Putting Your Customers' Needs First

outside of the box” again; our sales force (about 35 people) were located all over the U.S. so technically you could hold the sales meeting in any location as far as the field sales travel expense was concerned. What I proposed doing was holding the meeting over the weekend as opposed to just during the work week; my managers said that the salesmen’s wives would not approve of them being away from them on the weekend and my reply was … they will if the wives are being invited to the sales meeting as well! After considerable discussion and debate, I won!

Here is what we ended up doing:

1. Place: Del Coronado Hotel – San Diego, CA 2. Dinner/Dance in Del Coronado Hotel Ballroom 3. Joint Trip to Jai Lai game in Tijuana, Mexico 4. Joint Sales Meeting Session where wives joined their husbands at sales meeting 5. Shopping trip for wives to La Jolla, CA 6. $100 Gift Certificate for each family for Hotel Gift Shops What did we get out of this first ever joint sales meeting? It is important to understand that we had a very stable sales force with years of experience working for the Semiconductor Division. The wives knew many of the salesmen by name, but, of course, had never met them.

Now, suddenly, they not only met the people that their husbands or spouses worked with, but they also met and became friends with their wives. You had people who had worked for 20 years that had never met the folks they worked with. We had an outstanding sales meeting that ended up costing little more than if we had held the meeting during the week at our headquarters plant location. But what we gained in relationship building is hard to put into words. In the end, the wives were delighted to have been invited and made an integral part of this event and they never ever let their husbands forget it either! When are we going again honey!