Margie Dana

How to Serve Your Print Customers: Make This List & Check It Twice

The New Year is nigh. If December signals a slowdown of jobs coming into your company, you have more time to plan how to make better connections with your print customers in 2015.

Maybe it’s time to examine your own – and your firm’s – customer development strategy. A list to guide you in this exercise would help.

May I suggest your list include the following 10 items?

What worked for your business development efforts this year – and what didn’t?
What’s changed about the role of corporate print buyers (or consumers if you serve them) that should influence how you develop new business relationships and strengthen existing ones?
What sorts of services have a lot of your customers asked you to offer them, month after month? Can you make this happen or at least get the ball rolling?
How certain are you that your customers are 100% clear about all of your capabilities?
Can you articulate how you differ from your top 5 competitors? Would the whole sales team be in agreement?
Can you describe the profile of your primary customer? What industry, what title, what products are purchased, how experienced is he or she, and so on.
What do your customers count on you for, specifically? Write down all the qualities and services that make you a key resource for them.
What complaints did you hear from customers this year that made an impression? Are you in a position to address and correct them?
Think about yourself as a customer in a B2B relationship. What actions from a service provider would knock your socks off – and can you replicate them for your customers?
What one quality or work habit of yours do you wish you could improve, especially a “customer-facing” one? Name it, and commit yourself to fixing it.

Any one of these topics will force you to take a long look at how you serve your print customers. As in all of my blogs, columns and articles, I approach them from the customer’s perspective, and therefore I assure you it wouldn’t be a waste of your time, or your sales team’s time, to give any and all of them some thought.

While we’re speaking of lists, wouldn’t it be a good time to ask your customers for their ‘wish lists’ for 2015? Ask them in a friendly, personable way, letting them know your intent is to try your best and deliver in 2015.

The good news is that you won’t have to don a red suit and squeeze down chimneys to deliver these gifts. But I assure you, customer satisfaction and loyalty will color your new year a rosy one indeed.

How to Make Your Print Partner a Friend for Life

If you’re new to working with commercial printers, here’s some advice for developing these relationships in ways that will benefit you and your printers. Finding a printer you can count on and work with for the long term should be your objective, whether you’re a professional working on behalf of an employer or a consumer needing stuff printed occasionally.

Be open-minded. Sure, you have a good idea of what you want printed, but most printers are experienced. They have alternatives you should at least listen to. This could mean a different format, different run length, different paper stock, different use of inks, or different finishing technique. Don’t be pig headed about your project. Listen to a printer’s suggestions.
Be honest about your priorities. For some customers, a speedy delivery is what really matters. For you, it may be the highest print quality you can afford, or creative input, or cost-saving suggestions, or pleasing your very picky boss. Tell your printer what you care about the most.
Don’t play cat-and-mouse games. Be as forthcoming as you can about your budget and your schedule requirements. Negotiating with printers isn’t a game of Go Fish, so while I urge you to be prudent about how much you share, neither should you be so coy as to create a relationship based on mistrust and secrecy.
Give good and complete specs for every job. Each print job is customized manufacturing. This means every detail affects the price and could impact the success of your job. Ask printers for a sample spec sheet to guide you if you’re new at writing specs.
Find out what your responsibilities are. Once you award a print job to a provider, make sure you know what you do vs. what the printer does. Here’s one tip: proofreading is your job.
Treat your printer with respect. You want to be respected – who doesn’t? As you work with a printer over time, you may experience challenging situations that test your patience and threaten to blow up the partnership. Develop some sensitivity towards your service professionals, and you’ll be treated in kind. Should someone not be worthy, you’ll find out quickly, and you’ll move on.
Say thanks. Make it a part of your business transactions. Do it in person, on the phone, in an email or even a letter (remember these?). You like it when people appreciate your efforts, so reciprocate with your print partners.
Communicate well. Don’t miss deadlines you’ve set up without giving your printer a heads up, for example. Share spec changes promptly and in writing. Of course your printer should do the same.
Pay your bills promptly. If this is out of your hands, try and connect with your accounting or purchasing department, when possible, to encourage swift payment. As an independent businesswoman, I can tell you that clients who pay me promptly are my “A Team.” I jump through hoops faster and higher for them.
Share the love. When you find yourself working with a worthy and valuable print provider who makes you look like a genius and delivers beyond your wildest dreams, tell colleagues and peers. Go to LinkedIn and write a recommendation. And of course, tell your superiors.

