{"id":39097,"date":"2020-03-19T13:16:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T20:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=39097"},"modified":"2020-03-19T13:16:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T20:16:56","slug":"reaping-benefits-dealers-talk-return-on-investment-with-hosted-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2020\/03\/reaping-benefits-dealers-talk-return-on-investment-with-hosted-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaping Benefits: Dealers Talk Return on Investment with Hosted Events"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The irony of discussing hosted events during the current novel coronavirus pandemic is not lost on us. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued ever-shrinking guidance in regards to social distancing, a figure that dwindled from about 250 to 50, and now 10. Translation: No gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the storm has been weathered, there will likely be a\nflood of activities as Americans (and the world alike) look to reconnect from a\nbusiness and social aspect. In that vein, we offer a look at the return on\ninvestment dealers seek to enjoy from their hosted events. Whether it\u2019s a\ntarget amount, general range or other intangibles, the payoff can often be\nlong-lasting, beyond dollars and cents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
John Lowery, Applied Imaging<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For Applied Imaging, there is no direct correlation between\nits Michigan-Michigan State tailgate party and ROI, as the event is billed as a\ncustomer appreciation gathering. President John Lowery believes the party has\nmultifaceted benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe return on\ninvestment for us is not only shown in the amount of deals we receive\n(expansion and\/or new business), but it also provides another avenue for us to\nappreciate our customers, get to know them on a personal level, build the\nrelationship, and in turn, grow business in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cWe feel that\nit absolutely exceeds our expectations and objections based on the feedback we\nreceive from customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Haley Grigsby, Fisher’s Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The annual Boise Technology Show, a valuable talk track for\naccount managers and their clients\/prospects, has turned into probably the\nbiggest lead-generating events for Fisher\u2019s Technology of Boise, Idaho. As the\nevent grows to 400 attendees and beyond, it mobilizes not just the marketing\nteam but other departments within the dealership\u2019s organization. According to\nHaley Grigsby, marketing director, Fisher\u2019s may explore the possibility of\ntaking on a partner to aid the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we get bigger, we might have to figure out another\nstrategy, and that might include combining with another tech event or maybe\nhiring a coordinator,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a bad thing. We have a certain level\nof expectation for the content that we want. Moving it to every other year\ntakes a lot of pressure off. People will be excited about it coming back to\nBoise in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bob Maxwell, \nKOMAX Business Systems <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bob Maxwell, president and owner of KOMAX Business Systems, notes\nthat having free use of a facility like Appalachian Power Park (where it hosts\nvertical-based \u201cnight at the park\u201d events) provides a quicker route to ROI.\nThat leaves room for the dealer to print attractive and professional\ninvitations on one of its color devices. And not being charged to have experts\nfrom OEMs set up or give presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a win-win for manufacturers to come in and lend us a hand because if we do well with those products, they\u2019re going to benefit from that,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re always willing to help us out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Larry Weiss, Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With large-scale events such as the Atlantic Production & Industrial Print Expo costing Atlantic, Tomorrow\u2019s Office upwards of $750,000, attaining an ROI can be more than a little challenging. But company President Larry Weiss notes that as the scope of the events has tightened, the dealer has a clearer path to ending up in the black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the smaller\nexpos, we\u2019re able to take on current topics and relevant products for our\nclients in a much more intimate setting where we\u2019re able to meet our ROI\nobjectives,\u201d Weiss said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The irony of discussing hosted events during the current novel coronavirus pandemic is not lost on us. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued ever-shrinking guidance in regards to social distancing, a figure that dwindled from about 250 to 50, and now 10. Translation: No gatherings. Once the storm has been weathered, there will likely be a flood of activities as Americans (and the world alike) look to reconnect from a business and social aspect. In that vein, we offer a look at the return on investment dealers seek to enjoy from their hosted events. Whether it\u2019s a target amount, general range or other intangibles, the payoff can often be long-lasting, beyond dollars and cents. For Applied Imaging, there is no direct correlation between its Michigan-Michigan State tailgate party and ROI, as the event is billed as a customer appreciation gathering. President John Lowery believes the party has multifaceted benefits. \u201cThe return on investment for us is not only shown in the amount of deals we receive (expansion and\/or new business), but it also provides another avenue for us to appreciate our customers, get to know them on a personal level, build the relationship, and in turn, grow business in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cWe feel that it absolutely exceeds our expectations and objections based on the feedback we receive from customers.\u201d The annual Boise Technology Show, a valuable talk track for account managers and their clients\/prospects, has turned into probably the biggest lead-generating events for Fisher\u2019s Technology of Boise, Idaho. As the event grows to 400 attendees and beyond, it mobilizes not just the marketing team but other departments within the dealership\u2019s organization. According to Haley Grigsby, marketing director, Fisher\u2019s may explore the possibility of taking on a partner to aid the effort. \u201cAs we get bigger, we might have to figure out another strategy, and that might include combining with another tech event or maybe hiring a coordinator,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a bad thing. We have a certain level of expectation for the content that we want. Moving it to every other year takes a lot of pressure off. People will be excited about it coming back to Boise in 2021.\u201d Bob Maxwell, president and owner of KOMAX Business Systems, notes that having free use of a facility like Appalachian Power Park (where it hosts vertical-based \u201cnight at the park\u201d events) provides a quicker route to ROI. That leaves room for the dealer to print attractive and professional invitations on one of its color devices. And not being charged to have experts from OEMs set up or give presentations. \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win for manufacturers to come in and lend us a hand because if we do well with those products, they\u2019re going to benefit from that,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re always willing to help us out.\u201d With large-scale events such as the Atlantic Production & Industrial Print Expo costing Atlantic, Tomorrow\u2019s Office upwards of $750,000, attaining an ROI can be more than a little challenging. But company President Larry Weiss notes that as the scope of the events has tightened, the dealer has a clearer path to ending up in the black. \u201cWith the smaller expos, we\u2019re able to take on current topics and relevant products for our clients in a much more intimate setting where we\u2019re able to meet our ROI objectives,\u201d Weiss said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":39098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[368,108,863,2016],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39099,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39097\/revisions\/39099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}