secret sauce of advance revenue
DESCRIPTION
Saffire Events and Heart o' Texas Fair & Rodeo team up for "Secret Sauce of Advance Revenue."TRANSCRIPT
The Secret Sauce of
Advance Event Revenue
Wes Allison
Kendra Wright
• Began building websites in 1995
• Helps events market themselves smarter online
PRESENTERS
Kendra Wright Saffire Events
• Serves as President and CEO
• Oversee management of Extraco Events Center and Heart O’ Texas Fair & Rodeo
Wes Allison Extraco Events Center
Heart O’ Texas Fair
HISTORY
EVENT PORTFOLIO Rodeo Austin
South Texas State Fair
Rodeo Belton/ 4th of July Celebration
Brazos Valley Fair
Heart O' Texas Fair & Rodeo
Amarillo Tri-State Fair
Fort Bend County Fair
Central Texas State Fair
Comal County Fair
Okeechobee County Fair
Amador County Fair
Chowchilla Fair
Palomino Fest
Lea County
Coors Cowboy Club
Washington County Fair
Texas State Forest Festival
American Royal
Colorado State Fair
Napa County Fair
Dodge City Round Up
Brazoria County Fair
San Angelo
Rogers County Fair
Greater Baton Rouge State Fair
Central States
Black Hills Stock Show/Rodeo
Los Fresnos
Twas the Lights
Reno Rodeo
Redding Rodeo
Northwest Washington Fair
Sikeston Rodeo
Delaware State Fair
Sangamon County Fair
East Texas
Park of East Texas
Laramie County Fair
Benton-Franklin Fair
Carroll County Fair
Pendleton Round-Up
Pony Express Days
Arizona National Livestock Show
Yolo County Fair
California Rodeo Salinas
Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show
Old Sorehead Trade Days
Cuero TurkeyFest
Fiesta San Antonio
Glenn County Fair
State Fair of Louisiana
Four States Fair
Montgomery County Fair
Fiesta San Antonio
Glenn County Fair
State Fair of Louisiana
Four States Fair
Four States Fair
Montgomery County Fair
Agricultural Learning Center
Grant County Fair
North Texas State Fair
Rooftop Rodeo
West End Fair
Crabtree Amusements
Trinity Valley Exposition
Brackenridge Recreation Complex
Kitsap Rodeo Cowpokes
Refugio County Fair
Rockdale Fair & Rodeo
Children’s Center
NILE
MATE
Volusia County Fair
Firefighter’s Fair
Fayette County Fair
Extreme Tix
Salvation Army
Jerry Jones Education Town
Wings Stadium
Bradford County Fair
Pasco County Fair
Greeley Stampede
Sweetwater Events Complex
iFest
Hardee County Fair
Angelina Ccounty Fair/Expo
Midland Horseshoe Arena
Harborside Events Center
My River District
Taylor County Expo
Five State Fair
Western Heritage Classic
Extraco Events Center
Central Washington State Fair
El Paso County Fair
OVER
100 CLIENTS!
SAFFIRE ASSOCIATION PARTNERS
PALAMINO FEST
WHY DOES SAFFIRE CARE?
WHY DOES SAFFIRE CARE? – We think this program could work
with all sizes of events
– Builds relationships across
volunteers
WHY DOES SAFFIRE CARE? We like money!
WHAT IS IT? – Volunteers sell advance tickets and more
– Top salespeople are rewarded with a trip
– Bottom line: Self-funding and self-
rewarding
HOW DID IT START? – Originally gave prize of a trip to top volunteer
salesperson
– Discovered that Chamber better rewarded volunteers
– Turning point was awarding trips to a much higher
number of volunteers
– Bottom line: INSURANCE
SECRET SAUCE ELEMENT #1
#1: THE ITEMS FOR SALE – Important to give enough choices but
not too many
– Include big and small ticket items
– Make sure it feels like a value
• “I’m getting something I can’t get
anywhere else; it’s exclusive”
#1: THE ITEMS FOR SALE – Make it for a limited time
• Ours starts 5 months prior to the
fair
• Stops 2 weeks before the fair
#1: THE ITEMS FOR SALE – Biggest sales items are:
• General admission to fair
• General admission to secondary event
• Family fun packs
• Sponsorship packages
• Calf scramble packages
• Meet and greet with performers
#1: THE ITEMS FOR SALE – Be open to flexibility year to year
• Timeframe
• Infrastructure – Committee structures
– Rewards sessions
• Items
SECRET SAUCE ELEMENT #2
#2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE Absolute requirements
• Chairman is biggest cheerleader
• Staff member or super dedicated person to record and
manage the program. • Cash
• Rewards tracking
• Trip planning
• Everyone has to sell something
#2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE Chairman
Division Leader 1
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Division Leader 2
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Division Leader 3
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Division Leader 4
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Division Leader 5
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Vice Chairman
Each team has
12-18 members.
