2011 Summit, Photos and Presentations

Our annual Sales & Marketing Summit is hosted by the SMS and the Greater Memphis Chamber, Small Business Council, and this year was a truly amazing event.

With over 150 attendees and 3 dynamite speakers, we had a fantastic breakfast event on August 30th.  We were disappointed that our keynote speaker, Jane Applegate with Bloomberg, was unable to come to the event due to the effects of Hurricane Irene.  However, we found an awesome last-minute substitute who did a great job of starting the morning off with a bang.

Commercial Appeal article on the Summit View Presentations on SlideShare

The keynote was given by Chris Crouch, and his topic was Getting More Done, 10 Steps for Outperforming Busy People. Chris’ energy and presentation were both exceptional. Chris is the President of DME Training.

Chris went through 10 tips to become a more effective person, and he touched on some great points about reading, personal relationships, and much more.  His presentation is included below, so be sure to check that out for full details.

Second Presentation, by Susan Drake
Author, Columnist, and Internal Marketing Consultant, Susan Drake, was up next. Susan’s talk focused on the fact that  in times like these, we need all the sales people we can get. But can we afford them? “You bet,” said Susan!  She gave some great, practical takeaways on how to put every employee to work selling your company.

Her points included:

• Relationship marketing (connections) is the most vital form of communication, and employees have to be sold on the mission and vision of the company
• She challenged the group by asking:  When was the last time you checked to see how the employees are delivering your promise?
• Only 20% of employees are truly engaged, but those engaged employees have 27% more profitability, and are 38% more productive
• Developing an internal marketing plan is the same as an external one.  You have to 1) define your audience, 2) tell those employees WHY this message is so important at every level, and in every customer interaction, and 3) you have to identify a champion who can carry that message internally and be sure that it is acted on.

Final Presentation, by Susan Stephenson

President, Co-Founder, and Co-Chairman of Independent Bank, Susan Stephenson, talked about positioning and how every company is battling for space in the minds of customers.

Susan gave some amazing examples of how positioning can work for and against every organization. Her examples about Mr. Clean, and capitalizing on your positioning, not squandering it, is crucial.

She also talked about the importance of being first in the battle for the mind. Kleenex, Coke, FedEx, and Xerox are all examples of companies who are first in their space.  She asked, “what if you can’t be first?” and how to set yourself apart.  Stephenson urged to recognize if you can’t be first, and to create your own space, and gave some great examples such as Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.  Everyone knows that Lindbergh was the first to cross the ocean, but many do not realize that Earhart was not second. She created her own space by being the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic.

Check out the combined presentations from the event:

Finally – a big thanks to all our sponsors who made this event a success: