Notes from Creating Customer Loyalty session

Paul Wehking of Omnipress submitted the following post:

Wow! I just returned home from PCMA in Philadelphia. As a first time attendee since the exhibit hall was dropped a number if years ago, I must say that the event was very well done from what I could see.

My company, Omnipress, is a perennial exhibitor at most association industry tradeshows including ASAE, MPI, Affordable Meetings Series, Holiday Showcase, CESSE, AAMSE, NOCA, NOA – so in short we have been to a few of these things over the years. I have sat through sessions that frankly could make an insomniac drop over in minutes but I wanted to mention two sessions in particular that I found to be very useful.

The first was:

CREATING LOYALTY BY ADDING VALUE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS (Parts 1 & 2)
Speaker: Cindy Novotny, Managing Partner, Master Connection Associates

This session may have scared a few folks of as it was delivered in two parts on Tuesday afternoon. The content was logically split so people who could attend just one would take away good information.

Any supplier could have taken away great information from this session as there was a high degree of interactivity from planners (~25% of audience) supplier sales (50%) and supplier operations –CSM’s, etc (25%). Where a thought came up from the audience the label “Audience” is at the front. If it is a spin that I came up with you will see a “PW” label.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM SESSION:

• Biggest complaint about suppliers = response time too long
• Value Added does not mean lowering price but rather increasing value to the client through uncovering real needs and providing real solutions
• First step in building value is establishing TRUST
• Establish RESPECT early – basic but true – use your
• Trust is established through building relationships and is built over time (Tactic: Have VP’s or senior management types CALL (yes, actually call) the top ten, twenty, X (whatever your number is) clients
• Audience: Add operations team members (“real people” as one planner said to the FAM tours. Not just a handshake but plays a key role in explaining how things would be handled on site. Having operations in on these helps add credibility to the sales message and shows respect for operations’ important role in the delivery of service.
• PW: Why not have key operations staff do this as well from time to time – this keeps operations in the feedback mix and has them involved more DIRECTLY with the customer versus hearing it through the sales filter – if done right a “win” for everybody.
• PERSONALIZE/TAILOR your communications (letters, proposals, marketing pieces, etc) as much as possible to the unique needs of the client. Avoid boilerplate proposals that have cut and pasted together so many times they are beyond their useful life. Nothing kills your chances faster than having to listen to sales rhetoric on a FAM tour and then a generic proposal and cover letter that could work for the next fifty organizations looking at your property. Sure, sales automation tools are a must and canned proposal language can be a great time- saving tool but use it carefully.       
• PW: At Omnipress we call this using the big two: TIME and ENERGY. It takes both to present your communications in the proper manner for the best consideration by your prospect. Presumption: that you have already applied the proper brain power to understand what your prospects true needs are. If not, perhaps you should think in terms of the big three: BRAIN POWER, TIME, and ENERGY. We have found Tom Sant to be a decent source for proposal writing tips.
• AUTHENTICITY – You must be authentic (the real deal) with your customers, prospects and team members within your organization. Every needs straightforward, honest communication. If you can’t deliver on a particular request, offer alternatives early in the process or simply state that you do not offer “X”. You will save everyone involved a ton of time and likely gain respect in the process. If it is a deal breaker – so be it – better now than when the client is expecting your organization to deliver when you cannot.

GREAT SESSION OVERALL!!

Coming Friday:  Review of Marketing Makeover session. This interactive session was a real treat as live sample of event brochures from the audience were critiqued by the experts from Marketing General Inc and other audience members.