Seven Ways to Build Successful Staff at Your Events Company

Any one of you could probably have written this post, but I am going to offer my own thoughts given the strong affection I still have for DCI, the company at which I “cut my teeth” in the events business. DCI certainly had its faults, but after my ten years at The Event Mechanic! I recognize how much of what I now do recalls those years in Andover, Massachusetts earlier this century.

Here are the seven ways:

Make sure that new employees come into contact with customers as soon as they arrive

I should explain that most new hires at DCI were just a couple years out of college. Very few people were hired with a specific job in mind, except perhaps for sales vs. non-sales roles. New staff worked in a ‘bullpen’ area until a specific opening ‘downstairs’ became available. The average bullpen tenure was about 3-6 months as DCI was experiencing heavy growth. Bullpen responsibilities included making collections from conference attendees, as well as fielding inbound customer service calls. From Day One, all new employees were exposed to DCI customers, irrespective of whether they were destined for a marketing, conference, operations or sales role. Obviously working in the bullpen also required quick familiarity with all the DCI events, given the range of questions that one had to answer, making this set up valuable in a number of ways.

Ensure your employees understand that cash drives the business as soon as they arrive

As mentioned above, bullpen staff was required to make collection calls. Knowing the origins of corporate cash, and where it goes in the business, really schooled me on the importance of focusing on profitability, not just revenue building. That led to me having to understand which shows worked and to identify “why” they worked from a financial perspective.

Include cross-train opportunities for your staff

A key moment for me at DCI happened after three years as a conference manager, when I was actively lobbied by the Sales Team to join that part of the organization. I believe I was the first to make such a transition at DCI, but that opportunity made my career.

Include the chance for sales opportunities during their time with you

See the item above and contrast my DCI experience with a prior period when I worked at Lufthansa. At Lufthansa, I was informed by a senior sales person that I would never make it in sales because I was too shy (a characterization that no-one who knows me now would believe.) At DCI, I discovered a knack for getting to the core of a problem and solving it. Once I began ‘selling’ my solutions, I learned the value of relationship-oriented sales vs. a more transaction-focused approach which catapulted me upwards in the company (from bottle washer to eventually the VP responsible for 80% of DCI business).

Make sure your employees get a chance to network outside of the company as part of their growth

I learned this despite DCI’s failure to embrace this philosophy. DCI management were petrified that employees who went to SISO or Expo! Expo! would be poached by the competition. In contrast, upon joining IDG, one of the first things my boss did was to pack ten of us in a van to attend the SISO Executive Conference in Providence (about a 45 minute drive). At such industry events I learned how to find solutions to event problems from my peers, an invaluable resource for me.

Assign each employee a mentor and allow the relationship to be two-way

Though not something done formally there, I managed to ‘slip under the wing’ of several senior people at DCI. Those managers helped me get to the next level.  At IDG, as a manager myself, I learned that getting advice from those whom I managed helped to improve my perspective and gave me insights that I otherwise might not have gained from just being ‘top-down’.

Make every employee know the basics of building new events

In its time, DCI was one of the hottest acquisition prospects in the market. This attraction was attributable to DCI’s first mover advantage, launching new events before competitors had gotten their act together. This was not just a few shows a year. DCI launched dozens of shows, accelerating the financial growth of the company. This was possible because most people at the company knew both how to create new events and what made them profitable. Now this knowledge is a core competency within The Event Mechanic! as this business grows.

 

The above recommendations are among the seven ‘killer’ traits that I find in successful executives in the conference and trade show industry. If you build just one of them into your approach in growing your teams, you will shortly find your staff becoming more valuable and productive-benefiting your bottom line.

 

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

 

 

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