Clear View Marketing, LLC

Published by Paola Osorio, guest blogger for Wttc.com on February 24, 2010

Just back from “E-mail as a Sales Tool: Prospecting and Building Profitable Relationships.” This was my second session of the day and I must say my favorite. Sue Hershkowitz-Coore was the presenter and she provided many good examples on how to use e-mail as a sales tool.

First, the do’s:

* Make it about them. The purpose of the e-mail is to get your clients excited about what you have to offer.
* Be concise. According to a Microsoft Office survey, 52% of e-mail users read only the first three lines of an e-mail message.
* Give your prospects full control of the message. Provide a mobile version and allow for opt-out and forwarding to a friend.
* Encourage trust. Mention how you met them or where you got their e-mail address.
* Respect people’s time.
* Follow-up. Follow-up. Follow-up.
* Always say “thank you”.

Now, the don’ts:

* Don’t use any unnecessary or cliched phrases such as “reaching out”, “reminder”, “touch base”.
* Don’t be too cute…
* Don’t forget to include your name.
* Never use CAPS (it could be construed as shouting).

Most of the attendees at this session were sales people for the lodging-meetings industries and the rest independent event planners.

Paola Osorio (@HTOMpaola) is a post graduate student at Toronto’s Humber College and a guest blogger for “The Meeting Planner’s Best Resource.”

published by Wttc.com Staff

Find everything you need to make this holiday season a special one. Visit our latest destination city — WTTC North Pole — to browse or search for holiday discounts and deals from suppliers across North America. Another service of WTTC.com … helping planners search less, and find more.

by; Andrew Maxwell – Wttc.com

An issue that is currently top of mind for many businesses in the meetings, incentives, conventions and events industry is how to attract new business sales during tough economic times. Just do a Google search for “selling in a recession” and you get over 21 million returns, a statistic that is indicative of the level of anxiety that is out there.

To work against this rising tide of recessionary selling, it is best to take small steps and focus on things that require more of you — and less of your pocketbook.

* Are you losing business to competitors who are undercutting your bids? A lot of people react to this by discounting the discount … just to get the business. Instead of this “glass half empty” approach, why not consider offering something of additional value such as a meet-and-greet service. Something like this doesn’t cost much but makes a big impact by adding a personal touch. Continue reading…

Troon Golf’s Al Larose, head golf professional at Copper Canyon Golf Club in Buckeye, Arizona, shares some team-building ideas that can be easily organized around a friendly game of golf. With a little planning and fore-thought, golf can be a great team-building exercise, providing the type of environment that builds positive reinforcement and strong interpersonal relationships that employees need on the job.

* Accommodate different skill levels. Your team will probably include people with very different skill levels. Different skill levels occur every day on the job, so this kind of team building exercise is appropriate. To accommodate the varying skills of your team members, you may want to play a team scramble or best ball event. This style of play lets each team member contribute where they can. And, it helps everyone feel like they are helping the team, which is the same spirit you are trying to build in the workplace. And don’t forget to call ahead. Most golf shop staff will supply the rules you need for a productive round of golf. Continue reading…

Katherine (Kate) Christensen, CMP, DMCP, is an award-winning event planner and owner of two successful companies — KCA Inc. (Association Management, Meeting and Event Planners, Public Relations) and PRA Destination Management in Chandler, Arizona. She is the past-president of MPI’s Arizona Sunbelt Chapter and was the recent recipient of its “Planner of the Year” Award. In addition, she has served as a mentor to students entering the industry with internships, hiring many of them on as full-time employees. She talks to WTTC partner, Randy Markus.

WTTC: How would you define the meetings and events industry?

KC: Currently our industry is in a bit of turmoil and it’s hard to forecast what will happen. It appears that everyone from vendors to clients to planners continue to perform with less, for less, making less. For instance, the hoteliers are offering huge discounts in very creative ways but obviously their gross profits are taking a hit. A transportation vendor still needs the business as they have their vehicle inventory payments so they too are discounting. My team still makes the same amount of phone calls for a group that used to be 400 people but is now 180 people. Our gross profits are deteriorating all while the same work effort is being put forth. That being said, I do believe that these times truly make us stronger as a group, as a team, and as an industry. These financial hiccups provide us with an opportunity to retool, rework, and embrace new practices and procedures to position for future successes. Continue reading…