I actually revisited this article already, but Sandy Simon of the Event Wizard reminded me of it again today so I went back and had another look at this article that I wrote back on March 28th of this year.

I spent a good amount of time looking at it tonight and decided that I really don't want to change anything in it. Maybe a couple of things here and there, but not as a whole. I still feel that everything below is true, now more than ever. If you are in business, now is not the time to be scared, it is time to be aggressive (note: I did not say stupid).

Here is the article again, I decided to just copy it in here rather than placing a link, I have added some new thoughts here and there, they are marked in ():

The Myth of Events and a Bad Economy OR How Not to be an Idiot

There is something that has always bothered me about companies that cut their marketing and event budgets to zero or cut the event department all together during an economic downturn. 

I think that it is the biggest mistake a company can make, in fact I will be bold and say that it is the dumbest, most irrational, downright silly move you can make and amounts to nothing more than cutting budget dollars to cut budget dollars and will end up putting you out of business or crippling you in the long run. What sucks is that your employees now loose a job and your clients have to find someone else because you are a fool. Strong words I know.

Now, I am not an idiot (usually), your event and marketing departments can be trimmed to save costs and to be more streamlined, but so should all departments and it probably should have been done before the economy went south anyway. You are already late in the game if you have not done this.

Whether your company is the largest Fortune 500, or a small start-up with 20 people, don’t ditch your event and marketing people because the economy is bad. Use them to get through the bad economic times and maybe even grow in the face of adversity.

Don’t believe me, here is how the scenario works.

Economy goes south as it is headed right at this moment.

All of your competition is running scared like most do, they slash budgets, cut departments, ax people and act like they need to save as much money as possible and “ride out the storm” till the economy looks brighter. What an excellent time for you Miss Savvy Executive.

What everyone at company X has forgotten, from the CEO on down to middle management (trust me, the folks below middle management typically have a good handle on things) is that they are in business.

Businesses were created to make money, not save it to “ride out the storm”.  If you are not kicking butt, go home. You should be off the team. In a football game when a team is getting trounced, they don’t cut the waterboy, they cut the QB or the Coach.

Here are some ways to make your competition cry by using “recession” events to your advantage.

TRAINING EVENTS
Make sure you are the best.

Hold corporate trainings and make sure every member of the company is on point and providing the best customer experience possible.

First, Make your trainings and teambuildings fun. Your competition just cut staff and hired cheaper bozos to answer the phones which is making their clients unhappy. Unhappy clients go looking, so doesn’t it pay to have the best trained, happy staff in the industry so that when Bob or Sally Crankypants comes-a- calling, you can turn them into a not so cranky multimillion dollar client. The flip side is, if your client’s are getting the best experience possible, they will not go looking for your competition.

(I know this one is true because I had dealings with a major company last week and it was awful. For the first time in years, I am looking into options to replace them. They loose, not me).

INCENTIVES:
Bad economies do not mean no business, they mean less business.

It is a fight to get every client. Make sure you are rewarding your sales staff accordingly and let them know that because of the bad economy, anyone who makes their numbers will not only get a huge RAISE, they will get a trip of a lifetime to South Africa or Singapore, not down the block to Denny’s because you are saving money. Make them want to make the numbers and when they do, make them love the company so they make them again and again. Throw in bonus half year weekend getaways to the top couple of performers………..why not.

(The half year might even be a quarterly thing, if you have a star that made their numbers for the quarter, what is a few hundred bucks to send that top dog to a b&b with his or her significant other. It is just common sense to make the whole team want what that person is getting.)

CLIENT EVENTS
A must.

After you have trained your staff to be the best in the industry, have every client to an extravagant (I did not say expensive) appreciation night. Put them all in the same room together and treat them like gold.

Why? You already have their business. 

There are two reasons:

If you have smart competition, they are calling your clients (my people are calling our competition’s clients), reinforce the relationship as best you can. Think about it, Company A spent one million dollars on your product or service; you can spend a few thousand to “show the love”.

