All entries tagged with “meetings”
Facilities Management Summit to Take Place in Chicago on November 9 & 10
The Facilities Management Summit will take place on November 9th and 10th at the Westin Chicago Northwest. Facility executives from the Midwest region will meet with solution providers at the appointment-based event to discuss upcoming projects and sourcing needs. 
Marketing Your Biggest Asset: YOU!
Every day you are critiqued on your presentation. Your presence on LinkedIn, your Facebook profile picture, the posts that you ‘like’ and the links that you share. While you’re busy marketing to the masses on social media, in email communication and through your website, you could be missing one very key platform: Yourself. A key component of networking is in-person communication, and while the focus is often on online outreach, your face-to-face persona and presentation are often your biggest asset. Simon Sinek explains the importance of this in his TED talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” He suggests that people don’t buy into a product, they buy into the leader. With software for improving your post outreach, ads to boost your followers and engagement analytics, there's no specific tool to help you, as a person, improve – how can you upgrade your most human asset? Here are a few tips to help you market yourself: 1. Become Magnetic. Professionals should aspire to attain magnetic qualities to attract the attention of valuable colleagues, employees and customers. Traits of a magnetic person include authenticity, confidence, eloquence, energy, motivation, an active listener, well-versed, optimism, imagination, and a sense of humor. As a magnetic person, you are a role model and someone that others enjoy being around – people turn to you for assistance and advice because they respect and trust you. 2. Identify your expertise and then project it into the world. Know your value and be willing to express it. Find an area that you excel in and then become an authority on the subject within your circle. For example, if you are an e-marketing guru, let your friends and coworkers know by offering to help or by making suggestions. Before you know it, people will come to you for advice and you will truly build your value among your peers and within your organization. By identifying and expressing your value, you will have more of a presence and will become highly respected and easy to remember. 3. Be the best version of yourself. In-person communication is very reliant on presentation and a first-impression is made in fractions of a second – like many top selling products, your “package” is often your most valuable asset. Have you invested in your professional image? Are you healthy and positive? Are you well-versed on current events? Can you hold a strong conversation? To attract others, you must be the best version of yourself. If you are constantly aspiring to improve, you will inspire and attract others. 4. Know who you are. Not to be confused with knowing your value, knowing who you are helps you build strong talking points and create a stand point on most topics. Self-awareness requires you to understand the factors that positively inspire you to achieve something substantive and relevant every day. Your thoughts, beliefs, work ethic and attitude become your personal brand and are increasingly important as you connect with other professionals.
795+ Meetings Held at Total Security Summit - Houston, TX
Delegate attendees, including security directors from Amazon Web Services, American Airlines, Atlanta Braves, Greyhound Bus Lines, Justice Stores, Michelin North America, City of Austin, Starbucks Coffee Company and University of Chicago Medicine, met with providers for a total of 795 combined meetings over the day-and-a-half with solution providers including Assa Abloy, 3M Building Company, Detex, CAP Index, Avigilon, Snaptrends and Axis Communications. “This was extremely well done. Enjoyed the format, the pace, the flow. List of delegates was excellent. Avigilon has absolutely added revenue to the pipeline, established new relationships and even bolstered old ones. Will definitely be at the next event,” says Avigilon, who attends numerous summits, including the most recent in Houston, Texas.
Delegate attendees made new connections while also learning about new solutions as part of the seminar program at the summit. For both first-time and return attendees, the event was an intimate networking and educational experience, Amazon Web Services reporting "[The Summit was] very educational and gave good insight. I was able to talk to vendors about product modifications for possible solutions.” For many attending security directors, the format made for a comfortable and relaxing event, "I appreciated the method of vendors coming to your table and the established schedule," says UT System Police, meanwhile Fiesta Mart, Inc. applauded the "relaxing atmosphere." Following the event, the Forum Team has received feedback from delegate attendees and all have reported they intend to do business with at least one connection they made at the summit.
