Conference Worth to Your Company - http://constellationcc.com/case_studies.htm).

• Executive level customer conferences can create a platform where the top executives from your best accounts come together with your executives to collaborate on mutually beneficial solutions for dealing with an economic downturn. Executive to executive interaction is the most effective way to cementing business relationships.

• Few companies want to totally stop their pursuit of new business and new market share. When economics dictate a reduction in sales force or sales expense, your events can provide a cost alternative for reaching large numbers of potential buyers.

• Public events may suffer from lower attendance during an economic downturn. In some cases, the absences may be among lower level, less important participants who are not required to be there. As a result the remaining audience may be richer in targets and less expensive to reach.
  

• Private events, those you host yourself, can be staged in locations close to targeted accounts, and may be perceived as an opportunity for companies to find solutions for dealing with their own problems.

How you approach these events should be different compared to how your company normally conducts business at trade shows:

• It is essential to identify, by company and title, if not name, everyone at an upcoming event who can improve your results.

• Next, contact and arrange pre-scheduled, face- to- face meetings with these targeted individuals to discuss mutually beneficial approaches to dealing with a slow economy.

• Attract and "detail" targeted individuals who visit your stand. If you are able to accomplish the equivalent of an important sales call with targeted individuals in your booth, you will reduce your cost of sale.
  

• You must have a specific outcome (step in the sales funnel) in mind for these targets, and you must get them to commit to participate.

• Broaden your idea of a "target" to include suppliers and alliances. Interactions with these targets reduce the cost of materials or logistics contribute directly to the survival of the business.

That approach fills the sales funnel with prospects committed to a step in the sales process, ones that may not be coming from a reduced sales force and may help to lower the cost of doing business.

Saving the Company Money –

Finally, events can save your company money when it is most needed. The face- to- face meetings I referenced reduce the cost of field sales because the prospects and customers have paid their own way to meet with you.

Providing access to your executives for customers and prospects is a sure fire way to protect business and cement deals for new business. The savings from putting fifty to one- hundred or more customers and prospects in front of your executives, in just a few days, could reach hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings per event.

What to Do Right Now –

Talk to your sales executives about how carefully chosen events could help your company deal with the instability and change associated with the current economic climate.

Your importance to the company is about to rise rapidly.

Ed