A Look Inside the WWSG Sales Team
At Worldwide Speakers Group, we pride ourselves in being a leading global professional services firm combined with the best customer service and sales experienced team. Each professional on our team has the experience our clients may need when planning their perfect event.
We sat down with Bill Hart, Vice President of Sales, and asked him what trends and tendencies he has seen with his clients.
How does Sales for a lecture agency differ from other marketplaces?
Bill Hart: Sales doesn’t differ much industry to industry. The most important thing is understanding your customer’s goals, their challenges, and what success looks like for them. You must know your offering completely and how it fits with their needs. Helping them succeed remains constant.
What are some of the most challenging aspects to Sales at a lecture agency?
BH: The many layers that often exist at the customer level. From planners to committees to boards to CEOs, it is often difficult to know your path to final decisions. Establishing strong relationships take time, there are no shortcuts to becoming a trusted advisor.
What are the steps to booking/selecting the best speaker for a customer? How do customers typically handle the WWSG booking process?
BH: The steps vary from customer to customer but typically begin with a briefing meeting or call to fully understand the goals around a specific event and the desired outcomes. This is followed by written proposals, follow-up calls, refining and adding to it. Some customers will request pre-booking calls with speakers to more fully understand speech topics, approach and content. We are involved throughout the entire customer process to ensure they have everything they need to make informed decisions. Our prospects and customers appreciate our level of support and quickly become comfortable with our booking process.
How do you navigate politics in the lecture business? Do clients take offense to any suggested thought leaders you offer?
BH: The lecture business is a talent business. With talent sometimes comes drama. Whether it’s DC or NYC or Hollywood, it’s about the people — that’s what makes it fun! Clients are smart, they are usually pretty clear about their audiences and what makes sense for them. This understanding generally leads to non-offensive suggestions by us.
What are some of the most popular topics right now when clients are searching for thought leaders?
BH: Right now – AI [Artifical Intelligence], Cyber, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Mid-term Elections. But Leadership, Motivation, Inspiration never go out of style.
From concept creation to speaker selection and procurement to logistics/event coordination, WWSG is a full-service global lecture agency. We don’t ‘sell you’ services – we listen to you to discover what your key objectives are, and design our services to help you meet them.
Ready to take the next step? Contact us today and take the first step towards partnering with a company you can trust.