Showcases, fam trips,
client receptions, call them what you want, they are a vital part of the
marketing mix for all venues. Whether they are being held as a collective or as
an individual venue, the opportunity to meet clients face-to-face over a glass
of fizz and a canapé still
remains one of the most effective ways of engaging with clients, even in this
digital age.
As a venue and a member
of the Westminster Collection we regularly hold our own, and attend other such
events, and are alarmed at how many times we see the same old regular faces who
(putting it politely) are no longer relevant to our business.
These people who we
should perhaps refer to as Mr F Reloader and Ms T Imewaster have the inside
track on every single networking and sales event in the industry. They seem to
hunt in in packs and have an uncanny knack of knowing exactly which door the
canapés will appear from, they
also seem to have a constantly empty glass which they refill at every given
opportunity
Sales and networking
events cost time and money to arrange.
Consequently, it is a real
frustration to see these individuals showing up, even when they have not been
invited. So, What are we to do? Make a scene as we physically throw them off
the premises or take it on the chin as a cost of business? Clearly the first option is unfeasible as our
other visitors and attendees might be slightly alarmed to see security
manhandling someone out the doors. The
second option is equally unpalatable and therefore I propose that we make a
concerted effort to “head
them off at the pass” and
do our very best as an industry to prevent them even reaching our front doors.
The Westminster
Collection currently has a list of 31 individuals who are no longer welcome at
our events. We are happy to share this list with anyone else in the industry,
and would also appreciate any additions that other venues may feel appropriate.
I think it is important to stress that genuine clients have nothing to fear
from this list.
We are commercial
individuals working in a commercial industry and those people attending our
events need to bear this in mind. I am
sure that if we all start sharing names these people will soon get the hint and
hopefully move off to plague another industry, as personally I am tired of
being someone else’s fridge!
Any comments? Email conferencenews@mashmedia.net
