22/09/2019
Have you ever found yourself scrutinizing your event budget in search of things you can cut to make room for new initiatives?
Don’t cut the toothbrushes.
That sounds like great advice for a dental health conference, but what does that have to do with the rest of us?
Let me answer with a story.
In 2016 we were moving Social Media Marketing World 2020 from being a single-hotel event to being a citywide (meaning people stay in multiple hotels and the meetings are in a central location, in this case, the San Diego Convention Center). As we thought through the transition, we tried to put ourselves in the shoes of attendees. We realized one benefit of a single-hotel event is that attendees could go up to their room between sessions to freshen up, change clothes, and brush their teeth. That would be much more difficult at a convention center that was at least ten to fifteen minutes away.
In order to eliminate this dilemma, we thought of ways to help. We recognized attendees are networking all day and want to have fresh breath after eating so having mints, mouthwash, toothbrushes, and toothpaste would be very important to some attendees.
Here’s the economic problem: buying enough toothbrushes and toothpaste for everyone is not cheap. With some creative research we discovered it might cost $3 per person, but for 5,000 people that would be $15,000. That wasn’t in the budget.
Thankfully, not everyone needs a toothbrush and toothpaste so we didn’t need to buy thousands, but we did need to buy enough so we didn’t run out. That still costs thousands of dollars. We decided to do it on a limited basis and got such strong feedback that we’ve now done it four years in a row.
So when it came time to evaluate the budget someone who doesn’t know the backstory recently asked why we’re spending so much on toothbrushes. They queried, “We’re not a hotel. Can’t people just bring their own toothbrushes and toothpaste?”
The short answer is, “Of course and that’s how most events answer this question. But we understand that if someone really wants to brush their teeth to feel comfortable for the rest of the day, it will take them at least thirty minutes and the likelihood of them not returning increases. That’s bad for them and for us. They could miss out on the important lesson or relationship that will transform the value of the event. We lose out because every person contributes to the overall experience we are trying to create.”
So how should we justify this expense if it seems unnecessary?
Customer Service - We believe strongly in anticipating needs and finding solutions that are within our means to solve. We also believe in the motto “do for some what you wish you could do for everyone.” This is a relatively small expense to make someone’s day.
Malena attended our event in 2019 from Denmark. She came to the customer service desk asking for directions to a drugstore where she could buy a toothbrush and toothpaste since she had left hers at the hotel. She was blown away to learn that she could walk down the hall to find mouthwash, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. She was blown away by our attention to detail. And her response leads to the second contributor to ROI.
Word of Mouth Marketing (no pun intended) - Malena went home and told fifty of her friends about this amazing experience she had at Social Media Marketing World. She then went on to talk about the toothbrush experience. That encounter represented our concern for her and the fact that we seemingly had thought about every detail. She expects at least a couple of these friends to purchase virtual tickets and maybe eventually attend, all because of her effusive praise.
Influencer Marketing - It always surprises me to learn what speakers and influencers notice. I was listening to a podcast episode with Jay Baer and Mike Stelzner recently about his new book Talk Triggers. In that episode, Jay mentioned that one of the things we are known for is having original music performed at every one of our conferences. He then went on to identify the toothbrush as an example of how we pay attention to every detail. That episode has been heard by more than forty thousand people. Who knows how many of those listeners purchased because of that specific episode, but the impact is massive.
So what’s the ROI of a toothbrush?
Here’s an attempt to determine the ROI of one toothbrush:
Cost: $3 per person
Income: $1697 + 1394 = $3091
1 Happy Customer decides to return = $1697 retail
--> Happy Customer tells 50 friends and
2 friends purchase virtual tickets = $1394 retail
ROI: 1 customer’s positive experience just paid for all the toothbrushes and toothpaste we needed to purchase that year.
Of course, not every toothbrush had this kind of return and we can’t completely attribute these decisions to the toothbrush, but it’s clear that a $3 decision had a massive ripple effect.
Are we cutting the toothbrushes?
Not as long as I’m the event director.
I believe the magic is in being consistent and wearing a big smile (after all, it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to).
And to wear a big smile you need a toothbrush.
YOUR TURN
What details do you notice at events? If you’re an event professional, what details have you focused on that your attendees pay attention to?
