We know that some budgets are tight, but don't forget the costs if you DON'T attend this year!
Consider These Facts . . .
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Roughly 1 billion people in the world own telephones |
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Approxmately 2 million contact center professionals are represented by the ATA worldwide |
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At least 3 keynote speakers and dozens of educational sessions are planned for the 2009 Convention |
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4% of the United States workforce is comprised of contact center employees |
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The ATA Convention will include 5 "don't miss" special events for loads of networking and fun |
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More than 60% of ATA's Convention attendees are owners, CEOs and top-level decision makers |
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Almost 70% of last year's attendees siad they generated leads, closed sales or made a purchase |
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Over 80% of past attendees say they're recommending the 2009 Convention & Expo to their colleagues, clients and vendors |
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$900 billion in annual sales are generated by contact centers |
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ZERO is the number of new business opportunities you'll have by staying at home!! |
The ATA Convention & Expo provides attendees with education, networking and sales opportunities all in one place. And you'll be in
excellent company as you participate in activities among the leaders of the industry.
Members do business with members at the ATA Convention & Expo - expert vendors are ready to provide
cost-saving solutions to attendees. Product success can make or break your bottom line. A single failure will cost time, money and anguish for your team.
Vendors can expect to acquire quality
new customer leads - a huge value considering the average cost to acquire a new customer - sometimes thousands of dollars each!
Educational sessions will help improve contact center operations. Find ways to keep employees engaged and
reduce churn - every employee lost costs contact centers up to $10,000 each.
Travel to the ATA Convention & Expo puts you in a position to acquire new business, meet with existing clients, learn new methodologies and find new product solutions - all in a single trip.
If you only make one trip this year - MAKE IT to the 2009 ATA Convention & Expo!!
Justifying Your Attendance
by Kim Brandt, ATA Director of Marketing and Member Acquisition
Cost cuts are heard everywhere and travel budgets have been slashed. So how can you possibly make a case for attending the ATA Convention in times like these? If you’re looking at the conference web site or have received a mailing, and recognize the value in attending, you’re probably going to need to justify it. Often conferences are seen as perks and not the busy deal-making and learning experiences that they are. You may need to prove that it’s more than a vacation from the office. To gain funding and approval from management, here are some things to think about:
A Return on Your Investment
The ATA Convention & Expo has been cited as one of the most cost-effective ways to gain the tools and knowledge you need to build business in our industry. Just like any other expenditure, it requires clear proof that the company will benefit from an outstanding return on investment when you request to attend the event.
Think about the cost of your attendance in comparison to the savings you realize by:
· meeting several of your clients all in one trip
· clinching numerous new qualified leads from a single source
· obtaining advice from legal, operations and marketing experts in a period of two days
· gathering educational materials to bring back to share with co-workers
· sourcing vendors and conducting product research and comparisons in one location
Consider the costs your company will incur if you do all of these activities separately during the year! And don’t be afraid to communicate very specific goals you can meet by attending – those that will align with your company’s or department’s strategic plan. This will make sense to your manager when you present information from an ROI perspective.
Attendees pay a reasonable fee for targeted educational sessions, unlike any offered within the industry. In addition to the value of the educational offerings, attendees make professional contacts with prospects, existing clients and new vendors that they can converse with long after the trip to New Orleans. They have direct access to contact center visionaries and experts who are willing to share advice and problem-solve on the spot. The ATA Expo Hall offers an opportunity to talk one-on-one with the vendors who can change the way your center operates and customers are served. This means that you’ll return to your company with contacts and solutions that can be have an immediate impact. This is the best place to research products, explore options and find vendors that are perfectly suited for your needs.
The ATA Convention attendee will participates in over 10 hours of sessions presented by industry professionals, business experts and marketing gurus. You’ll find yourself in a room with speakers who would charge hundreds per hour to help your company, if you could even secure them! By joining the ATA in New Orleans and attending sessions and networking events, an attendee will gain the knowledge he needs-and more-in two days to return to work with ideas that can be immediately put to work.
Looking to Next Year
After the conference, it’s time to lay the ground work for attendance at future ATA events. We recommend that you share your experience with your team and your executives with a summary report. Provide information about the conference to people that did not attend the conference, and the benefit of your attendance continues even after the event. Examples of information that you should pass on are:
- General conference information
- Speaker handouts and session content
- Presentation slides in your conference program
- A reading list of recommendations you heard during sessions
- Keynote speech summaries
- Vendors meeting findings & product literature
- Networking results – a list of leads and follow up tasks
- Information about regulations, legislative issues and the ATA Self-Regulatory Organization
- Ideas and solutions to be implemented in your contact center
Draft up a simple report during travel back home while it’s fresh in your mind. Or throw together a PowerPoint that you can email or present to your co-workers. Make sure others know that your trip to the ATA Convention & Expo was well worth it! When it is time to discuss the next ATA event with your manager, you will have your justification information already collected. When others see how much you've gotten from the ATA, and how you shared it with others, they'll be more willing to fund it again year after year.