Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007 - (Page 33)

EASING AND ENHANCING THE GRIND OF TRAVEL Travel > ROAD WARRIOR OVERSEAS AGGRAVATION The weak U.S. dollar is hampering international meetings Even as the world becomes smaller and companies have increasingly global travel management capabilities, the majority of companies still do not have a meetings management program in place outside of the United States, and many expect international cost per attendee to increase, according to new Meetings Today data. In an exclusive survey of 134 corporate meeting buyers, 49 percent of respondents said they expected their cost per attendee for meetings outside the United States to remain the same this year, while 48 percent expected the cost to increase. Only 3 percent expected the cost to decrease. Additionally, 76 percent of respondents said their company did not have a meetings management program in place for meetings outside of the United States. However, 16 percent said they had a program in place, while an additional 8 percent did not have a program in place last year, but were planning on implementing one in 2007. Nearly 84 percent of respondents will hold fewer than 10 meetings outside the United States in 2007, and 75 percent expect the number to hold steady from last year. The increase in cost per attendee can be attributed to the U.S. dollar’s weakness against the euro and the British pound. Many cities in Europe not only have become more expensive due to the the exchange rate, but also because hotel demand in many markets exceeds supply. “Europe is a very expensive market,” said Bruce Morgan, senior vice president of marketing and business development for BCD Meetings & Incentives. He added that many of his company’s clients are looking to South and Latin America, where exchange rates with the dollar are more favorable. The exchange rate is “the biggest reason we’re not selling more to Europe. Everybody would like to go to Europe, but they’ll default to somewhere in the Americas,” said Scott Graf, global president of BCD Meetings & Incentives. Even when travel stays within foreign countries, negating the effect of the exchange rate, cost per attendee still is rising. Cisco Systems, for example, has increased its number of meetings outside the United States, but those meetings are with salespeople already in those countries. “It’s growing because we’re expanding in emerging countries, which includes Eastern Europe and the Middle East,” said Michele Snock, Cisco’s global manager of meeting services. Cisco holds approximately 600 international meetings a year. “That’s where meetings are growing because that’s where our employees are, but we’re planning out of those countries, so the dollar doesn’t affect it,” she said. Even without transoceanic travel, “Hotel rates have gone up all over the place. Airfares are going up because of the expense of fuel. The expense of doing a meeting anywhere in the world has gone up for that reason,” Snock said. —Elissa Hunter > TEST DRIVE $89.99 favorite tunes on demand, and few players fit that bill better than Samsung’s U3. No bigger than a pack of gum, the U3 measures in at a mere 3.2 x 1 x 0.5 inches. This 2GB flash player comes in five colors, all boasting a monochrome screen and touch-sensitive control pad. Thanks to its built-in USB connection, the U3 is ready to use right out of the box—just plug it into your computer and drag and drop your songs. Speaking of songs, the U3 holds up to 1,000 of them; coupled with a battery life of up to 15 hours, you should be good to go for most flights and workouts. And the U3 isn’t totally devoid of extras. FM radio, voice recording and portable file storage supplement this tiny package. —Jeremy Cohen OCTOBER 2007 SALES&MARKETING MANAGEMENT SAMSUNG U3 Bells and whistles? Who needs ‘em? Sure, we can appreciate the novelty of an MP3 player tricked out with a Web browser, bonsai tree and food processor, but let’s get real: When you’re trying to decompress on a flight or get in a quick workout at the hotel fitness center, you don’t need any of that stuff. What you do need is a small, reliable player to serve up your www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com 33 http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007

Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007 Contents Editor’s Letter Management Strategies Why Prospecting Gets No Respect Sales Strategy: Spotlight your Services Marketing: A Social Intelligence Primer Management: Steer your Team to Success Motivation/Incentives: The No-Pain Way to Gain Training: Looking for Yesterday’s Learning or Tomorrow’s? Technology: Get Trade Show Satisfaction with the Video Massage Focusing on SMB Solutions The Best Sales Force The Hottest Job Industries Overseas Aggravation Gadgets & Gear: Pen and Ink as an Art Form Books that Improve Strategic Thinking, People Skills and Sales One Foot Out the Door Work/Life: Calling in the Fitness Cavalry. Take-Aways: Bite-size Strategies to Help You Sell More, Market Smarter and Manage Better

Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007

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