Upskilling in Sales, Leadership and Meetings Excellence
IACC certified venues are a distinct and strategically important segment of the global meetings industry. Leaders and sales professionals in these purpose-built conference environments operate within a complex marketplace that demands specialized skills, strong positioning, and targeted training.
Master Connection Associates (MCA) has long been embedded in this niche. As the industry’s premier provider of sales, service, and leadership training, MCA has refined its methodology specifically for selling and servicing in meeting-focused venues.
The following overview outlines IACC Sales Solutions training, available through on-property sessions, facilitator-led virtual programs, and eLearning courses. For newly certified members, this training ensures you fully leverage your designation as one of the world’s premier meeting venues. For existing members, it equips every team member to represent this badge of excellence with confidence when engaging prospective and current clients.
Participants in MCA programs gain modern selling strategies and actionable skills to attract and win the right business. Training focuses on core issues such as identifying ideal customers for IACC venues, differentiating your property from traditional hotels operating under the CMP model, and incorporating tools like AI to enhance the sales process.
THE IACC SALES DIFFERENCE
IACC is the only global professional association which represents small to medium sized venues focused on meetings, training courses, and conferences. Based on the specialized association, all members will have access to a customized series of sales, leadership and guest service training which supports the high-quality standards of selling meeting space, event design and food & beverage that is conducive to the overall experience of meetings globally.
IACC has partnered with MCA to deliver bespoke training designed with the conference center as the foundation. These workshops provide a perfect career path for all IACC member conference centers who are focusing on growing their business with the benefits of showing ‘the IACC Difference.’
Based on specific feedback from meeting planners, event planners and industry specialists, each workshop has been customized to meet the specific objectives of selling a IACC certified venue versus a typical hotel or other event venue. The sessions will create a common and consistent sales language in verbiage, vernacular, concepts, and philosophy.
Our IACC Sales Difference is a multi-level series of classroom training workshops designed to provide sales and sales leadership training in a group setting. Many of these concepts can also be trained via webinars, eLearning, and video presentation sessions.
Workshops can be delivered in a two- or three-day format. We recommend a 6–12-month time span between each workshop. This gives the participant time to integrate new skills into their daily activities.
Prior to all workshops, participants will complete an assignment that ensures an in-depth learning experience.
Series Workshops:
- Selling the IACC Difference – essential tactical selling skills that create a strong foundation
- Strategic Positioning in Meeting Focused Venues – strategic selling/negotiations and total account management
- Presenting the IACC Difference – advanced in-person and virtual presentation skills
- Event Sales Solutions – conference planning/event sales for increased profitability
- Developing the IACC Leader – sales leadership skills
To take advantage of this fantastic training, please contact:
Shelley A. Marlow, Vice President
Tel: + 949.589.6137 ext 801
Cell: + 949.374-0796
Email: shelleymarlow@masterconnection.com
(Shelley is on Pacific Time)
COURSE ONE – SELLING THE IACC DIFFERENCE
Selling the IACC Difference introduces tactical selling skills. This session gives sales professionals the tools to effectively sell the IACC difference and compete successfully against the ‘typical hotel’ using a meeting package concept. We reinforce critical elements of selling, increasing revenue, new business development, while developing an ongoing business relationship with new and existing clients. This workshop benchmarks your sales team and provides a baseline of skill for all future strategic actions.
Pre-Requisite: None
Workshop content includes:
- The business of selling meetings, training, conferences, and teambuilding in a competitive environment
- Creating a one-stop sales process that converts business faster
- Half-day is spent with operations to create a seamless turnkey meetings experience
- How to find the ‘perfect’ business for your property
- The Probing Process to uncover the real needs of the client
- How to make a presentation and write a proposal that wins more business
- How to sell your property by creatively showcasing the ‘business of meetings’
- How to handle the objections of conference dining, package pricing, and rates
COURSE TWO – STRATEGIC POSITIONING in MEETING FOCUSED VENUES
Strategic Positioning is designed to build on Selling the IACC Difference. Takeaways include strategic planning and selling techniques and advanced negotiation skills. Sales professionals must master the art of uncovering layers of decision makers in the meetings, training, and conference industries. This workshop also gives the sales professional skills in presenting to groups with hidden agendas, dealing with procurement, and learning to negotiate when you are competing with several vendors. Each sales professional must engage in crucial conversations with their clients and present in such a way that sets them apart from their competition.
This workshop focuses on targeting competitor accounts, uncovering multiple stake holders, strategically positioning the conference venue against other hotels and events venues, negotiating with tough clients and advanced presentation skills.
