Generating Revenue When They’re Not Traveling

By Bruce Tepper, CITE, CTC

There’s no other time I can recall in my 30 plus years in this industry where the stars were so aligned against meetings and incentives. We’ve had recessions before but not as deep or long as this one. What’s new this time around is: 1) a continuing lack of confidence on the part of so many people for any improvement in the near future and 2) the trashing of meetings and incentive travel by government officials and media.

Problem #1 occurs in every recession. Problem #2 is a different story. We can debate the reasons why our industry was singled out and the resulting impact, however I’d rather focus on what we can do about it. We’re not powerless to respond. Previously in this newsletter, I talked about the needs to reinforce the value of meetings and incentives to our clients; something Steve O’Malley addresses in the audio interview in this issue.

On a day-to-day level, it’s important to step back a bit and look at what we can do to keep revenue coming in the door.

In addition to sharing some of the recent research on the impact of meetings and incentives on business productivity, be sure to remind clients of some very basic facts about meetings and incentive travel.

•There is NO substitute for face-to-face meetings. They engage people in communication unlike web and video and produce more honest communication and feedback when no one is anonymous and everyone is visible.

•Meetings remove people from the day-to-day distractions of their normal environment and provide a setting for creativity and new ideas…something sorely needed in these difficult times.

•Incentive travel provides a direct link between the investment and the return on that investment…you pay for the results you get. That’s not the case with most other marketing options.

•Travel incentives motivate people to do a better job and in these difficult times that’s more vital than ever.

•Incentive travel offers a very powerful and effective recognition tool to recognize top achievers and in many cases, their families to reinforce their success.

Keep the flame alive. If you can’t sell them on a less expensive, closer to home, shorter meeting or incentive program, look at some different options that are less likely to arouse media scrutiny or strain the budget.

For meetings, consider the kind of venues that often get overlooked in better times. Here in the foothills (where I reside) of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Yosemite National Park (a few hours from San Francisco and Sacramento) you could take over a nature-oriented school or camp with dormitory style accommodations, indoor and outdoor meeting facilities and be in a beautiful setting with lots of recreational activities for adults. Overnight lodging including breakfast starts at around $25 per person. Similar venues operated by charitable groups, farm bureaus, schools, etc. exist all over the country.

For incentives consider substituting a group outing on a motor coach to a sporting or theatrical event that might include a weekend getaway at a nearby 3 or 4 star hotel (or maybe even a 5 star as deals still abound out there in the marketplace). You might also look at incorporating educational activities as well.

If group travel is off the radar entirely, look at individual travel programs or merchandise awards. Yeah, they lack the camaraderie, recognition and fun of going as a group, however they’re far better for your clients than doing nothing at all…and they’ll bring in some revenue. Both awards can also be used to reach out to new segments of a business and may encourage your clients to include more people in future award programs by continuing to use these awards in conjunction with group travel.

If you’re selling meetings, remember the basic purpose of all such events: to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information between people and nothing works better than doing it face-to-face.

If you’re selling incentive programs, the primary purpose is to motivate people to enhance and improve on the job performance and recognize the individuals who make that happen.

For meetings, the travel component is only a means to an end. For incentive programs, the award is only a means to an end. Step back and take a look at your business and see how you can continue helping your clients achieve what they need to achieve to survive and grow in 2010.