The Hindu Business Line : Attending seminars a must

AS marketing professionals, we constantly receive slick brochures touting upcoming seminars and conferences that we would die to attend. Unfortunately, small and medium business executives and managers are more inclined to cut costs than fund `working vacations or holidays'. Now is the time to call on your best marketing skills in order to get approvals from the top to attend some of these seminars. It is important for small-business managers to attend specialised seminars on marketing in order to learn the latest trends and also upgrade their skill set, which in turn will trigger growth for their business. Here are some tips:

Requesting approval: Time your request carefully. Do not ask for a Rs 17,000 budget for a conference or seminar when your firm has just had its worst quarter. On the other hand, if a competitor recently beat you to the market with a new product, the time might be ripe for new ideas. Present your proposal to senior management in terms of return on investment, rather than merely training.

How will your new knowledge specifically affect your company's bottomline? Say you would like to attend a conference on database marketing, when your firm has concentrated on media advertising. Emphasise that direct marketing may be a far more efficient use of funds. Contact the seminar organiser, sponsor and even individual presenters for more curriculum details, since this can also help you develop ammunition. When all else fails, pull out the last stop: "Our competitors will be there; we can't afford not to go."

Seek funds from the training budget first. After all, marketing people need continuing education, too. Be willing to admit your knowledge deficiencies, since no one knows everything. Explain your rationale for attending based on what is happening now in your company. For example: "Since we're planning to establish a brand soon, we need to learn more about brand management. This could save us a lot of money." If networking or developing strategic alliances will be an important part of the conference experience, outline your plan specifically.

I will tell you another example to secure approval. Since most of the executives today are concerned with short term results, managing for the short term (not short term management) is important and doing this without losing sight of the long-term vision of the company is very critical. So, wouldn't your boss want to sponsor yourself and himself for a seminar by the guru and visionary Chuck Martin (author of Net Future and Managing for the Short Term)? Offer to minimise cost. Could you stay with relatives in the destination city? Perhaps you would be willing to take a train, rather than fly, if the conference is not too far. Or maybe you have a personal frequent-flyer entitlement that would minimise company transportation costs.

Often, it pays to invest in your own career. A friend of mine agreed to pay half his seminar cost, then wound up landing a better job at the event. Another friend's boss was so impressed with her willingness to share expenses that a salary increase was awaiting upon her return.

Emphasise how you will maximise your off-time. This includes picking experts' brains over lunch, networking, taking educational side trips, or burning the midnight oil in your room over your laptop.

Make sure the staff is well-prepared to step in during your absence. Plan to leave nothing crucial hanging that will not wait until your return. I have noticed that most really successful people can relax during seminar breaks, instead of rushing to the lobby phone bank.

During the event: Send quick e-mail or fax messages to superiors, updating them on your progress. Maybe you have just formed a strategic relationship with another company, or learned an innovative technique for boosting sales immediately. Take every opportunity to save money. When you must dine alone, do not eat in the hotel or order room service; find a little coffee shop nearby. Ditto for telephone calls. Local, STD and ISD call charges from hotel rooms are too expensive. Once I ended up paying more than the room rent for telephones alone! Or, better still, use your mobile phone.

Upon returning: Speak only in terms of what you learned or accomplished, and how this may benefit the company. When asked how your trip went, do not focus on details about your flights, the hotel food, or any romantic encounters. Make a presentation about what you have learned and accomplished at the next staff meeting, including shared handouts. You may even ask the organisers of the seminars to send you a CD of the presentations. When Innovative Media, our company, conducted the Patricia Seybold seminar and Robert Kaplan seminar recently, there were at least 100 requests for soft copies of the presentation. Suggest ways your company might fare better in the future, and roles your colleagues might play. But take a hard-earned lesson from me: Be careful about your approach! Early in my career, after returning enthusiastically from a seminar, I tactlessly blurted out everything my company was doing wrong. The silence was deafening, and I was never sent to another seminar. Given another chance, I would now praise my co-workers for what they were doing right, then present improvement opportunities as enhancements. One thing I can tell you is that seminars by leading gurus in India are far cheaper than they are abroad. Here you get to attend a seminar by the Balanced Score Card guru Robert Kaplan for less than Rs 15,000 while all his seminars anywhere in the world are priced above $600 (Rs 30,000)! It is an added benefit to attend such seminars in India!

(The author is Chief Consultant at Innovative Media, a knowledge management company. Feedback can be sent to bleditor@thehindu.co.in.)

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
Comment on this article to BLFeedback@thehindu.co.in

Stories in this Section
No small beer

Action's all at home

States spruce up

Hurrah for competition

Attending seminars a must

`A smaller agency can deliver more bang for the buck'

Brands must fulfil consumer needs

Ps & Qs of global brands

Cartoon