That, my friends, is a recipe for earning the highest regard from your print providers. Let these tips guide your relationships with printers in the New Year. Enter each new relationship expecting the best outcome. Just remember to do your fair share of making that happen.

How to Conduct a Phone Interview for a Piece You’re Writing

If you’re a freelance writer as I am, and you write blogs, articles, or columns, sooner or later you’re going to conduct phone interviews for something you’re working on.

Over the years I’ve done plenty of these, and I’ve developed a system that works well. These are my own 10 tips for how to do the whole shebang. Please share them with friends or colleagues who might benefit.

Do some homework. Find out everything you can about the person you’re interviewing as well as the company, the industry, etc. I start with LinkedIn and any web site that’s appropriate. Jot down relevant information you come across. For example, maybe this person has tons of experience in the field or has written books about the subject matter. Knowing this sort of stuff will help your interview. The goal is to be prepared and to come across as the bright, thinking, well-informed writer/researcher you are.
Create a Word document before your interview. At the top, put your interviewee’s contact information, the date, the subject you’re covering, your audience, all of the pertinent insights you’ve uncovered from Step #1, and what information you hope to collect.
Write your preliminary questions on this document. This is critical. You don’t want to waste their time or yours, and without this roadmap, you risk not getting the information you need.
Be professional. Call when you say you’ll call. Mention your role and what you’re going to be writing about. Make sure there are no dogs barking in the background and no other phones ringing during the call. Ask how much time the person has to speak with you. Honor it.
Ask your prepared questions and listen carefully. Be a typing wiz. Take notes all the while, and don’t worry about spelling. You can fix errors after you hang up.
Don’t be afraid to veer from your script. Often the most interesting content from interviews come from such detours.
Hang up, transcribe everything you heard but failed to write during the live call, check your spelling, read all your notes and make sense out of all of them. Many people make the mistake of closing the document and taking a long break from it. Don’t do it. It’s important to clean up your document as soon as the call ends.
Draft the piece as soon as you can. The more time you let pass, the weaker your memory about that conversation. Don’t let it sit. I did this when I started out (before I knew better) and came back to documents that seemed to be written in gibberish. Honest.
Edit. Edit. Edit. Polish. Read it aloud. Let it steep overnight if possible. Edit some more. Sorry to be beating a dead horse, but practice (and editing) will make your writing better and better.
If appropriate, send the draft to your interviewee/editor for a look-see and their comments. Ask them to turn on the tracking so you can see what changes they want made. Clean up the final copy that they return to you. Now your piece is ready for prime time.

This whole process can be done on the same day or (ideally) overnight, giving you time to review and perfect your piece. Using this system will help you do the interview methodically, accurately, and professionally.

In my experience, the most important tip among these 10 is #8: draft your piece as soon as you can after you hang up the phone. By doing so, you’ll remember more from the conversation and you’ll also be able to fill in some blanks as you write. Having questions scripted ahead of time is also important, even if you end up scrapping some of your original questions.

What Caught My Eye: Print & Media in the News

About once a month, my weekly post is a short list of links to news articles and other published pieces that resonate with me. In one way or another, they have to do with printed materials, graphic design, packaging, communications, or media.

Here’s this week’s list of interesting stuff:

Did you know that during World War II, a group of publishers banded together with the US government to find ways in which books could help soldiers during the war? I didn’t. But it did happen – and the result was 120 million little paperback books that were printed and shipped to American soldiers in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific. The article is from the Wall Street Journal on November 21^st

It tells how a young author, Molly Guptill Manning, uncovered this story while doing research for her own book. Her book on this subject is called When Books Went to War. Great holiday gift idea! (PS: the soldiers preferred books about nostalgia and… sex… and this effort jumpstarted the rise of the paperback book industry as well as a new standard option for new homes: built-in bookcases.)
My newest column for Printing Impressions appears in the current issue (the one with the cover featuring the main story, “20 under 40.” Maybe one day there’ll be a “60 under 70” feature article. Ha ha.)

