Exhibitor Boot Camp!

March 11 & 12, 2010
Marriott World Center - Orlando Florida

2010 Sales & Marketing Boot Camp

A new generation is entering the workforce and beginning to dominate the consumer ranks.  That means the way you do business has to change.  The way you communicate must adapt, and the way you market and sell your company’s products and services must incorporate evolving media vehicles, as well as the tried and true methods that have worked for years. This seminar will enable you to learn more about how to market, present and position your company’s products and services to be received in the best light by the insurance industry.  Take a hands-on approach to developing and presenting a clear, concise and compelling message about your company as experts in the field of sales and marketing walk you through the payoffs and pitfalls. Walk away from this interactive event with tools that will prove useful to professionals involved in the sales and marketing of insurance financial and technology products and services the very next day.

AGENDA:

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Friday, March 12, 2010

PROGRAM DETAILS:

Social Media:  Do I Need It? And More Importantly, How Can I Use It?  Have you ever wondered what nugget of value you can possibly relate in 140 characters or less? For many, the value of social media is fuzzy at best, and the return on the investment of time and talent is even fuzzier.  But the popularity of tools like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn make you wonder…what can it do for my company?  Take a hard look at social media in this session as we ask “Why should I participate?”  It may be to reach new prospects, to deliver better customer service, to build a stronger brand identity, or perhaps you want to demonstrate your thought leadership on a topic in which you have considerable expertise.  Whatever your reason for considering social media participation, it is important to start in the right place, with realistic expectations about the benefits it can provide, and an understanding of the dangers and limitations of this evolving media tool. There are many questions to be answered before you get started.  For example, does your company have a single “voice” with which you speak to the industry, or are there many who will participate? Are your customers using social media?  If so, what is the comfort level of your target audience with these types of tools? During this session, we’ll talk about setting goals, identifying internal resources, evaluating social media tools, strategizing your participation, protecting your company’s privacy and that of your customers as well. Finally, this session will provide solid details about implementing an integrated social media plan that will not only complement, but enhance, your other media, marketing and PR efforts.

Presented By:
Jennifer King, Principal Owner – St. Nick Media Services

Adventures in Lead Generation: What Will Work for You?    How many times are you asked to justify your company’s expenditures on advertising? Trade shows? Web seminars? How about travel and expenses involved in getting to and from prospect meetings? These days, the spotlight is on expenses and everyone is getting squeezed to focus on the sales, marketing and PR efforts that produce tangible results.  What efforts will produce the best return for your company?  Lead generation is the heart and soul of a successful company. Without effective leads, it becomes extremely difficult to increase revenue.  The experts leading this session have extensive experience figuring out not only the best strategies for getting leads, but also for tracking them back to the source and following through to the final sale. Attend this session and find out how you can garner leads with limited resources, what the best resources and partners are for your company when it comes to lead generation, and what metrics you should be focusing on to make certain you get the proper return on your investment.

Moderated By:
Holli Gronset, Associate Publisher – Insurance Networking News

Panelists:
Nancy Hines, VP Marketing, Duck Creek Technologies
Tracy Staniland, Director of Marketing & Sales Programs – Camilion Solutions

Buying Decisions and Bad Pick-Up Lines – CIOs & CFOs Sound-Off      By leaning on insurance company CIOs, CFOs and LOB managers to identify contact preferences, buying trends and new ways to approach selling in these trying times, this session will provide real insight into the mind of your perfect prospect. With the economy slowly recovering from the free fall it experienced recently, the pressure is on to deliver sales that will keep your company in the black. This session delivers the information you need to plan an effective strategy and concludes with an interactive question and answer period where your questions can be answered. Find out if you are calling on the right person and/or department.  Does the person you are talking to have the authority to approve the purchase of your product or service?   What obstacles are standing in the way of a successful sale? Keeping your sales goals on track requires, time effort and occasionally a little insider information – attend this session and find out what you may be missing.

