Greenfield Services: Blog

Reaching Meeting Planners in a Saturated Marketplace

July 23rd, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

On Thursday, July 15, SPIN Planners ran a webinar titled, A Rare Look Inside the Buying Process of Senior-Level Planners. Participants included third-party meeting planners Kimberly Ruby, CMM, of Ruby Meetings, Blanca Diaz of BND Meetings. Association planner Stefanie Simmons of IAAM. Moderating the discussion was Shawna Suckow, CMP, the Founder of SPIN.

Here are their recommendations on how hotel, CVB and other meeting industry sales representatives should reach out to planners like them:

About cold calling: while all planners universally hate pushy, “telemarketing”-like cold calls, they admit that the telephone is a necessary tool of business. Do your homework, they advise – which means make sure you’ve checked out the types of meeting and destinations they have executed in the past. They also warn to make sure you ask permission when starting the conversation.
A pet peeve: cute, but useless giveaways and leave-behind gifts, said Kimberly.
Because of their frequent business, all panellists report having close relationships with national sales office (NSO) reps. In their opinion, CVB reps are not visible enough and don’t convey the often free services available through their bureau.
About industry events and supplier receptions: planners will attend your event if it is in an unusual or new venue, or features a new food or theme, asserted both Blanca and Stefanie.
About familiarization trips: “no more fams without an educational component!” they plead. Optics are such that planners must justify fams to their bosses and clients. Suppliers should include at least one educational opportunity in their program.
When asked by this author about regular, old-fashioned mail, panellists admit they open hand-addressed mail or other unusual, personalized email. Shawna recalled a speaker at a past MPI event who asserted that “lumpy mail gets opened.”
Be careful about email: Mass eblasts seem too impersonal, panellists said. But a direct, personalized message inquiring about interest or through a group on LinkedIn is OK. One supplier suggested sending an Outlook appointment, requesting a phone appointment. Even if it’s “at the planners convenience” planners judged this to be intrusive and even “creepy.” Says Kimberly, “being a planner, I’m a control freak. I want to choose when I speak to a new supplier.”
How else should a supplier get known to planners? Be visible at industry events, volunteer with industry associations such as MPI or PCMA.

Not quite earth-shattering advice, but the good news is that business is picking up. And those suppliers who find ways to balance personal touches and a professional, consistent approach will be successful.

Tags: business development, direct mail, meetings industry, prospecting
Posted in Hospitality & Meetings, best practices - sales, marketing to meeting planners, meetings industry events | No Comments »

When You’re Stuck with the Boss’ Son…

July 12th, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

We help dozens of organizations every year to update their database. At times we come across some clients who aren’t able to outsource the cleansing process. This was the case recently with a law enforcement association who couldn’t export their data for cleansing because their CRM had limitations that required too much of their IT consultant’s very expensive time.

We would have loved to do the work, but it just wasn’t mean to be. Our recommendation was for them to hire temporary help. This project would have taken us just two weeks to complete, and now this is going to take them all summer.

Fortunately we were able to connect them with a candidate with roots in our area in Glengarry County. Nygel Pelletier is a former AHL referree (that’s him pictured above!) whose next dream is to get into law enforcement; he was only too eager to get the experience for his résumé!

At times association administrators cannot convince their board or their senior executives that outsourcing is a more efficient way to go. They are simply told to “hire a student”. We love students, but what if what if you’re stuck with the boss’ son as your intern to help you clean up your database this summer? Our client was very happy with how things worked out with Nygel, so we compiled the tips we gave them for your reference:

Establish a clear goal – What information needs to be updated? What titles/positions or functions are you trying to get information on and why? For instance, if you’re trying to update a list of potential exhibitors for your tradeshow, outline those potential titles who may oversee the decision to exhibit at events. Make sure your intern understands how to explain this purpose to the receptionist.
Write out a script – Have your intern write out exactly what they’ll say. Play act with them any potential objections so they can present themselves professionally. (e.g. Receptionist: “I’m sorry; I have no idea who would want to exhibit at your Widget Association Show.” Intern: “I understand. Perhaps someone in your marketing department would know. Can you please transfer me?”)
Define phone vs. online approaches – The internet is a great tool, but don’t assume contact names are easily found online. Sometimes it’s quicker to call up a company and talk to a human being than to search for people online. Also decide whether the intern will have an email address to send requests for update.
Take the time to train – Supervising a less experienced staff member doing tedious work is often a challenge for busy managers. Updating a list is not rocket science, but it is an art to convince people to give you the time of day to update any information. Make sure you take the time to show the person what you want, and how they should sound. Have them listen to you updating the information so they hear how it’s done.
Keep track of progress – If updating is taking place “live” in your database (and not just on an Excel spreadsheet), make sure you print out a master list, by account/organization name or whatever order makes sense. Have your intern keep track of their progress by checking off organizations as they are completed.
Spot check – Make sure the information is updated correctly and thoroughly. It’s stating the obvious, I know, but it’s easy do a great job updating names and forgetting to check that the company is still at the same address. Spot check records if you can by verifying zip/postal codes, and clicking through to websites to make sure the information is correct. Have someone else check on a few records, just to make sure things are going smoothly.
Establish metrics – After 3-4 days, your intern should be able to tell you how many records he/she has been able to update per hour. As we’ve discussed in a previous post, an experienced person should be able to update 10-15 records per hour (we define one record as one contact per company; so 2 contacts at the same location = 2 records). If the information is particularly dated or obscure, the pace may be closer to 8-12 records per hour. A pace less than that and your intern may have productivity issues or may be overwhelmed with the task.

And last but not least, make sure your intern realizes how vital their work is! A clean list is the starting point for any effective and sustainable direct marketing effort. Don’t let them think you undervalue their work!

Tags: association management, business development, clean data, database, hiring employees, sustainable marketing
Posted in Professional Associations, association data cleansing | 1 Comment »

When Is the Best Time to Prospect? Everyday!

July 7th, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

Being in the business of creating business development campaigns for hotels, CVBs, and other meetings industry suppliers, I often get asked, “when is the best time to call prospects?”

I used to want to answer this question with empirical data. I had read some studies which indicated that calling between 4 and 6 p.m. lead to slightly higher connection results. In 2008 we measured our connection rates and found that, in Canada, we connected with more meeting planners in the summer months and from mid-November to mid-December than at any other time of year. Our assessment at the time was that planners seemed to be in their office (and not travelling, or attending meetings). Even if some were on vacation, they often were more willing to have conversations shortly after their return.

Since the economic downturn, however, I have revised my tune. Just like trying to time the stock market is often a recipe for disaster, waiting for the “best time” leads salespeople to make up all sorts of excuses and never pick up the phone. Successful salespeople prospect consistently. They know it’s always a good time to call prospects.

One of the best resources that drove home that point for me is downloadable poster called “Everyday” from sales blogger Paul Castain. You can download it for free at http://yoursalesplaybook.com/free-stuff-from-uncle-paul/ .

His insightful observations inspired me to re-write it for meetings industry sales representatives:

Everyday . . .

A new business is born that requires a venue for their company launch.

An “accidental planner” is asked to plan the next meeting and he/she needs your help.

A sales rep goes M.I.A., leaving a jilted planner ready to be wooed.

A business moves into your area, needing a nearby hotel for their visiting employees and clients.

A new meeting planner is promoted and is looking to make a name for him/herself.

That old decision-maker, who used to favour the hotel across the street, may have left.

A vendor screws up the client’s conference, creating an opening for you.

A supplier takes the client’s next event for granted, creating opportunity for you.

A rep fails to offer an idea that you have that could improve your prospect’s meeting.

A meeting planner just doesn’t like their sales rep.

A buyer feels like they have to continually “babysit” their convention services vendor.

A planner is managing too many hotel/supplier relationships and needs a “one source solution.”

A planner hates the contracting (and invoicing!) process with their convention hotel.

A planner wants to deal with a travel supplier who isn’t just about the commission cheque.

A planner feels like they are over paying for the AV services they are getting.

A rep misses the RFP deadline.

A rep fails to communicate convention centre construction news, giving you an opening.

A volunteer committee needs the benefits of your CVB services to help them streamline their site selection process.

An association needs to improve meeting attendance . . . your idea can help.

A company needs happier customers, employees and shareholders . . . your venue is a perfect spot for their event!

A buyer wishes they could find a caterer that would “get it right the first time”.

A referral from the group that just checked out is there for the taking . . . you need only to ask for it!

A “low ball” competitor can’t sustain quality in their service delivery.

A sales rep gets caught in a lie and loses credibility.

An existing supplier implements some stupid, non customer friendly policy.

A competitor raises their rate, making the planner re-evaluate their site selection.

A planner needs to find out about your awesome new resort to make them look like a rock star!

A planner gets FED UP with surprise extra charges on their hotel bill!

As Paul instructs us, “Our job is to find these people!” Happy selling!

Tags: business development, cold calling, lead generation, meetings industry, prospecting, referrals, sales tips
Posted in Hospitality & Meetings, best practices - sales, lead generation, qualifying prospects | 3 Comments »

Follow-Up Strategy to Speed Up the Sales Cycle

June 28th, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

Recent research indicates that B2B sales cycles have lengthened. In the meetings industry, hotel, CVB and other hospitality industry suppliers are telling us that they have to “chase” clients more than they used for that signature on the contract.

In our post last week we promised to share a strategy we have implemented in our own lead generation process as well as client projects.

This approach was taught to us by our “sales coach of record,” Colleen Francis of Engage Selling Solutions. We use this when we have discussed a business opportunity with the person and have tried to follow-up on at least 4-5 occasions, with no success.

First message: “Hi Sue, it’s Doreen from Greenfield Services. Sorry I missed you. I’ll call you again on Wednesday, at 10:15.”

Choose the date and time before you leave the message so that you are sure to be available. I recommend choosing a time that is a little unusual – e.g. 10:15 instead of 10 a.m. It stands out more.
Protect the time in your calendar right away.
At the appointed date & time, make your call! This is a crucial, trust-building step! If you don’t get the person (and assuming you have dialled 0, tried with the assistant, etc.), leave another message:

Second message: “Hello Sue! It’s Doreen calling from Greenfield Services. I promised to call you today. Sorry we didn’t connect. I will call you again on Friday at 2:45.”

Remember to keep your tone light, never accusatory (guilt is a good thing only if the prospect feels guilty because you’re so nice, not because you sound like their mother).
Always apologize for missing them – it’s your fault not theirs (this helps with the guilt factor!)
Pick a different time frame for each message and let at least 2-3 days go by between calls. To help me keep track, I enter a note in my CRM each time I call, with the date & time I said I will call again.
I’ve tested this dozens of times in the last three months and I get a return call 2/3 times before my third attempt. But if you don’t hear from your contact, try one more time. Again, set yourself a reminder, and call at the chosen time:

Third message: “Hey, Sue. It’s Doreen from Greenfield. I’d promised to call you today and heard you were out of the office. It sounds like I’m really lousy at guessing when it’s a good time to reach you! Because I don’t want to be a “sales pest” I will send you a quick email, and perhaps you can let me know how you wish to proceed regarding our proposal? Looking forward to it!”

If you feel comfortable using humour (as I am), go ahead. The point is to be yourself.
The above gets a couple of important points across: first, it shows that you have held your end of the bargain. You are a trustworthy salesperson, and you deserve respect. Secondly, it shows that you empathize. Stuff comes up all the time and you’ll earn brownie points with the potential buyer when you tell them you understand. It also lets the prospect off the hook if he/she has chosen another option or the business is not happening.
Realizing that sometimes people hate to deliver bad news, I follow up with an email:

Follow-up email: “Hi Sue. I hope you had a great long weekend. I’m sorry we haven’t been successful in connecting last week to discuss the proposal I forwarded on May 14. I’m imagining that perhaps this no longer fits into your plans, or that other priorities have come up. Either is OK. Can you just let me know whether it still makes sense for us to hold space for you for next month? I really appreciate it.”

