Bugs are Big Business

The first business conference and expo organized by the Arizona Pest Prevention Organization (AZPPO.org) was a great success. I had the privilege of presenting two seminars to the attendees recently at the Mesa Convention center where nearly 400 professionals in the pest management industry came together for education and support.  The bug business is big business. I was particularly amazed at how much science and technology goes into creating the products that keep the ants away from our picnic lunches and our kitchens free of roaches.  There was a clear emphasis in both the seminars and in the expo on safety and environmental protection.  Discussions about becoming “Green” were abundant and several new techniques and products were introduced on the show floor.  I was facinated by the reseach that was shared on such issues as the life span of bees, termites and rats and how many seconds it takes to kill a roach.  I was also impressed at how knowledgable and friendly the vendors were.  Everyone I talked to seemed to enjoy the two day event.  Congratulations to Helen and Nate and all the people who put together the 2009 Saguaro Continuing Education Conference and Expo.

The truth be told about Meetings & Conventions

Here is a recent Letter to the Editor I submitted to the Arizona Republic that has yet to be publishes.  Maybe I can get the truth out better from my blog.  here is what I wrote.  Let me know if you feel the same way.

I am so sick of hearing uninformed individuals, who have never run a business, met a payroll or had to motivate a sales team rant about the amount of money certain companies spend traveling to conventions or conducting business meetings. I work in the exhibit industry and can no longer stand by while the real truth about the value of tradeshows, meetings and conventions gets distorted or left out of the debate. Those who complain the loudest don’t understand that in the real world when management rewards exceptional performance and expands employee knowledge, it encourages innovation, increases productivity and generates commerce. The staff is recharged, people buy the products, the company flourishes and everyone keeps their job. That’s how you stimulate the economy. The businesses that are not laying people off, but showing their appreciation for their employees by sending them to a nice hotel, paying for advanced education and showing their appreciation for a job well done should be rewarded not reprimanded. They are reinvesting in their most valuable asset, their people. The damage being done to the tourism, hospitality, tradeshow and convention industries by one-sided reporting is devastating. It is not just the hotels, restaurants and resorts that suffer. Attention Main Street! Along with the $100 million lost on area tourism, no meetings, conventions and tradeshows means no jobs for food servers, housekeepers, limo drivers, florists, delivery people, truck drivers, chefs, carpet layers, banquet managers, travel agents, display manufacturers, exhibit installers, graphic designers, sales people and the list goes on. It’s time for local business owners to stop grumbling to each other in quiet circles and start making some noise. Help me get the truth out. Our livelihood depends on it.

Your health is everything!

Who would have thought that a stomach ache on Monday night would turn into accute appendicitis that would land me in the hospital on Tuesday night.  It took me 16 hours of enduring what I thought was a touch of food poisoning and one missed day of work to finally give in to the pain and see a doctor. Actually my husband had to talk me into it.  They don’t mess around with problems with your appendix.  I saw the doctor at 3 pm, was sent to the emergency room at 4:40 for a CT Scan and went into surgery at 7pm.  Never even stopped back home.  Good thing I had on my nice underwear.  I told that to my Mom who always warned me this might happen and she had a good laugh.  Stayed overnight in the hospital and was home by 2 pm the next afternoon.  You just never know.  All is well. Nice to have great staff on hand to cover for me at the office. Thanks Karol Ward and Sue Marshall for being there and doing such a great job.  I know all you business owners out there can really relate. Good health to all. 

SR

Business Expo offers cheap leads

Looking for a cheap way to find qualified leads and get a tasty snack. Attend the Scottsdale Chamber’s Business Expo at the Chaparral Suites Resort on Thursday September 10th from 4-7 pm. www.Scottsdalechamber.com   Over 120 businesses will be showcasing their resources.  Exhibit Experts will be there for all your tradeshow needs so stop by in you are in Scottsdale Arizona.  Below are a few tips for both exhibitors and attendees to help you make the most of your time on the show floor. 

In today’s depressed economic climate small business owners are searching for cost effective marketing tools and new ways to attract customers.  One method that consistently produces results and remains a great value is face to face marketing at a tradeshow.  Tradeshows are an exception source of business for both exhibitors and attendees.  Here some tips for maximizing your next tradeshow experience from either side of the exhibit aisle.

Tips for attendees:

• Prepare in advance: Research the exhibitors from the show website and create a list of must-see products and services.
• Be ready to deal: Bring detailed information that will help an exhibitor quote your project or answer your questions.
• Network:  Reconnect with customers and colleagues.
• Discover what’s new:  Look for new innovations and what’s hot in the marketplace.

