Tag Archive for: Building Service Contractors Association International

Business Partnering

A conversation with Maurice “Moe” Desmarais

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Business PartneringA conversation about hiring professional speakers with Maurice “Moe” Desmarais, Executive Vice President, SmithBucklin Association Management, Chicago, IL. 

Interviewed by Ed Rigsbee, CSP, CAE.

ER: Moe, how was it that you got into the association management industry?

MD: In the early 1970s I was a part-time instructor for the Professional Insurance Agents Association and they ended up offering me a job, Director of Education and Convention Services. After that I held the position of executive director for the American Supply Association and later President of Association Management Services, an association management company located in Massachusetts . For the last 10 years I’ve been with SmithBucklin, an association management company with 220 client associations.

ER: At SmithBucklin, what do you currently do?

MD: I’m the Executive VP for three associations; (contracting) Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI), (distribution) the North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD), and (manufacturing) Battery Council International (BCI) and a senior director at SmithBucklin.

ER: What drives you crazy about working with professional speakers?

MD: When a speaker walks into the meeting room and has a fit that things are not set up how he or she wants them. This even happened right in front of me several years ago when I gave a presentation to the New England NSA Chapter. The other speaker had an “emotional breakdown” about the room. Sometimes for a variety of reasons, the meeting room might have to be a bit different from what one desires. A professional should be flexible enough to adjust. 

Second, when a speaker is not timely in getting program descriptions, photos, and other requested information we request to us when needed. Third is when a speaker that does not take the time to learn about his or her audience. As an example, the Battery Council audience members are manufacturers of large lead acid batteries, not the batteries that go in your watch or flashlight. It makes for a better presentation when the speaker knows that, and doesn’t provide examples that don’t fit the audience. A speaker loses credibility when he/she is not properly prepared to address his audience.

ER: Currently, what is your process for selecting professional speakers?

MD: First, I’d like to differentiate between professional societies and trade associations. Professional societies tend to be more volunteer-driven when selecting speakers as they are looking for specific technical information and trade associations more staff driven in speaker selection. For BSCAI, we generally hire keynoters that are inspirational or customer service driven and breakout speakers that are content driven and professionals within their industry. There is a volunteer committee that will suggest topics. The paid staff then implements their recommendations.

At SmithBucklin we have the luxury of a substantial experienced convention services department that maintains an in depth speaker list so finding the right speaker(s) is not terribly difficult. Since I administer a manufacturing and distribution association, I participate in both “NAW” National Association of Wholesale-distributors and “ NAM ” National Association of Manufacturers. They both maintain list serves where I can put out a question about a specific speaker or inquire about a speaker on a specific topic. I find it very helpful to receive speaker information from my colleagues from other associations.

ER: Tell me more about the trade associations.

MD: In the past with trade associations, we’d usually start on the following year’s meeting just after the current year’s event. The economy has caused us to have shorter lead times in selecting venues and shrinking meeting length. This reality has caused shorten lead times in selecting speakers. Today, we are dealing with fewer attendees at meetings so meeting cost is such a huge issue and I expect budgets to remain challenging through 2010.

ER: Any specific industry trends that you have noticed?

MD: Trade associations are currently focused on economy, cost reduction, and green topics. Motivational speakers are currently taking a beating, unless they are specifically tied to a particular industry. Software user group meetings have just recently started to see an attendance drop-off. On the bright side, healthcare groups seem to remain solid in attendance numbers.

ER: What changes have you seen recently in professional speaker fees with the groups you manage?

MD: Huge changes. From 2006-2008, budgets for keynote speakers ranged from $10,000 to $35,000 and now for 2009-2010, the budgets are basically being cut in half. We are trying to ease the pain for speakers a bit by trying to add additional value to the contracts by offering expo booths, book sales and signings, and article placement in our magazines.

ER: What about speakers that are presenting break out and concurrent sessions?

MD: The same pattern follows, from 2006-2008, we’d generally pay $5,000 to $15,000 for those sessions. For the 2009-2010, are budgets are half. All of the SmithBucklin account executives have been instructed to ask speakers to work within our budgets. Some speakers agree and some do not.

ER: Tell me about the type of professional speakers you are currently hiring.

MD: As I stated earlier, unless a motivational speaker has very specific content or positioned him or herself in an industry, they are not getting hired. Also less of the entertainment type speakers are being considered because the volunteer leadership and attendees are thinking about survival in this economy. Meeting attendees want specific answers to their problems and challenges. In 2009 & 2010, it is content, content, content!

ER: How can a professional speaker start to build a speaker relationship with SmithBucklin?

MD: There are four avenues to building relationships with us: first, connect with our “CTS” Convention Tradeshow Services who in some cases are responsible for speaker coordination. Second, is our “EPS” Education Program Services staff who handles a large volume of our speaker contracts.  And third is to connect directly with the account executive, the executive director, of our smaller client associations. The fourth is to visit us. While knocking on doors might be time consuming, the benefits are amazing. We receive so much direct mail and cold calling, you need to differentiate yourself from the masses.

ER: Moe, what are your thoughts about working with speakers directly verses through bureaus?

MD: I’m not booking many speakers through bureaus these days. I’d prefer to work directly with a speaker, eliminating that third party filter. The third party filter tends to slow things down a bit and we want our speakers to have direct contact with the leadership so that they understand who they are delivering their message to.

