How Great Customer Service Can Increase Your Bottom Line

By Cassie Palacios, Events Manager, SmithBucklin

Every day, we each experience numerous encounters with service employees; let me paint a picture for you.

You go to a nice steak restaurant (Restaurant A) for your friend’s birthday dinner. When you arrive, they don’t have your reservation on file and tell you it will be a 30-minute wait. You ask if there’s somewhere that you can sit while you wait and they shrug and say “sure, you can sit at the bar – it’s first come, first served”. You look at the bar and realize that with the bar line three deep, you may not be served for ten minutes, let alone get a seat. So you leave.

As you’re walking out, you call another steak restaurant (Restaurant B) and explain what just happened and beg them to get you a table. Luckily for you, they have a table available! So, you and your friend go there and as you walk in, they greet you by name. ‘How did they know it was me’? you wonder. You’ll never really know. As you sit down at your table, a server brings you two complimentary glasses of champagne and apologizes for the inconvenience at Restaurant A, but wishes your friend a happy birthday. You know this is going to be a great experience.

Will you ever return to Restaurant A? Probably not. But Restaurant B? Maybe this will become your new annual birthday spot. And with that, Restaurant B makes more money. The philosophy of great customer service increasing the bottom line directly translates into the Exhibitions and Events industry through the interactions we all have daily with exhibitors, sponsors, partners, and suppliers. Read more...

Getting to Know You: Data Collection

by Jean Heis, CMP, Director, Meetings and Exhibits, Institute of Food Technologists

Samsung, my smart home and Pokémon Go know a lot about me. So does Google, amazon.com, Mariano’s and iPass. They’ve gathered data on me and my behaviors for several years and I have no issue with it. I understand my behaviors tell a lot about me, and I appreciate the intelligence gathered on me allows the collector to form a profile specific to me. I like that amazon.com suggests new books based on the books I’ve read and that Mariano’s gives me coupons I’ll actually use.

The Exhibits and Events industry has employed the use of several data collection methods (lead retrieval, session scanners, RFID, mobile apps) over the years however, the data set is limited and in some cases, accuracy has been a hindrance. This is why I feel Experient’s new eventBit™ technology is truly transformative. Read more...

Help Your Exhibitors Wade through a Sea of E-Mail Clutter

by Lisa Goecke Malikow, Director of Tradeshows, National Restaurant Association

I have a confession to make:

Every day I receive about 40 emails that are some form of “newsletter” from various industries or thinly veiled sales emails masquerading as content. Every day I read about 3 of those emails and the rest get deleted or saved in my “read later” folder (which I never look at).

Exhibitors in your show are no different than I am when it comes to paying attention to these types of communications. Read more...

Merits of Personal Touch in the Digital Age

by Patrick Carlson, Core-Apps 

I understand the irony – I work for a tech company who weathered the storm as a startup and transitioned to be an industry leader. I am a serial networker who believes that technology should be part of everything you do. Yet, on this cold and rainy morning I sit at my desk handwriting thank you notes. It’s my belief that there are very few who don’t take pleasure in a handwritten gesture of gratitude. Read more...

Bundling Exhibitions Products to Drive Revenue 

by Chris Baumgartner, Account Executive, Ungerboeck Software International

As the exhibition industry has been evolving and taking more modern approaches in nearly every business process, pricing exhibitor products is no different.
Traditional methods of pricing consist of pricing everything individually for exhibitors to sort through and make purchase decisions based on their needs and goals.
However, new pricing structures are changing the way that exhibition organizers sell products and generate revenue. Read more...

10 Tips to Grow Your Trade Show Prospect List

by Kevin Jackson

IAEE offers some great CEM courses, including Exhibition and Event Sales. The course teaches vital marketing and sales techniques to ensure the success of an exhibition.
But the foundation of a strong sales program is just part of the process. Before you can close the sale and get a new exhibitor in your show, you have to find the right prospects.
That can be a daunting task, especially when money is tight and your time is stretched in 20 different directions. There are only so many competitive shows you can poach. So what can you do? Find out...

Go Ahead & Go Green!
by Erin Sweeney, National Sales Associate, GES

I would have never thought working for a company that specializes in the events and tradeshow industry would lead to a passion
for sustainability. In fact, the events and tradeshow business sector of the world has one of the largest,
negative impacts on the environment. Mass produced registration handouts, annually printed posters and banners,
and over ordering food and beverage can all be wasteful and damaging to the environment.
With baby steps in the right direction, making a green difference may be easier than you think. Read more...

The Only Reason You Need to Start Networking
by Jennifer Kimball, VP of Business Development, Event Creative

Networking is critical to a successful career, and that is why the IAEE Board spends a
considerable amount of time making sure we are providing you with not only relevant
educational topics, but also critical face time with your industry peers. Read more...

Are you interested in submitting a blog?
Submissions can be sent to IAEE MWC Chapter Coordinator, Elizabeth Haley at [email protected].