Pre-requisite: Completion of Selling the IACC Difference
Workshop content includes:
- How to organize your time to increase your productivity
- How to find new business within existing accounts
- How to uncover the different types of ‘meetings’ business by communicating effectively within different organizations.
- Targeting large accounts that do not understand the IACC Meeting Experience.
- Negotiating before, during, and after the booking
- Mastering innovative presentations
COURSE THREE – PRESENTING THE IACC DIFFERENCE
“An Advanced Presentation Skills Workshop”
Presenting the IACC Difference is a workshop for all who make presentations, present sales proposals, give speeches, present internally to other departments or ownership groups, or externally within your organization, or facilitate meetings. This workshop will provide a formal process for developing and presenting meaningful information to your audience. The focus of the workshop centers on planning, development, and presentation of information to single and multiple audiences. It addresses fears about public speaking and offers practical skills at any level. Participants will give six presentations throughout the workshop.
Pre-Requisite: None
Workshop content includes:
- Getting Started with a strategy and plan of how to sell the difference with IACC
- First Things First – dealing with anxiety
- Analyzing Audience Needs of the Meeting Industry
- Formalizing the Presentation Planning
- Using the Presentation Funnel Model to:
- guide your to planning
- formalizing your presentation
- present with impact
- Using Visual Aids – iPads, Tablets, and Webinars
- Q & A: Answering Audience Questions
- Your Presentation Toolkit
COURSE FOUR – EVENT SALES SOLUTIONS
Event Sales Solutions is a hands-on workshop designed specifically for EMMs, Catering Sales Managers, Conference Planning Managers and Special Event Coordinators to maximize revenue opportunities. Regardless of CMP or non-package meetings, this workshop will help the conference planning and catering team gain more knowledge in F&B profitability and upgrading menus. As customers are becoming wiser and increasingly demanding we need to improve creativity, elevating our solutions, up-selling and keep as much food and beverage on property – regardless of your packages or conference dining. As a conference center we are the best in class in group menu planning and execution, no one does it better than an IACC certified conference venue. Therefore, you must intensify your sales skills, increase product knowledge in food and beverage, and use your strengths to sell your amenities, theme parties, menus, high-end bars, wine, and team building, without leaving anything to chance.
This workshop is an interactive session that focuses on working as a team to improve conversion and increase profitability.
Workshop content includes:
- Market Awareness Today with Profit as our Mission
- Understanding today’s market
- What is selling right now, what is “hot” and what is “not.”
- Current meeting, event and teambuilding trends.
- Understanding who your competition is and selling against them with the IACC Difference
- Innovative Selling Strategies –
- Converting Enquiries into Sales
- Best practices for site visit by market
- Making a difference in the handoff from sales to conference planning
- Tools for Increased Profitability
- Increasing top and bottom line revenue
- Maximizing up selling opportunities
- Understanding costings & menu engineering
- Selling conference dining with confidence
- Creating Effective Solutions Using Our Strengths
- Increasing conversion more profitably
- Maximizing customer engagements to close more ‘live’ opportunities
- Effective communication to handle objections
- Upgrading meetings with creative AV
- Future Plans of Action
- Sales action plans to prioritize work
- Commitments to drive more revenue
- Converting more tentative to definite business
- Optional
- Interactive Food & Beverage Sessions
- Creativity in Breaks
- Mixology
- Food Tasting/Pairing
- Teambuilding
- AV options for corporate meetings
- Interactive Food & Beverage Sessions
COURSE FIVE – DEVELOPING THE IACC LEADER
Developing the IACC Leader is designed for leading and managing teams in today’s business climate. Showing leaders how to develop their people to become a team of masters takes an understanding of skill, attitude, and knowledge. This workshop includes how to maximize their own leadership potential regardless of how long they have been in a position of leadership. Included is a complete development plan for their direct reports, new core competencies, and a timeline of development tools for an entire year to immediately implement after training. This workshop aligns leaders to take appropriate action in developing their team to make a difference and impact top-line results.
Pre-Requisite: None
Workshop content includes:
- Learning to lead with an understanding of everyone’s style and work approach
- Developing behaviors that support your company’s culture and customer expectations by providing immediate feedback
- Creating a plan of development for the entire team
- Taking control of doing more with less people by focusing on individual strengths of the team
- Creating an empowered team – confidence to make decisions
- Becoming a better coach to improve performance
- How to create a motivational atmosphere
- Post work commitment to be reviewed with senior leadership
Post Workshop Follow Up Assignment & Leadership Commitment
The post workshop follow-up assignment and commitment include the Management Action Planner that is a guide and personal roadmap to fully implementing their newly learned skills. It extends the learning and ensures participants take responsibility to integrate the skills and concepts into their daily activities.