It discusses what print buyers really want – and no, it’s not just printing. This piece recaps a webinar in which three senior-level print buyers shared specific qualities that make a difference in their print provider relationships. See if their comments resonate with you, as they did with me.
Speaking of Printing Impressions, did you catch this article written by an anonymous print buyer? “How to Make a Sale: A Print Buyer Weighs In,” Boy, I think this buyer is right on the mark.
If you’re as fascinated by Augmented Reality (AR) as I am, here’s a neat list of 50 facts & figures about AR.
Since many businesses are hosting virtual events these days – webinars, seminars, conferences, etc. – I found this post on MarketingProfs especially timely: Four Metrics to Track During Your Next Virtual Event.
I think this is big news for newspaper publishing. Billionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, who bought The Washington Post last year for $250 million, introduced a new app that will deliver The Post for free to some Amazon Kindle owners. This app comes preloaded with content: articles, photos, and advertisements.

I read about it in the NYT on November 20^th^. “The app, which was designed to reduce the profusion of news content on the web into something streamlined as a print publication, will be automatically added to certain Kindle Fire tablets as part of a software update.” And it will have 2 editions – morning and evening!

This is definitely worth watching. I don’t own a Kindle, so if you do, please let me know if you have the app and what you think of the content.

‘Tis the Season to Be Patient

The affable-looking guy manning the cash register at Wegmans seemed perfectly capable of scanning and bagging my groceries. But something about his outfit that day caught my eye.

It was that bright, yellow ribbon he wore, which proclaimed for all the world to see that he was new. The new guy. The new cashier-in-training.

It’s something I don’t recall seeing anywhere else, though it’s possible I have and just forgot. But seeing this very public sign that he was in training caused an immediate reaction in me: I relaxed. I instantly forgave him anything he might do as he carried out his duties. He was new, and Wegmans wanted me to know that. So I cut him some slack.

After all, who among us hasn’t been new at our jobs at one point? Wouldn’t it have helped us if our first few clients or customers realized we were getting trained, just getting our feet wet, a bit nervous in our new role, and trying extra hard not to screw up?

Back when, I wrote copy that was too saccharine, too florid, too long-winded. And my first few presentations were God awful. I needed practice and coaching. I’m embarrassed just remembering them.

So new service reps in printing and in other industries deserve our patience and our empathy. They have to get used to their company, their sales team, their bosses, their procedures, their schedules, and us, their customers. The same could be said for new sales reps.

What would be so terrible in letting customers know, as Wegmans does, that an employee of yours is in training?

I’m not suggesting this approach would work in every field – I don’t want to know that the pilot in the cockpit is flying his first commercial flight, or the surgeon about to operate on me is breaking in his or her medical instruments for the first time.

But letting your customers know that they’re working with a new rep can create empathy and understanding. Tell us, “Hey, we’re new, have mercy!” so we automatically cut you some slack.

It’s a very human approach. And most customers, aware of the situation, will be more forgiving should things not go perfectly.

This week kicks off a long holiday season. We’ll be dealing with service employees of all kinds, face to face and on the phone. Chances are good that at least some of them will be new.

If you remember what it was like to have demanding customers on the verge of screaming at you…hold that thought…and give the service reps and baristas and salespeople a break, as you take a deep breath and let “happy holidays” spring from your heart and roll off your tongue.

Augmented Reality – Not Just for Special Effects

This piece for an Italian opera association uses AR to teach kids about opera.

I don’t recall when I first started following on Twitter, nor she, me.

She’s a graphic arts professional who’s also a retired guitarist and a motorcyclist. Unusual and interesting for a printing specialist, I thought.

So I wasn’t terribly surprised when she sent an email asking to chat about AR (Augmented Reality) as a possible post topic. AR is one technology that is definitely unusual and highly interesting. I was game.