Recently when I sent the above to a repeat client who’d “gone silent,” I received a “thanks for understanding” email. He was very apologetic for not getting back to me sooner and he promised to phone me with an update. He called when he said he would, and now all is well again. It was a relief for both of us!

In closing, keep in mind that you will also speed up your sales cycle if you have more business opportunities in your funnel. Find time to prospect more often and you won’t have to wait by the phone for that prospect to call you back.

Let us know about your strategies to speed up the sales cycle or whether you have any questions & comments!

Tags: business development, meetings industry, sales funnel, sales tips
Posted in Hospitality & Meetings, best practices - sales, marketing to meeting planners | 6 Comments »

Sales Efforts Making You LOSE YOUR RELIGION?

June 21st, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

Some think the 1991 song “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. is about unrequited love while others maintain it’s about a Southern expression meaning “at my wit’s end.” Both interpretations are appropriate for those of us in hospitality sales who have lost faith that our efforts are paying off and that clients just don’t love us anymore.

Before you throw your hands up in the air, read on about what the experts are saying:

It’s not you

Contacts not returning your calls? Hot prospect suddenly gone cold? Even with business picking up, hotel sales managers and CVB account rep report having to chase buyers longer to get a commitment. Frustrating exercise, but the silver lining is that this is happening all over the place, not just in the meetings industry.

The Aberdeen Group and CSO Insights both have published extensive papers about how sales cycles have lengthened since the recession. One possible explanation is that in rough times, buyers become more conservative; they stick with who they know even when they have not been completely satisfied with their current supplier. With leaner staffing levels, it’s also likely there are fewer people to get the work done and meeting planners and tougher to reach!

At her April 2010 Sales Mastery Workshop, sales trainer Colleen Francis reported that, across various industries, closing a new B2B client now takes an average of 7 to 11 interactions with the customer. That’s 7 to 11 conversations or meetings – not just one-way emails and voice mail messages.

So stop taking it personally. It’s not you, it’s the way of the marketplace right now.

Be persistent

In a 2008 blog article, Brian Jeffrey describes that 81% of sales are made after the fourth call, by which time 90 percent of salespeople have quit calling. Similar numbers are reported by Stanford University research whereby 85% of clients buy after the fifth meeting and 95% of sales people give up after the fourth.

Sales experts agree: be persistent, without being a pest (for tips on the latter, check out Brian’s article).

Have more leads in your funnel

From personal experience, it’s easier to have faith in your sales process when you have more opportunities in your pipeline. Fear sets in quickly when you only have a few tentative pieces of business on the books…

The only antidote to this fear: prospect more to increase your volume of potential business.

Chewable Chunks

Start with past clients, or prospects you know you have a closer connection with through industry membership such as MPI, PCMA, etc.

When we haven’t prospected in a while it’s easy to get overwhelmed with a long list of overdue traces. Start small: commit to reaching out to 10 customers in one hour. On average at Greenfield Services, our Business Development Specialists connect with 1-3 live prospects in an hour (that’s the meeting planner – not the receptionist!). Be prepared to leave a voice mail, and if you know the client well, follow-up your message with an email.

Next week, we’ll explore voice mail and email tactics we have successfully implemented in our Greenfield LEAD Generation Process. Have a great week!