Moderated By:
Rod Travers, Executive Vice President - The Robert E Nolan Company

Panelists:
Celeska Fredianelli, Controller/Treasurer – North Pointe Insurance Company
Steve Boyd, CIO and COO – Arrowhead Insurance Group
Jim Keal, CFO – Accident Fund Group
Craig Lowenthal, Former CIO – NYMAGIC
Doug Yenzer, CFO – Catholic Mutual Insurance

Soup to Nuts Sales: Turning Single Sales Situations into Evergreen Opportunities  Cold calls, emails and sales letters are the most traditional tools sales people use when trying to engage a prospect, right? Is there an approach that works for you every time or do you treat each prospect as a unique, individual opportunity? This session is designed to provide sales personnel and managers with the best tools, techniques, and concepts for selling to the insurance industry.  By attending this session, you will gain a deeper understanding of the sales process, including maximizing effectiveness of marketing support, improving sales performance, recognizing email and Internet opportunities, and other great ways to get that first face-to-face meeting with top-priority prospects.  In addition, expert panelists will discuss the need for a more integrated sales and marketing approach that will result in the development of well-timed, effective, marketing strategies.

Moderated By:
Mark Roth, Vice President of Business Development – IASA

Panelists:
Pamela Pecs Cytron, Chief Executive Officer and President – Pendo Systems
David Squibb, Vice President – CGI
Liza Smith, Vice President – EMC Document Sciences

Pressing the Press:  What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You  Most companies today recognize the value of pure public relations.  Getting your company positive coverage in an industry trade magazine can go a long way toward securing additional funding for R&D efforts and increasing word of mouth marketing that will start your phone ringing.  But what is the best way to approach trade publication editors?  Have you looked at the publication’s editorial calendar?  Do you know the editorial close dates for the issue about which you intend to ask? Have you called? Left messages?  This session is your opportunity to learn some of the secrets to establishing and maintaining a good relationship with trade publication editors and to getting your company covered in the most favorable light. Trade publications receive hundreds of communications, press releases and proactive article pitches every week.  The question is how to make your submissions and ideas rise to the top.  Our experienced panel of presenters will share insights you won’t want to miss. 

Moderated By:
Karen Furtado, Partner – SMA Strategy Meets Action

Panelists:
Pat Speer, Editor – Insurance Networking News
Sam Friedman, Editor-in-Chief – National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition

Building the Perfect Brand  All companies have brands, whether they know it or not, regardless of whether they’ve identified, defined, or revealed them. Brands are like people. They have traits, characteristics, and personalities. It’s why each brand is necessarily as different from the next as you are from the next person who reads this. It’s why brands have permanence in a world of temporary variations and fleeting competitive edges. This session will present real-world examples of brands, old and new, that achieved success through recognizability and memorability, that parlayed recognizability and memorability into trust and marketshare. And it will show you why — if you’re looking for differentiation in your portfolio, rather than in the mirror — you’re going to sell your brand short.

Presented By:
Mark O'Brien, Principal - O'Brien Communications Group

With the Push of a Button: Electronic & web Marketing Tools & Techniques  Do you remember how long ago you started using email as a daily part of doing business?  When did you first start paying attention to the Internet as more than a tool for online game playing, finding high school classmates or looking up a movie? At this point, it would be hard to argue that electronic and web marketing has not contributed positively in terms of helping companies quickly target and connect with potential customers. Today, electronic and web marketing mean more than just banner ads and click-throughs. Now you have the opportunity to create, send, and track targeted communications as well as offer a website that allows your prospects to learn about your company 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  What used to take days and weeks by snail mail can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes.  With the push of a button, your sales or marketing message can be delivered to your target audience, so precision is critical.  Putting the thoughts, words, mission and objectives of your plan into action in web and electronic formats can help populate your lead pipeline, deliver metrics to prove the plan is working, and ultimately increase sales.

Moderated By:
Jim Daggett, Associate Publisher - Tech Decisions

Panelist:
Valerie Carstens, Principal - Carstens & Co.

Crafting Your Message:  The Right Words, The Right Format, The Right Result        What is your message? Seriously. Do your marketing materials and your website say what you need them to say? Do they reflect your marketing strategy? Does your marketing strategy derive from your corporate strategy? Do your sales messages derive from both? Do your messages reflect your brand? Do your communications employ buzzwords at the expense of meaning? Is it more important to use the latest jargon, or to say what you mean — and meaningfully differentiate your company and your offering from your competitors? What’s more important, your perspective (“I like that”) or your target audience’s. If it makes sense to you, will it make sense to your target audience? The most costly phrase in marketing is: “It’s only words.” Before you bear that cost, attend this session. Bring your sales letters, overview brochures, product flyers and postcards. We’ll help you separate the wheat from the chatter. And we’ll give you some tips for making your written communications as effective as the products and services they promote.

Presented By:
Jennifer King, Principal Owner – St. Nick Media Services
Mark O'Brien, Principal - O'Brien Communications Group