In the past I’ve written about augmented reality; one post showed how a shower door manufacturer uses it in a catalog. An earlier post recounted a presentation by Sappi’s Daniel Dejan. But Cindy wanted to discuss a different side of augmented reality. She wanted to focus on the additional information AR brings to printed pieces.

Cindy’s the founder of Walas Younger Ltd, a Chicago-area print management firm offering over 30 years of experience. You can reach her at or at .

As a way of introducing her thoughts on AR, Cindy referred to a LinkedIn post by Kevin Keane. Kevin’s a highly active social media guy, with a long resume as CEO of for profit and not-for-profit printing organizations. He’s also an attorney providing legal advice and marketing consulting for start-ups ranging from cyber security to packaging innovation to a new entity for any #printprotagonist who loves smart print. I know Kevin the same way I know Cindy: through social media. He has my respect, and I enjoy reading what he posts.

Here are the summary points on AR that Kevin Keane posted in a LI group:

“What is AR really? 1) It brings print media to life, 2) it adds value to print, 3) it should involve M-commerce (mobile commerce), 4) it should offer a deeper dive of engagement with product and service offerings from the client’s enterprise, 5) it should offer social sharing integration, 6) it like should offer gamification as it is a proven way to develop “stickiness” with customers – sweepstakes, contests, surveys and even puzzles cause folks to stick around, and 7) it must offer analytics. Seven splendid layers of discovery.”

Cindy has experience producing augmented print projects for clients. “AR creates the bridge between the print and digital worlds,” she wrote, so I’m hoping this post helps to get the word out.

Recently, her firm worked with StampaSud SPA in Britain and Italy to produce a few AR projects. In one project for “Who’s Hungry?” magazine, they created 10+ pages of AR-enhancement, using StampaSud’s exclusive StampaTech “Print Infinity” Augmented Reality platform. The enhanced pages link to additional digital content that’s not part of the printed magazine. This content includes videos, extra blogs, recipes for all of the food featured, plus restaurant and chef links.

Her colleague in Italy, Tony Calo of Stampatech, is starting to lean towards “interactive print” instead of “augmented reality.” Personally, I think this term works. It keeps the word “print” while suggesting something much more dynamic. “Augmented reality” sounds like it could apply to just about anything.

AR code enhances this wine flyer.

She sent along a few examples of the AR work she’s been involved in. First, there’s a neat little video (1 minute) about the AR platform “StampaTech.” It really shows you the power (and the magic) of using interactive print. The LabelActive wine flyer includes instructions for downloading the Stampatech app and using it. Another image referred to a piece for an Italian opera association to teach kids about opera. The enhanced cover leads to lots of links to print music, which you can then print out.

What was interesting to me was the notion of using AR to augment a printed piece with additional information (content, videos, links, etc.). It’s a different way of talking about augmented reality. We tend to think of it as a superfantastic technology, period, but it’s really much more practical.

“We talk about AR being the bridge between print and digital,” Cindy added, “and we can do that by linking to blogs, embedded videos and much more.”

Does AR still have that wow factor? Absolutely. But is has more value, especially if you can’t afford to “print it all.”

PS: If you aren’t connected on LinkedIn with , or use these links to make that happen.

Printers: People Who Know People

If I worked for a printing company (I never have), there’s no way on God’s green earth I’d be selling just “ink on paper.” Every printer can print.

Increasingly, printers have to define their services in new and creative ways. The truth is, most commercial printers have always done creative and magical work, and they’ve helped their customers design and produce materials that win awards and make lasting impressions. It’s just that they never quite found the right terminology to position themselves. Now, they have to.

As time passes, it gets harder and harder to tell commercial printers apart. Professional print buyers and designers know how important it is to choose printers who have similar capabilities. When considering new print partners, they consult with peers. They interpret equipment lists. They interview printers and try to find out what a company’s really all about. They read between the lines and do their own sort of background check. It’s a wonderful skill set that takes years to hone.

Without these skills, it’s tough to distinguish between printers, for so very many of them are so very alike.