Tags: business development, cold calling, lead generation, meetings industry, sales tips
Posted in Hospitality & Meetings, best practices - sales, lead generation, marketing to meeting planners | 1 Comment »

Greenfield Services Donates $4,459 to Local Hospital

June 18th, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

Greenfield Services Cheque Presentation to Local Hospital

(Left to Right) Home Hardware owner, Ron Aubin; Sylvie Saint-Onge, Giant Tiger; Roxane Robertson, Glengarry Memorial Hospital Foundation Manager; Greenfield co-founder & CFO, Heinz Wagner

On Wednesday, June 16, 2010, Greenfield Services presented a cheque for $4,459.09 to the Glengarry Memorial Hospital Foundation. Monies were raised during the community Yard & Plant Sale organized by Greenfield staff in May.

Neighbouring businesses also contributed to the effort. Giant Tiger hosted a special sale tent and Home Hardware donated proceeds to their opening weekend BBQ.

Heartfelt thanks go to the Greenfield organizing committee: Pamela André, Sandra Bigelow, Stephanie Lanthier and Heinz Wagner.

Tags: charity fundraiser, community event, Donation, Glengarry Memorial Hospital Foundation
Posted in Company News | No Comments »

Sales Trainer Colleen Francis at Greenfield Services

June 14th, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

Engage Selling President & Founder, Colleen Francis

Colleen poses with a copy of The Fred Factor

On Monday, June 7, Colleen Francis, President & Founder of Engage Selling Solutions, visited to the Greenfield Services Team for a half-day training session. Greenfield has been working with Colleen since March 2009, through a series of custom webinars, weekly e-newsletters full of sales and prospecting tips, as well as one-on-one phone coaching. This was the first time our team got to meet “the voice” in person!

We’d hoped to see Colleen ride in on her famous Harley — everyone wanted to see her with “helmet head”! Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and she drove in from Ottawa…

She plied us with yummy brownies, and we all learned lots more tips on time management, overcoming objections, active listening, and keeping a positive focus!

Everyone received a gift copy of Mark Sanborn’s book, The Fred Factor, Every Person’s Guide to Making the Ordinary EXTRAORDINARY!

This half-day session was part of an extensive professional development program customized for each Greenfield Client Care/Business Development Specialist. On average, each Greenfield CCS/BDS engages in 40 hours of training and coaching per year.

Lots of laughs and lessons were enjoyed by all!

Posted in Company News | No Comments »

Only a Few “Good” Hours Per Week to Prospect

June 7th, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

Being in the business of creating business development campaigns for hotels, CVBs, and other meetings industry suppliers, we often get asked, “When is the best time to call prospects?”

Analyzing this empirically, we can now say the best time to prospect is on Wednesdays between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. Have a look:

While a year is 365 days, there are only 261 weekdays, though not all productive work days for prospecting.

Since it’s pointless to prospect around Christmas and New Year’s, that cuts out 15 days. Take away 10 federal U.S., three Canadian holidays, plus another five religious holidays, we’re down to 230 days.

All Fridays before long weekends and Tuesdays after a long weekend should be off limits for prospecting. Actually, come to think of it, prospecting should be banned from all other Mondays and Fridays throughout the year because Mondays everyone is grumpy and Fridays no one’s at their desk. Now we’re down to 130 work days.

July and August are a write-off; who wants to do business in the summer? And let’s not forget the week when kids finish school in June, when they go back after Labour Day and off course the week of March/Spring Break. That leaves 84 work days.

Then there are those other fun holidays and miscellaneous celebrations. Who wants to be cold calling on Super Bowl Monday, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, or Halloween? Let’s not forget patriotic days like Flag Day and Election Day! Only 77 days left.

The average North American also takes two weeks’ vacation per year, and we all know it takes at least one week to prepare to go away, and one week to catch up after we return. Another 20 works days gone.

Let’s not forget sick days! According to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2004 Benefits Survey, the average North American is off 11 days for sickness, whether it is for themselves or to take care of someone else. This means we only have 46 days left for prospecting. A meagre 3.83 days a month, or less than one day per week.

Of course on that one day, probably mid-week, we can’t call too early, or over the lunch hour, or too late in the day. Doesn’t it make sense then that the best time to prospect is on Wednesdays between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.? But with voice mail, meetings and people travelling, is it even worth picking up the phone at all?