ER: How important is a professional speaker’s web site today?

MD: I’ll generally take a look at their site, and perhaps the video clips, testimonials, etc but their web site is only part of the criteria for selection and definitely not the final determination.

ER: When you have narrowed your speaker selection down to the final two or three, what’s the determining factor?

MD: In the past there was more of an even weighing of content and price. However, today the weight leans more toward price. The speaker that offers more value added gets pushed up in consideration.

ER: Since value added is important, are you asking speakers to do more at your events?

MD: Yes we are. With an across the board 50% budget cut, if a speaker can fill more slots in the program (keynote and breakout) that is very helpful. That reduces our total travel, AV, and lodging costs as well.

ER: What makes a professional desirable to you?

MD: Here’s my partial List:

  • Rich content
  • Easy to work with
  • Accountability in getting materials to us on time
  • Learning about the industry
  • Stays a while after the talk rather than running for the door
  • Minimal travel cost
  • Minimal AV requests
  • Multi-day presentations at my meetings; having the ability to do more than an hour and the skills to be interactive enough to hold an audiences attention for several hours

ER: Moe, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with the members of the National Speakers Association.

What Suppliers Say About Buyers (850 words)

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What Suppliers Say About Buyers

What are they saying about your company?

I recently delivered a “What Suppliers Say About Buyers” partnering presentation to the National Association of Chemical Distributors at their annual meeting. A couple months before the meeting, I visited the convention chair, Pat Marantette, at his Southern California business, E.T. Horn Company, to learn more about the industry. One of the things he told me was that he was more concerned with the relationships with his suppliers than the relationships with his customers. He went on to explain to me that without his suppliers, he was out of business.

In thinking back on the visit, asking how important are suppliers to your business success is an important question. The following is excerpted from my latest book, PartnerShift–How To Profit from the Partnering Trend. I believe you’ll be asking yourself questions in reference to the relationships you enjoy, or do not enjoy, with your suppliers.

At the Building Service Contractors Association International’s 1997 Chief Executive Officer Seminar in Los Cabos, Mexico, one of the suppliers to the industry was assigned to present a presentation based on what the suppliers in general said they did not like about the contractors, their customers, actions. While Rob Kohlhagen, senior market development manager at SC Johnson Professional delivered an exceptional presentation, I’m not sure he ever forgave me for assigning him the task. Admitting the comments came from only one industry, I believe they are universal, as they have applied to most of the industries that I have counseled or studied.

Power manifests through knowledge. It is important to know what your suppliers have to say about you. Completing Relationship Value Updates are important, as they will help you to avoid some of the following problems and open a conduit for communication. Remember, you can learn from another industry’s problems. Below are listed the three general areas of complaint from the contractors’ suppliers. Also there are some of the specific comments offered about the contractors. Their comments point out universal issues that suppliers have with their buyers. Most will apply to your industry. If you explore issues you might have with your own customers, there is a good chance your suppliers could have similar issues with you.

       Fear of commitment

“They are not willing to single source but still want our total bundle of value-added resources at no additional cost.”

“They focus on reducing price rather than reducing cost.”

“They like to shop around regularly to satisfy curiosity . . . they are afraid that we will abuse the relationship.”

         “They want direct prices but local service.”

         Operations level support

“We get commitment from top management but the program gets derailed at the operations level.”

“Top management is reluctant to mandate changes to operations . . . they try to build consensus but it doesn’t happen.”

        “Operations people have their ‘personal favorites’, old recipes they swear by that they will do anything
to hold onto (including sabotaging the partnership initiative).”

“The partnership is conceived at the executive level but the lower level departments are never convinced that it is in their best interests too.”

        Communication breakdown

“Everyone is so busy we only communicate when there is a need for fire fighting . . . hence the relationship takes on a negative tone over time.”

“We never discuss mutual opportunities . . . it’s always, “How do we fix what isn’t working?’”

“We talked about the importance of communicating at all levels: executive, operations, purchasing, training, risk management and quality assurance but there is no structure established to make it happen . . . so it doesn’t.”

“The chemical supplier cannot partner independently with the building service contractor. There is an interdependence between the chemical and equipment and supply manufacturers but there is no communication link established between us.”

Interdependence is an idea that carries much power. From the Harvard Business Review, July/August 1994, “Active collaboration takes place when companies develop mechanisms, structures, processes, and skills for bridging organizational and interpersonal differences and achieving real value from the partnership. Multiple ties at multiple levels ensure communication, coordination, and control . . . more communication than anyone anticipated is necessary.”

Thomas Gale, editor at Modern Distribution Management, has his opinion about the integrity of some customers. From the November 10, 1994 issue, “And while many customers are talking about integrated supply partnerships, there are (and will always be) customers that are ultimately seeking price reductions, playing one distributor off another, without a willingness to explore how a true partnership can save money for the customer while providing a fair profit for the distributor.”

Developing a conduit for communication is not difficult but frequently overlooked in many industries. The Internet makes this even easier. Some industry associations are providing this service through members’ only sections on their web site. More trade and professional associations are helping to create this type of multi-function participant forum, but not enough. This area is a tremendous opportunity for associations to add a very high-level of value for their members. Continue the dialogue with all stakeholders in your business.