Successful Meetings - December 2007 - (Page 54)

Sales Meetings > More Miles for Your Money One way to cut back on expenses is to choose meeting locations that offer inexpensive, easily accessible entertainment that attendees can enjoy on their own. The more planning your staff has to do, the higher your costs are likely to be. meeting is still available, and from New York to San Francisco, there are plenty of suitable destinations. Smaller cities like San Antonio or Cleveland offer lower costs, while less orthodox destinations, such as China or an island in the Caribbean, are top choices for creating unforgettable experiences. When it comes to choosing the best destination for a sales meeting, Las Vegas still comes to mind first. But is it really your best choice? Your attendees might be energized by the action, but it might also distract them and give them a reason to leave the meetings early. According to Brad Weaber, executive vice president and chief customer officer of Twinsburg, Ohio-based event planning firm Experient, “Chicago and San Francisco have shown a lot of activity lately. On the East Coast, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia are always good choices for corporations that are located in that region and don’t want to go far for their sales meetings.” The most important thing for event planners is to keep in mind the objective of the meeting. “Start with the end,” Weaber says. “Determining what you want out of a sales meeting beforehand will lead you to make the ideal location choice to meet those objectives down the road,” he adds. Keep in mind that sales meetings are different from incentive trips and require a completely different mindset. Locations for incentive trips, even if mimegasite.com they are disguised as seemingly formal meetings, must offer a large quantity and variety of entertainment. Meetings with the primary goal of sales training call for a setting more conducive to learning. But, it’s also important to make sure that entertainment hasn’t been eliminated entirely. As a group, salespeople are social animals. They’ll be more productive and get more out of the meeting if the agenda includes some outlet to satisfy that need. Unfortunately, these types of dedicated sales meetings have had their budgets consistently cut in recent years, as companies look for a better return on their investment. Here are some tips on how to keep the pizzazz from disappearing entirely DECEMBER 2007 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 54 http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - December 2007

Successful Meetings - December 2007 Contents Editor's Note Special Report Research Industry Trends 2008 Meeting Events Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Mouth for Sale Technology Talk Food & Beverage Pre-Event On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Goodbye, Booth Babes Five Tips to Improve Your Golf Events When Crime Pays Office for Hire More Miles for Your Money Places & Spaces South Florida Biloxi / Mississippi Gulf Coast Fort Worth Monterey Beijing Gurus Special Supplement: Hawaii Island-by-Island Guide

Successful Meetings - December 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.