#2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE • Setting goals
– Set total goal amount – let’s say $100k
– Division leader goal is $20k (1/5th total
goal)
– Team goal is $5k (1/4 total division goal)
#2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE How infrastructure was set initially
• Fair chooses campaign chair and vice chair – Chair and vice chair is one-year commitment
• Campaign chair and vice chair choose 5 division
leaders – Division leaders are two-year commitments
Later on, top salesmen become leadership
#2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE – Captains:
• Keep one member
• Draft 4
• The rest are randomly chosen by fair
– If there is an opening for division leader, team
leaders move up based on sales
#2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE – Materials include: • Committeeman guide and structure
– Letter from fair and chairman
– Campaign leadership
– Campaign goals
– Meeting dates and times
– Order form
– Details about items for sale
– Sponsor list (do not contact)
– Volunteer sales list (with volunteer contact)
– Frequently Asked Questions
– Selling incentives
#2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE – Materials include:
• Leave-behind materials – Sales materials
– Business cards
– A few other things
SECRET SAUCE ELEMENT #3
#3: THE KICK-OFF PARTY – 4 months before event
– Invite current volunteers and a guest
– Sponsor involvement
• Held at sponsor location
• Sponsor can do additional promo
• Sponsor provides meal
• Bar with beer
• Drawing among attendees
#3: THE KICK-OFF PARTY – Chairman (and HOT Fair) go over
program details
– Disseminate sales materials
• Sales packet
• Business cards
• Leave behinds
#3: THE KICK-OFF PARTY
SECRET SAUCE ELEMENT #4
#4: ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS – Meetings every two weeks • Communicate anything new
– Division leaders speak
• Volunteers turn in money
• Reward people for hitting sales levels
• Sponsors involved in these too
• Keeps people energized
– Mega ongoing emails!
#4: ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS
#4: ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS
#4: ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS
SECRET SAUCE ELEMENT #5
#5: THE INCENTIVES • Set the “payback %” as 20%
• Gambled at first that not everyone would get trip
• Leadership picks destination from in-budget options
• Previous trips were cruise, Jamaica, Mexico
#5: THE INCENTIVES
#5: THE INCENTIVES • Trip benefits:
– Volunteers get to know each other and
fair staff better
– They are more efficient volunteers at
the fair
– They almost become extended “fair
staff”
#5: THE INCENTIVES • Who gets a trip:
– Chairman and vice chair (for two)
– Division leaders (for one)
– If division leaders reach goal, they can get extra trip and 2% incentive
– If team leaders reach goal, they get one trip and 2% incentive
– There are also levels where you can get merchandise and cash
– Individuals must raise $5,400 for trip for one or $6,600 for trip for two
SECRET SAUCE ELEMENT #6
#6: THE TRACKING At first, all tracking was in Excel
• Manually entered in all orders by
team
• Calculated rewards
• Time-consuming as program grew
TRACKING WITH EXCEL
THEN SWITCHED TO TRACKING SOFTWARE
Now teamed with a developer to
build tracking software
o Still enter orders, but it calculates
what is sold and if they get trip
o Figures division and team totals, as
well as incentives
STARTING SMALL • Determine what is most important to sell
– For most, this is gate admissions
– Consider packages (e.g., family fun pack)
• Develop a way to track revenue and reward volunteers
• Find a volunteer to rally troops for the program
– Set up a small leadership committee
• Make sure you have a way to fulfill tickets
THANK YOU
Questions? • Leave your business card, and we will send:
– This presentation
– Original spreadsheet
– Marketing materials
– Free subscription to The Dirt for online marketing tips
– Invitation to upcoming Saffire educational webinars