There’s one perk that a lot of printing companies offer but very few promote: access to other professionals. Printers are social networkers of the best kind. They spend time with lots of creatives. Let’s face it: they get around.

I’ve lost track of all of the introductions that printers have made for me in my career, but there have been dozens. Whether or not a sales rep makes a dime off of this “social largesse,” he or she is deepening the customer relationship every time an introduction is made.

Here are just some of the connections printers have in the creative community:

Graphic designers
Videographers
Web site designers
Photographers
AV firms
Direct mail experts
Promotional items specialists
Marketing consultants
Mail houses
Finishers
Writers

If I sold print, I’d be this kind of salesperson – someone who’s known for my generosity of spirit and willingness to help clients out, no matter what they needed.

That’s part of what I would “sell.” My resourcefulness. My eagerness to help customers. My broad network.

If you’re a print customer, you probably get this benefit from your best printers. Isn’t it a valuable benefit?

This is not to suggest that customers should take advantage of printers’ connections, but it’s something no one really talks about. So I am. Here’s to printers who help their customers find the right creative when the need is there.

If you’re a printer, encourage your sales reps to be resourceful in this way. If you’re a customer who’s lucky enough to work with such printers, take a minute to thank them and tell your colleagues.

What Caught My Eye: Print & Media in the News

One of the suggestions I received from many of you who took my recent subscriber survey was to include news items from time to time. Say no more. This week’s post shares a few of the things about print or other media that caught my eye.

1. When do you think the very first female typographer lived & worked? Anyone? I don’t think the incunabulists* among you will be surprised by this: http://bit.ly/1omjtuk.

* from incunabula: from the Encyclopedia Brittanica: “incunabula, singular incunabulum, books printed during the earliest period of typography—i.e., from the invention of the art of typographic printing in Europe in the 1450s to the end of the 15th century (i.e., January 1501).” (Now you can impress your friends with this word. And beat them in word games.)

2. David Carr (brilliant media columnist & author) wrote an insightful piece for the NYT recently about Facebook and its deepening relationship with publishers. http://nyti.ms/1wgK7WI

Two quotes in particular jumped out at me: “…the company has become the No. 1 source of traffic for many digital publishers,” and “In the last few months, more than half the visitors to The New York Times have come via mobile — the figure increases with each passing month — and that percentage is higher for many other publishers.”

3. Wow. Gartner predict 3D printer shipments will double ANNUALLY till 2018. http://zd.net/1pQxlrN. Notable quote from this piece: “According to Gartner, shipments across both consumer and enterprise segment will continue to double until 2018 when 2.3 million 3D printing units will be shipped with a value of $13.4bn.”

I constantly read news about 3D printing, since this is always prominent in my Google Alert for “printing.” To me, it isn’t even printing. Go figure. I can’t help but think that laypeople who also have this Google alert will only think about this technology when someone mentions printing to them.

4. A bounty of interesting data and charts from the smart folks at MarketingSherpa. Lots of useful info about email marketing and content marketing: I read that Tuesday is the best day to send emails. Maybe I ought to switch my delivery date! (I might test this out soon and see if any of my stats change. Consider yourself warned.)

5. Speaking of emails, here’s a highly visual post about truly effective emails – what works best? Great stuff here, but I’m just not sure how to save and refer to it: http://myemma.com/brainiac/stats. One of my favorites: 51% of all emails are opened on a mobile device. So design them accordingly.

6. Talk about an original resume – you’ve never seen one like this. It’s got high-quality design and packaging all wrapped up. I’ll bet he got the job he wanted: http://bit.ly/1zjrKmr

7. Tips from an anonymous print buyer on how to make a sale. This is excellent advice for all you sales reps out there: http://bit.ly/10C9mqJ

8. Finally, I learned from a client about www.powtoon.com. It lets you create animated videos and presentations. And (evidently) it’s free! I just may have to try it.

Thanks for reading. I’ll do another post like this in a few weeks. Keeps things lively.

Out of Detroit: Youth-Based Initiative Breathes New Life into Print

A Stitching Up Detroit member

I get a lot of news releases. Most of the time, I scan the email’s subject line and hit ‘delete.’ From time to time, a piece of news demands my attention. This is what happened last week, with an email about a youth-based initiative out of Detroit.