Tips for Exhibitors:

• Collect leads: Gather contact information from qualified customers using a drawing, guest book or newsletter sign-up form. Categorize and rank leads according to quality.
• Be prepared to deal- Staff your booth with knowledgeable, friendly people ready to close a sale.
• Collect competitive intelligence: Compare the competitor’s image, display, price points and product line with yours.
• Gather market research: Check the pulse of the public with a short survey to uncover customer wants, needs and opinions.

For more information about the value of tradeshow marketing check out the resources at www.ExhibitExpertsaz.com

Susan

Exhibit Like an Expert

If you happen to be coming to Phoenix next week you can catch my “Exhibit Like An Expert” seminar at the August 5th meeting of BOMA (Building Owners & Managers Association) and at the Maricopa Home and Garden Show on August 8th.  I will be teaching the attendees the five key elements they must master that will turn their exhibit booths into a powerful profit center.  I love teaching that seminar because it includes practical, relevant tools and strategies that can be immediately implimented at the show.  The five elements of importance that we review in detail are:  Goal setting, Display Design, promotion, sales strategies and effective follow-up.  I get really excited when the seminar attendees go back to their booths and rearrange their products, change the location of their table or adjust their props in response to my instructions and tips.   Helping exhibitors look great, sell more and make money at tradeshows, consumer shows and events is my goal.  For some of my free tip sheets or to hear more about our line of display products to make you stand out from the competition check out our redesigned website at www.ExhibitExpertsAZ.com . If  your organization or conference needs a speaker on the subjects of exhibit marketing, networking, publicity or entrepreneurship give me a call to chat.  602-437-3634.  I hope to see you at a tradeshow soon.

Networking goes Hi-Tech

At the TS2 convention and tradeshow for the tradeshow industry that I spoke at in Chicago this past week there was a company facilitating a new networking program for attendees.  It took mixing and mingling to new heights and provided a fun way to connect to everyone.  The company is called Mingle360  www.mingle360.com and they provided every attendee with a free Mingle Stick. About the size of a flash drive and strung on a lanyard for convenient access, your device captures information from other people’s devices with the press of a button.  So I’m walking the aisles in the exhibition hall or I’m sitting next to someone at an educational session that I want to meet.  After a brief conversation I’d say lets mingle.  We’d face mingle sticks, press the button and a green light confirms we have indeed mingled minds and personal data.  Kind of sexy and fun and a great ice breaker.  In addition it’s a valuable tool for collecting loads of contacts quickly.  At the end of the conference you would go to the Mingle 360 desk, hand them your minglestick and all the info would be uploaded for you to retrieve when you return to your office.  Pretty cool.  I loved using it.  Contact www.mingle360 to find out how to add the mingle stick to your next event.  And if you need anyone to speak about how to turn your tradeshow booth into a powerful profit center consider me, The Exhibit Expert.  www.SusanRatliffPresents.com

Thanks

SR

Audience response system fast and fun

It was a beautiful few days in Chicago when I attended TS2.  I had a fabulous dinner outside Rush Street watching the happy crowds passing by.  It was a perfect Wednesday night for baseball as  The White Sox beat the Tampa Rays 4 to 3.  It was the first time riding a subway and my experience on the L was just like in the movies.  Travel down a dingy set of stairs to a long cement deck next to the track.  The train comes to a rapid halt and hundreds of people pile into the cars for a jiggly, crowded rapid ride.  By the time you are done you know your neighbor intimately, if you know what I mean.  Anyway back to the business part.  My seminar went really well. I know this because of the cool audience response system we used from Meridia.  Each attendee had a keypad at their table and I sprinkled my presentation with questions that flashed on the screen.  The attendees had eight seconds to press a selected answer on the keypad then the percentages of selected answers appeared next to the question.  It was really cool to get real time feed back and I  am grateful that the answers came back positive for delivering content of value.  The statistics will be compiled and returned to me to use to target my information even more effectively.  The exhibit floor was rather slow and I hear the show was down about 10% from last year.  The exhibitors that were there did a great job for the most part. I did see some new ideas, reconnected with suppliers and met some new contacts. Don’t miss it next year. Check out the cool audience response services from Meridia at www.MeridiaARS.com.

