Winning Business and Building Business Relationships

Meetings & Events Australia is presenting a professional development day - aimed at meetings managers and sales managers with three to five years of industry experience - on June 15 at the Chifley on the Terrace Hotel. The day is split into two sessions and delegates can attend either or both. Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre director of sales Tracy Baker, who has 13 years’ experience in the meetings industry, will present the first session - Winning Business. This topic covers the skills and knowledge required to plan and develop proposals for the staging of meetings and events, including: identifying sources of potential business; components to be included in proposals, and related product knowledge; networks and interrelationships of different industry sectors in relation to meeting and event proposals; and presentation techniques for proposal materials, including current technology. The second session - Building Business Relationships - will be presented by management consultant Jillian Mercer. Ms Mercer is also a published author and will be the Western Australian judge for the 2005 Australian Organisation for Quality Gold Awards. This session aims to provide participants with the skills and knowledge required to manage business relationships with customers and suppliers, focusing on the relationship building and negotiation skills utilised by specialist sales and marketing personnel and managers in the meetings and events industry. The topic will cover: the business environment in which the meetings and event industry operates, including current management and marketing issues; legal issues that affect negotiations and contracts in the industry; general knowledge of contracts; and negotiation and communication techniques. For more information, please contact Meetings & Events Australia WA on 9427 0844 or wa@mea.org.au. Registrations can be made online at www.miaanet.com.au/pd_events.html.