The email from a stranger shared news about an interesting Collective spearheaded by a 501c3 nonprofit called Grace in Action (www.graceinactiondetroit.org). Grace in Action is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The Collective’s mission statement is as follows:

“Grace in Action Collectives is a welcoming, grassroots community that animates residents, both youth and adults, as leaders in Southwest Detroit through education and cooperative economic development.”

I learned that youth unemployment in Southwest Detroit is close to 80%. Grace in Action serves this very market. This Collective was formed about a year and a half ago to provide this group with marketable skills and help them earn money.

What interested me so much is this: their Stitching Up Detroit Collective caters to the youth in Detroit by training them in graphic design, screen printing, and technology design.

Meghan Sobocienski, the Director of Collectives, started this youth-run, print and design Collective in 2013. The site is worth a visit: www.stitchingupdetroit.org. Not only do I love the group’s name, with its rich literal and figurative meanings, but I also admire the site’s contemporary, hip design. (I learned from Meghan that it was built by an 18 year old – who’s now at Princeton.)

This “stitching-up” team is composed of high school students who are learning screen printing and graphic design. (Get this: middle schoolers are also getting involved. They’ll be creating and selling cards and postcards.)

I had a nice phone conversation with Meghan, who would love for the printing community to learn about her group. That’s why I’m writing this post about it.

“We are super-rooted in the neighborhood and community,” she said. “We started as a congregation and a nonprofit.” There were kids interested in art and design. About two and a half years ago, they held a camp and brought in a small-business person from the neighborhood, who was a printer. He proceeded to teach the kids about screen printing. One 12-year-old participant was so inspired that he went on to apprentice with the printer.

A year later, they further developed the idea, because more kids were interested in printing. Meghan and another colleague put together a business plan. They started the Collective with eight kids and funds from Wheat Ridge Ministries. It was the first of several official groups. (There’s also the Radical Productions Youth Technology Collective, where students learn and provide web site and app design services, and Accion Cleaning Cooperative, which is made up of women from Southwest Detroit who are available for cleaning services.)

The newly formed Stitched collective bought one screen press and a flash dryer to start. The members worked with John Opio, who was from Freedom House, an organization that works with recent refugees. Mr. Opio had done screen printing in his native Uganda.

Currently, there are about a dozen youth involved, mostly high school students. The program runs 12 months a year. Each student commits to the program for the duration and must attend at least 10 sessions before he or she is considered for acceptance. They’re training all the while. Once they become proficient and spend about two years in the group, they earn a MacBook Pro. After three years, they can be paid for training. Payment is in technical products. All told, it is a four-year program.

The Stitching Up Detroit program demands a real commitment. The group meets at least once a week, producing T-shirts and hoodies. They have several paying customers, and while the largest order to date had been for 260, they recently got an order for 600.

Meghan shared that in 2014, which will be their 2^nd year of operation, they’re going to bring in about $10,000 in revenue. This money will go into more MacBooks for the members.

The group is staffed with volunteers, including freelance designers. Juan Lopez, a local screen printer from Box of Ideas Printing, has also helped. He has been very influential in their training and in their ongoing work, noted Meghan.

What makes this story compelling for members of the print industry?

Printing is an industry that’s shrinking. It’s also having difficulty attracting young people. To know that this organization exists, and to see how motivated city students are to acquire new skills that are part of printing and the graphic arts is, well, marvelous.

How far can their enthusiasm for the graphic arts take them – and others like them?

This Collective and its members inspire me – and I hope they inspire you. If you are part of this industry, especially if you’re located in Detroit, why not reach out to Meghan and learn more. Perhaps you’ll come up with ways to further their education and knowledge. At the same time, you’ll be helping to nourish an industry that could use a little youthful boost.

Here’s Megan’s information; I know she’d love to hear from you:

Meghan Sobocienski, Director of Grace in Action Collectives

Phone:

Email:

Don’t Make These 6 Mistakes at Your Customer Event

Plan events like a Virgo would

For about 10 years, I produced dinner events and conferences for print customers. They took place locally and in Chicago. Their focus? Educating professionals about printing technologies and how to work with the print industry.