SR

Customer Service-The Key to Survival

If you are wondering where good customer service has gone these days when you’re ignored by the salesperson in the department store, snubbed by the desk clerk who is “on break”, or felt like the invisible man (woman) while the “service person” talks on their cell phone then take comfort in knowing that impecable service does still exist and it’s a sight to behold at the Wild Horse Pass Resort. www.Wildhorsepassresort.com  Four of us dined at Kai, the feature restaurant at the resort last night to celebrate friends’ anniversary.  I have never had such a memorable experience at any restaurant, in my life.  The resorts setting is magical and our table overlooked the mountains and gorgeous pool area. You know you are in for a unique treat when four waiters surround your table place a linen napkin in each of our laps.  The ambience is soothing as the waiter arrives in seconds to explain the history of the resort and takes our drink orders. (which were fabulous) Returning shortly with menues in hand he shows us four different original water colors, each with it’s own story, that grace the covers.  The gorgeous works, all 150 uniquely different, were painted by the current head of security at the resort. Very interesting tidbit.  The themed menu showcases the American Indian culture with many ingredients coming from local Mother Earth. Many of the produce is purchase from the student gardeners at the school nearby.  The menu selections were poetic and it was hard to choose between them. I won’t bore you with details of each meal, which included an unbelievably good Grouper and pork loan embellished with delicous sides.  I have to mention the breads, very different with some made on site with local seeds and herbs.  Hard to explain, but soooo good. Back to the service.  Our every need was met and attended to with perfect timing, never did we have to ask for anything.  The wait staff is incredibly skilled and fully knowledgable about the food, the area and the resort.  The service was so unbelievable good, not just at the restaurant, but throughout the resort.  Get this:  When the waiter overheard our friends tell us their air conditioning was not working too well in their room, he informed us he notified maintenence and it would be taken care of right away.  Bottom line is this. When is the last time someone raved about your customer service.  In this highly competitive business climate you have to go the extra mile or two miles if we have to so our customers feel special, appreciated and cared for.  At Exhibit Experts, we have tried to do just that for fifteen years.  I am sure that is why we have customers that have been with us for that long.  We can always improve, and welcome feedback to keep us on our toes, but it has always been a priority for us and that’s a promise.  Check us out www.exhibitexpertsaz.com if you need any tradeshow displays or products for exhibiting and treat your self to an exceptional dining experience by visiting Kai at the Wild horse Pass Resort.  Bon Appetite!

Are things finally on the up tick?

Friday I exhibited in a tradeshow organized by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, www.phoenixchamber.com It was held at the Westin Kierland Hotel and I have to say that I was impressed.  I was impressed not only with the professionalism of the show (I’ve exhibited in this event for years) and the quality of the exhibiting companies (about 130 of them), but with the fact that we got so many good, interested, “A” quality leads from the show! Yes I actually was excited and impressed that people were finally getting serious about buying stuff again.  I was actually encouraged that after a miserable first and second quarter, there seems to be a renewed interest in exhibit marketing again.   Of course no company should have ever stopped using tradeshows to promote their business and sell their products because it is one of the most cost effective ways to meet hundreds of potential clients in one place, but they have.  And our new President can share the blame for telling companies across the county not to have meetings, not to travel for sales conferences and not to fly.  Yes that has caused my industry to experience a 35% decline in business.  The media picked up on that and caused a horrendous backlash that impacted small businesses like mine across the Nation.  Those irresponsible comments and the continuing perpetuation of the the issue by the media did not just impact hotels and airlines and meeting planners and restaurants.  It effected the thousands of taxi drivers, brochure printers, florists, electricians, delivery boys, food servers, bell hops, exhibit installer , tradeshow display sellers, truck drivers and other small business owners in every city in every state.  Anyway, I am encouraged by the results I got from the show, by the comments I heard from the attendees and by the excitement other business owners had that also felt the up tick of interest.  I am going to think positive about this next half year and I hope you will too.

NSBA supports Small Business in Washington

Well, I didn’t win the Advocate of the year award in Washington DC on June 9th, but I was the only woman in the country to be honored as a finalist.  Congratulations to Thomas C. Pitrone of the Integrity Group from Ohio who is the outstanding recipient.   I had a great time meeting with the leaders of the National Small Business Association and hearing from representatives from Congress regarding the White House plans for small business.  All I can say is we, the small business owners, had better unify, voice our concerns loudly and show our strength  in numbers if we want to preserve free enterprise and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit because we are not going to get much support from the current administration.   There are 26.5 million small businesses in this country and 19.5 million of them are solepreneurs.  4.7 million of those are micro-businesses employing  less than 10 people.  Unfortunately it’s the actions of big business that make the headlines, and big business that gets the attention and the money.   I always thought the economy would be stimulated the most if small business owners could keep more of their hard earned money so they could hire more employees, produce more goods and expand operations.   Oh well, we will persevere regardless,  because that’s what we do.  Let’s stay positive, keep working  the system and make lots of noise. 

SR