OK, by now you know what I’m up to. I apologize to all of you who were looking for the silver bullet solution. It doesn’t exist.

If we try hard enough we will always find excuses why it’s not a good time to prospect. This is a guaranteed formula for no sales! Sure, there are days that are likely not as productive as others to be prospecting, but there are always people looking for a new supplier, no matter what the calendar says. The point is to have a system and to do it consistently.

Do you have any success stories when you reached a prospect at an “odd time” and had a great conversation?

Tags: business development, cold calling, lead generation, prospecting, sales tips
Posted in Hospitality & Meetings, lead generation, qualifying prospects | 3 Comments »

Qualities of our Perfect Employees at Greenfield Services

May 30th, 2010. Written by Doreen Ashton Wagner

Whenever we begin a lead generation project for a new client, we ask them to answer our Perfect Customer Questionnaire™. The idea behind this exercise is to help us to pinpoint the attributes and characteristics of their best possible prospects… so that they may eventually become their perfect customers.

Perfection is rare, but the better we can understand what the ideal is, the better the chances we have to hit the mark. As American football coach Vince Lombardi once said: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”

Recently we applied the same principle to our search for new employees. Believing in the Law of Attraction, we asked ourselves, “What are the qualities of our Perfect Employees at Greenfield Services?” Owners, managers and line employees all had input.

Here’s what we came up with. Our Perfect Employees:

Believe and uphold Greenfield’s Core Values (Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty, and Respect). They understand company goals and want the company to succeed.
Are punctual, reliable, and trustworthy. They have a strong work ethic.
Are optimistic, positive people. They don’t dwell on the negative. They can see the “silver lining” in anything!
Are engaged by being actively involved in their work:
- They provide timely, constructive feedback to improve the quality of our work.
- They accept and apply constructive feedback from their supervisor, trainer and peers.
- They are solution-oriented. They recognize a problem quickly and are able to suggest ways to fix it.
- They take the initiative. They don’t need to be told to do things.
- They are able to separate work & private life. When at work, they are able to concentrate on work.
Genuinely like people and enjoy making a difference in people’s lives. They are life & energy givers!
Understand the business development process and are “sales-minded.”
- They are motivated by connecting with people and having “human-to-human” connections.
- They are naturally curious and enjoy asking questions that uncover prospects’ needs and wants.
- They are excellent listeners.
- They are willing to continually improve on their prospecting/lead generation skills.
Have effective oral and written communication skills;
- They know how to spell and they have great grammar!
- They are polite and professional at all times.
- They are persistent. They don’t give up easily.
- They know when and how to be assertive.
- They are thorough in the information they capture.
Are team players;
- They want the team to succeed. They don’t look for personal limelight/recognition.
- They step up if the team is down by motivating, helping others, and producing more than what is expected in order to help the team.
Are consistently productive. They maintain or surpass the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) and successful outcome level for each project;
- They manage time/priorities and multi-task effectively.
- They embrace technology. They have strong computer/keyboarding skills.
Want to learn. They understand the need to change for the better;
- They adapt with ease.
- They retain information.
Are healthy in mind and body;
- They respect themselves and their body.

Cynics will maintain that people with the above qualities don’t exist, or if they do, they are one in a million. We beg to differ. We think most of our employees embody these qualities, most of the time. And when someone doesn’t, at least we have a clear picture of what the expectations are.

We are not perfect, but the process of generating leads and developing business for our clients is something we are very passionate about. That is why we aim to attract as many near-perfect employees as we can.

P.S. If you know anyone who fits the bill, send them our way at jobs@greenfield-services.ca !

Tags: entrepreneurship, hiring employees, small business ownership, team building
Posted in Company News | No Comments »

Keep Updated!

Subscribe to the Greenfield Services RSS feed!

Greenfield Services: Blog

Categories

Keep Updated!