Roundtable
The changing landscape
The recent EN Roundtable in association with Akkroo tackled the
question: Are We Putting Our Customers First?, and discussed
advancements in lead management with key people in the industry
A
kkroo general manager
Chris Wickson, kicked
off the debate in London
with a short presentation
explaining to organisers
and registration companies
that he believes it’s time
to rethink how companies
capture and deliver leads
to their customers, by
ensuring that all platforms,
universally work together.
He said: “Exhibitors are
recording leads in a myriad
of ways. They rent scanners
from the supplier or
organisers, collect business
cards, write notes in their
notepads or use a mobile app,
but what happens next is the
most important.
“Invariably the data sits in
silos or on spreadsheets and
eventually makes its way
back into their systems and
the challenges are making
sure the customer doesn’t
lose control of that data and
we are able to track that
data and show that that
conversation was the source
of the deal.
“We want to build a
solution and integrate with
existing platforms to ensure
that exhibitors have the best
experience and the leads
are back in our customers’
systems like Salesforce, and
they are able to automate the
process of ensure they can
chase up leads following an
event.”
The current landscape
Scott Vaughan, chief growth
officer at Integrate, the
company that owns Akkroo,
explained that companies are
changing. He said: “I think
we need to stop using the
word exhibitors. The role of
the CMO is changing rapidly
with more people in the
business asking where’s my
pipeline? It’s overwhelming
to be a CMO because
expectations are going up
and there’s greater emphasis
on results.
“There’s an issue around
sales and marketing
alignment, it doesn’t work,
and it will never work. The
same thing has happened
on the technology and
process side. Marketing is
doing really cool things and
generating leads to sales
and sales are telling them
that these leads aren’t good
enough.”
EN ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS
» Justin Craig, LiveBuzz, Founder/
MD
» Jason Huggan, LiveBuzz, Sr
Innovation Officer
» Amy Jordan, Visit by GES, Head of
Marketing
» Simon Clayton, RefTech, Chief
Ideas Officer
» Cristina Nedea, Reed Expo,
Campaigns Manager
» Chris Wickson, Akkroo / Integrate,
GM Events
» Scott Vaughan, Akkroo / Integrate,
Chief Growth Officer Integrate
» Dan Currin , Akkroo / Integrate,
Event Alliances Manager
» Aurore Braconnier, Raccoon
Events, COO
» Athena Kyriacou, Ideal Homeshow,
Portfolio Marketing Manager
» Mike Sealy, Informa Markets,
Customer Experience Director
January — 39