795 Meetings Conducted at Facilities Management Summit - Houston, TX
Delegate attendees, including facility directors from ACE Cash Express, Biscuitville, City of Houston, Cracker Barrel, Enanta Pharmaceuticals, General Electric, HHS, Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., Penske Automotive Group, Race Trac, Speedy Cash Holding and The Apparel Group, met with providers for a total of 795 combined meetings over the day-and-a-half with solution providers including Architectural Graphics, Inc., Axis Communications, Detex, Egan Sign, MySmartPlans, Lightstat, Inc., Veritiv and Service Channel. “This was extremely well done. Enjoyed the format, the pace, the flow. List of delegates was excellent. Avigilon has absolutely added revenue to the pipeline, established new relationships and even bolstered old ones. Will definitely be at the next event,” says Avigilon, who attends numerous summits, including the most recent in Houston, Texas.
Delegate attendees made new connections while also learning about new solutions as part of the seminar program at the summit. Biscuitville returned to this summit, saying “As this has been my third show in which I continue to meet people in the industry, it’s a smaller summit which gives you a better insight of meeting vendors and industry peers.” Following the event, the Forum Team has received feedback from delegate attendees and all have reported they intend to do business with at least one connection they made at the summit.
Going the Extra Mile: Face Time that Pays Off
After returning from a successful business networking event and receiving positive feedback from attendees, I realize that there is a significant return on investment when sales professionals dedicate face-to-face time to a prospective buyer. This spawned some personal research into the science of face-to-face communication versus electronic and telecommunication. What I found, though - is that when the two powerful methods combine - sales sky rocket. Companies are spendingFollowing an initial decrease in spending during the recession, corporate travel and expenses have increased by 58 percent over the past three years, with Oxford Economics USA reporting that each dollar invested into travel generates a sales return of $10 to $14.99. No pun intended, but I’d say that’s worth going the extra mile! While traveling for business pays off, face-to-face meetings are a key component of this business success. With recent developments in technology and highly personalized telecommunication software, why are top-producing, Fortune 500 companies investing a combined $181 billion into travel and expenses this year? Because, according to the Harvard Business Review, 89% of business travelers report face-to-face meetings are essential for “sealing the deal.” While pinging e-mails back and forth may develop a working relationship, a face-to-face meeting allows for the broadest form of communication, encompassing nonverbal cues, candor and body language. Why the meeting is worth the plane ticketJames Borg, the author of Body Language, says that 93 percent of human communication consists of para-linguistic cues, leaving only seven percent up to actual verbal conversations. Opposed to virtual communication, face-to-face contact facilitates the transfer of tacit knowledge, an understanding that can only be experienced by being present. A physical meeting is more effective, allowing the speaker to draw immediate feedback and tailor an interaction based on a nonverbal response, allowing optimal results in a sales environment. The old adage, time is money stands true here. 81 percent of sales executives believe that traveling to meet a prospective client in person builds value into their meeting. Forbes conducted a survey of 760 business executives on this subject, of which 85 percent said that face-to-face meetings, many of which involve travel, build stronger, more meaningful business relationships, scoring well for persuasion, leadership and engagement. Similarly, 18 percent report losing business because they were unable to travel to meet a client. Yin & Yang: Closing the Marketing CircleNetworking events are natural lead generators – drawing a pool of industry peers physically to one venue. Even with this opportunity for brand building, customer engagement and customer training, executives and marketers rely on technology to develop business relationships beyond the physical. A global survey by Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts reveals that 53 percent of business executives believe that connecting with a business associate on social media can help develop a stronger and more trusted relationship. The strongest ROI will be reached when face-to-face interactions are aided by technological engagements. Research by Marketo reports that while marketers are investing in computer-mediated-communication (CMC), or virtual communication like webinars, to stay connected, they are failing to complete the circle: using powerful engagement solutions before, during and after a meeting. By connecting physically and then filling the void with electronic correspondence, real relationships will generate record-high sales.
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