With zero experience in the event business (unless a ton of public speaking counts), I just…well…jumped in. (It’s one of those things where it’s better not knowing what you’re getting into, or else you might never take the plunge.)

Every time I planned an event, I corrected something. Maybe it was the format, or the content, or the promotional strategy. I based it on my previous events as well as experience speaking at or attending other events.

There’s nothing like learning from your mistakes.

Because private customer events can be immensely beneficial for a printing company, I thought I’d share these 6 mistakes you should avoid when you’re planning your next customer event.

Your event is all-work-and-no-play. Make sure you build in enough time for your guests to socialize with one another. For my early events, I was so concerned with providing educational value that I jam-packed them with sessions scheduled back to back. My advice to you: Relax! Print customers will attend your event not only to learn but also to meet their peers. Give them time for this. Naturally, refreshments will help.
You forget to provide handouts and other materials. Sounds nutty, right? Yet I’ve attended conferences where this has happened. As you’re planning your event, think about what attendees will take away – literally. Are there important (not tacky) corporate promotional materials to give them? Do handouts of speaker sessions make sense? How about an attendee list? Are there other business-related gifts you want to offer, whether from your company or from sponsors? Sending guests on their way with something in hand will add to their fond memories of your event.
You schedule your event on the wrong day. One of the very first things you should do when planning your event is to pick the date carefully. Naturally, you’ll avoid . Also avoid religious holidays, especially but not limited to Christian and Jewish holidays. Be mindful of school vacation weeks, if they’re applicable to your guests. If your area tends to get clobbered by snow, avoid certain months of the year. Finally, always do a search on other industry-related events. Don’t schedule your event when similar events are being held.
You neglect to ask attendees for feedback. We crafted our attendee and sponsor feedback surveys well before every event we produced. It’s so incredibly easy (these days I use online surveys by Surveymonkey). Send out emails with your survey link within 48 hours of your event. You’ll have to email attendees at least twice if not thrice. This feedback is pure gold. Attendees will tell you what they loved and what they didn’t. Get ideas for future events. You’ll even gather great testimonials (just make sure you get permission to use them). The key is collecting feedback as soon as possible. Attendee interest will fade with each day that passes.
Your signage stinks. The great and knowledgeable gave me this advice before my first print buyer conference: Make sure your signs are good! It’s one of those niggling details that I left till the last minute and planned way too quickly. He was right. Signage at customer events makes a huge difference. If you’re hosting customers in your sole conference room, there’s no worry. However, if you’re having a larger event in a bigger venue, be sure to have excellent signs that guide attendees to rooms, dining spaces, restrooms, sessions, coatrooms, and so on. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about lousy signage (this usually means nonexistent) while at trade shows. It leaves a terrible taste in your mouth and generates anger and frustration. Who needs that?
You don’t act like a Virgo. Thankfully, I am a Virgo, making me super-organized and worried about the tiniest event detail. When planning your customer event, prepare for the “what ifs,” even if nothing goes amiss. Here’s what I mean, in no particular order:

What if your speaker’s a no-show?

If you have an outside speaker, what’s the contingency plan if he or she doesn’t show up?
Have you confirmed all of your AV needs and tested out the equipment?
Do you have enough staff on hand, and are they trained to answer questions?
Do you have enough handouts? How about pens and paper?
Do your guests have driving directions to your facility?
Did you send all confirmed guests a reminder email on the day or two before your event?
Do they have an agenda of what to expect?
If you’re serving refreshments, is the order complete and the delivery confirmed? Did you check ahead of time to see if food allergies apply to any guest?
Are you using nametags, and are they ready?

Isn’t your goal to have your attendees say your event rocked? Well, I promise these 6 tips will help as you plan your seminar, open house, educational seminar or conference. Your event will be more successful, garner better reviews, and your attendees will count the days, or months, till your next one. Happy planning!

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Yearly Archives: 2014