Corporate Chatter
HELLO everyone !
June & July are the months to party for several thousand, worn out but happy industry folk who head somewhere amazing to be celebrated & feted by management for their outstanding contribution.
Flight Centre’s annual global conference and Amex GBT’s Pacesetters gathering are coveted & glamorous events where top performers are rewarded with unique experiences.
The location is a hot secret till the big announcement - Hawaii for this year’s Flighties Global Ball, while Las Vegas & Singapore have also been favourites (where else can you house over 3,000 buzzing, excited people in one hotel)?!
GBT took their Pacemakers to the Dominican Republic, Hawaii and Istanbul in previous years, and the talented team at CT Partners love Bangkok each Nov.
It really is an exciting and heady time for the participants who spend a few days in beautiful locations among their chiefs and peers, with suppliers flocking around them, being told over and over again they are ‘ the best of the best’. There is plenty of alcohol, hall passes are understood and the pressures of work are but a distant twitch.
From my personal experience, I have always been amazed with the brilliant events teams that coordinate these company conferences. And I am talking about the events teams at Flight Centre, Amex GBT, CT Partners, Helloworld and CWT. They really are to be congratulated as are their management for approving the generous budgets.
The logistics involved must be a nightmare but the team runs the program like a well-oiled machine with a smile and good humour, and on the big night they excel with the wow factor.
Every global ball or conference I have been to has been fantastic - Las Vegas, Cancun, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Los Angeles,etc.
Only once do I remember a slightly creepy 10 minutes when a senior SVP from Amex GBT in the US, effusively gushed on and on about how fantastic we all were and how she loved everyone, and then she sang to us. Awkward.
So, having chatted to a number of the guys on their way or just back from these events, what struck me was how hard winning TMC corporate accounts continues to be. Especially at the big end of town.
Ploughing through an 87 question RFP is a hard and draining grind, and at the end you’ll be met with either elation or despair no matter how much talent and effort you’ve put into the process.
So why can’t there be at least some merit for coming second, or recognition for a genuine and tremendous effort by the team?
I may be wrong and these may already exist, but alongside the ‘Pacesetter’ or ‘Most Successful BDM’ awards, why not a few more categories? What about:
• Most Persistent Sales Executive - for getting through & establishing relationships with previously closed-door prospects.
• Most Effective Agitator - for inciting discontent within qualified prospects for their current supplier and persuading them to accept an unsolicited bid or go out to market mid- contract.
• Most Improved BDM - for coming through a long dry patch with a quick succession of even small wins.
• Most Connected BDM - for having the most or an impressive industry network that yield helpful MI & leads.
• Best Sales Presenter - for consistently polished, engaging and well prepared presentations.
I would love to hear your comments, so please email me: karen.tsolakis@traveldaily.com.au.
Why can’t there at least be some merit for coming second, or recognition for a genuine and effort...’ tremendous