Happy clients in the same room can be happy together, and if they meet, they may do business together. Here is the kick, they will remember where they met and you will be forever linked to the business that they are now doing. All roads lead back to you so why would they want to go with your competition. You already do a great job, and you help them get business or solve problems, they will tell your competition scat like a stray dog the next time they come sniffing around.

OnSite Events has one company that we do business with that treats us like gold and refers event planning business to us, no strings. I am not leaving them anytime soon, they more than earn my money. In fact, they are now my friends so I throw business their way.

PRODUCT LAUNCHES –
Get in the news and be relevant……now.

People will see you as an expert and a leader. People do business with leaders and experts and if they see you with a product launch in the press or at a tradeshow the subconscious says “hey, they are great, they have new stuff so they must be the best, I want to call them”

How good for you, your competition stopped being in the news or releasing updates last September.

(GM, FORD and CHRYSLER, you are circling the drain for exactly this reason. Your products suck and you are not introducing anything remotely exciting. Oh, yes, Chevy has the Volt coming out in 2010 and it gets 40 miles on a charge....WOW. Tesla already has a car that gets 240 miles on a charge. Maybe we should give all of your factories to Tesla and have them retool and put all of your laid off workers back to work to produce a car that actually works-- and it looks fantastic).

EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION EVENTS: 
Who sells your company?

If you said your sales team, you are only partly correct. Everyone sells.

From the janitor, mailroom folks and security guard to the EVP’s and CEO, they sell every time they talk about the company. In fact, the janitor and the mailroom people probably have more daily interactions with actual people than senior management so it pays to make them LOVE the company.

Here is an example: Steve, the cleaning guy is at a fast food restaurant talking to his friends about how much he loves his company, how you just launched a new line of ball bearings and how good the company is to him and his family (he may even be talking about last weekend’s employee BBQ). Steve doesn’t  know it, but the guy in line behind him getting a happy meal for his screaming kid  is the Chief Procurement Officer at a 15 Billion-a-Year Multinational Conglomerate that needs ball bearings tomorrow because his supplier is downsizing because of the economy……The light bulb just went off.

The largest sale in your company’s history was just made by the night janitor. He will never know, see the commission, or even care, he is already happy.

Find a way to reward the unsung heroes that are keeping you afloat during the recession.

(This one is especially true now. I have friends that work for a major company here in Chicago and they all go to work scared everyday. Imagine, they are scared. Even the rock stars of this company wonder what is coming and they are talking....to me, to their Mom and even to the cashier at Walgreen's. Is this how you want the world to see your company right now. How about showing them that they are wanted. Oh, and they are all looking for a job. Your competition is still hiring rock stars, now is not the time to loose yours.)

TRADESHOWS:
Usually the first economic victim.

Your competition stopped going because times are tough or they scaled back to a 10x10. Go now and go big, attendees will see them as shrinking and you as growing (even if this is not the case). Perception is 98% of the game at shows. Enough said about this one.

(Well, it was enough said then, but maybe not now. Someone is going to say, "we are not going to shows because attendance numbers are down". Well, even if attendance numbers at your industry show are down, they are not zero (hopefully). Rather than rely on the attendees, rely on the event itself. Use it as an opportunity to send out multiple press releases, host your clients and be seen by what attendees are left. Shows are still important, in fact, we have been to three in the past three months).

CONSUMER EVENTS:
They are fun and right now people need fun.

If you are at the mall or on the street showing your product, your competition isn’t.

(Have you been to a mall lately, how depressing. Get out there and show the folks that there are still cool things to be happy about. The guys who sell the mighty mighty wonder sponge are doing it......and stealing your thunder.)

MAKE ALL EVENTS GREEN:
This one is simple.

People like to do business with responsible companies and any advantage helps.

(This one is really starting to pick up steam, the Hotels and Resorts that are going green (really green, not "fake" green washed green are getting huge buzz in our circles.)

So you see, there is a downside to slashing and burning some of the most important people in your company. Events (and event marketing) are just as important to your company as your sales department, maybe even more so.

Think first and make sure that you are making the right decision. Don’t end up like your competition.

Just a thought,

Keith