A posting from the Front
CHICAGO--Well, here we all are. Drawn to the City with Big Shoulders to discuss our futures. And we arrive to the first hint of fall and the cold winter to follow. The air is rife with Concern. Here's what's bothering me:- We have to find a way to save/re-invent/blow up the Chicago Motivation Show. Never in my life have I heard lower expectations from exhibitors. Never. The bar is set so low it would be functionally impossible not to over-achieve. God help us if we don't.
- I work with Independent Representatives (accent on the "independent"). The last 36 months have not been especially kind to them. They've had to let people go, move their offices back into their homes, and watched as new business models attempt to render them obsolete. We need a robust rep community no matter how many data feeds we participate in.
- And speaking of that--how can I be important in a program with 400,000 items? Aren't we doing a disservice to the participant? Yeah, yeah--they can get Peruvian Jelly Beans. But lots of choices typically paralyze humans--we shut down due to the overload. Is that REALLY a good idea?
- Automation is taking over certain types of programs. What does that leave us to actually MANAGE? Will we all be reduced to chasing "one-off" programs? And how stable an existence is that?
- We may dodge the 274(j) bullet, but more are coming--just ask the Gift Card people, who are facing increased regulation that was caused by Mexican drug lords using prepaid cards for money laundering. WTF with that? Talk about throwing out the baby with the bath water...
Others are not interested in our business at all--they are trying to fix some other problem and we end up as "collateral damage". And some mean well but aren't anticipating the impact of their actions. They will learn this in no uncertain terms as things progress.
I'm fond of using music as a thematic device. And this one says it very well:
Strange days, indeed...
Pete
posted by Pete Mitchell at 8:49 AM
1 Comments:
Love the Beatles. Was listening to an Anthology on the drive into Chicago - haven't heard those songs in over 25 years and knew just about every word.
VERY low expectations from Exhibitors and YES, I think they were exceeded. When exhibitors schedule meetings ahead of time, they seem to have a more productive show (duh), so many are very pleased with the results.
The few customers of mine that attended were shocked by the reduced size of the show. The comment was: "Where is everyone? I could easily have done this in one day...why am I spending money for the hotel room?"
For people who have attended for years, the decline is obvious. For those attending for the first time, we just look silly in a hall the magnitude of McCormick - at the very least, we need to be in a venue that's appropriate for our current size. To deal with parking, shuttles and from the exhibitor side, all of the costs and complications that are McCormick to get to our little corner - it simply doesn't make sense. We could easily fit into Rosemont (or a Vegas hotel ballroom). We'd look massive and the show would be affordable and easy to navigate. There are lots of good ideas floating around - let's hope some of them are adopted.
Your concern for the rep community is very real indeed. Most of us have made the changes you cite to reduce our overhead and fixed costs down to nothing - and STILL we can barely afford to be a manufacturer's representative. If you're a "true" rep that doesn't offer any additional services, sell other types of products/channels or re-sell anything - you probably have some major accounts in your territory and your income is simply declining exponentially. If you do not have such an account, you're providing those additional services/products while desperately trying to figure out what to do next (I've heard tales of part-time jobs....).
If strong reps are important to name-brand manufacturers and MRC's then THAT's the model that needs to be blown up and re-invented. Everything about our industry has changed except the rep/mfg model and commission structure (unless it's been reduced...). We need to explore together how we can find a niche in this new world order.
And now a blatant pitch for IMA: Our parent organization is the driving force for many of the changes that you reference - it's not enough to stay cocooned in our own little SIG. IMA is keeping members informed of the Legislative land mines in our path and what we can do to help; IMA Summits are perfect venues to see what is working for other Strategic Industry Groups and determine how we can either work with them or adapt those ideas for our own benefit; IMA provides tons of research and ammunition that we can share with our customers to show concrete evidence that incentive strategies work, which adds more value to our relationship with the client; IMA is communicating the "incentive" message that WE control to the corporate community through our own publication as well as to hundreds of other news outlets through a publicist that works on our behalf.
The IMA Board truly does work on behalf of all members to "direct" the Industry. Talk is cheap but more importantly, ineffective. If you're passionate about a particular area, grab a Board member (say, Pete for example) and offer to serve on a task force or committee to make the changes you'd like to see.
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