Top Ten strategic elements
for World Class Sales Conferences
Sales conferences offer a company a unique opportunity
for team building and increasing morale in a learning
environment. Here are ten things to consider when
planning a conference.
1.
B B4
B – Budget before beginning to plan any
type of conference, and then work within the budget.
2.
Find a venue that
suits the event. Get out of the office! Make sure
the venue suits the theme of the conference.
3.
Decide what results
you want to achieve and organize activities and
workshops around those goals. Everything must
flow towards the desired end result.
4.
Positive reinforcement
creates positive morale and results. Don’t
dwell on the low points in sales or market changes.
Create a positive spin to promote support from
the team.
5.
Find a professional
speaker who will trumpet your message. Too many
companies make the mistake of having their corporate
Executives or Sales Managers drive home the message,
only to find that salespeople tune them out quickly.
6.
Know who needs
to be involved. Sales is all encompassing in an
organization, and should include representatives
from marketing, sales support and finance in order
to have everyone speaking the same sales language
to the client. If there are rewards for sales,
include small rewards for support employees as
well.
7.
Get others to spread
the word—to build a successful business,
you need networks and strategic alliances to help
advance your cause. Everyone you know, hear about,
meet and do business with is a prospect for your
network
8.
Create an environment
that is conducive to fun, excitement, challenge
and learning, especially if the event is held
on a weekend or on off hours, and make sure all
attendees have at least six week’s notice
of the event if they are expected to attend.
9.
Reward the effort
that employees make to attend and participate.
T-shirts, bags, any promotional item that suits
the event will be appreciated.
10.
Don’t forget
the spouses and children! If the event is held
on a weekend, or at a distant location and spouses
are not invited to attend due to costs, think
about how you can involve them. Send the spouse
flowers from the other spouse who is attending
the event, purchase a family pass to an event
or amusement park that they can use while the
conference is going on, or send the employee and
his spouse to dinner upon their return from the
conference.
Strategic
Thinking Top 10
Here are top 10 things to consider if you want to be
a strategic thinker.
1.
Have
a Vision Think beyond this year. Where do you
want to be in 5, 10, 20 years? See the future.
2.
Make Time Strategic
thinkers take time out - a retreat, maybe a day,
maybe an afternoon with a blank sheet. Schedule
time to think strategically.
3.
Take your time
This is about shaping, coaxing, tuning for a quality
performance in the years to come. Take time to
fine tune, revise and engineer and build a quality
business.
4.
Pay attention Good
business leaders are truly aware. Follow your
nose, both internal and external, to help guide
your future direction. Look for opportunities
and pounce.
5.
Review, Review,
Review Validate your thinking. Will it work in
a changing world? Benchmark, take stock and keep
thinking.
6.
Learn from Experience
Learn from your successes and your mistakes.
7.
Build a team Engage
your staff. Bounce ideas off others in the workplace
and encourage their input. You will be surprised
by the results.
8.
Be realistic Be
realistic and honest. Are goals achievable or
pipe dreams? Under promise and over deliver.
9.
Develop Milestones
Build milestones to measure success. Only by measuring
can you really understand whether your strategy
is working or not.
10.
Be open minded
Encourage creativity without criticism. That’s
when the great ideas flow. You get true freedom
by exploring all opportunities.
