Naperville,
IL (March 2011) –
When Owner and President
Jeffrey Berger established Conference Planning Resources, Ltd. (CPR) in
2007, his
primary objective was to differentiate his company from the competition
and
from past business practices.
Building
too large of a sales team too fast, losing sales associates needing
more than just
unlimited revenue potential and offering hotel procurement only to
meeting
planners were not going to foster CPR’s success in this ever-growing
and
increasingly competitive market.
“Nobody in
the hotel site selection industry has done or does what we do. We have
created
a unique formula that offers both our sales team and our clients more
protection, value and services,” said Berger.
Attracting
the “right” sales associates has been a key element in building the
company. Berger
has strived to develop and expand a team that contributes to his vision
of a
boutique elite organization with extremely high standards. “We don’t
want to
get so big that we lose the consistent and superior customer service
experienced
by our clients. And if a sales associate is not actively booking, they
are off
our sales roster. We’d rather have a small team of highly motivated and
successful associates than inactive salespeople across the country
poorly
representing CPR.”
Unique to
CPR
is bridging the gap between independent contractor and employee. While
the
associates earn commission and work independently from home offices,
CPR hires them
as W-2 employees who share the tax burden with the company. Sales
associates
are also protected with unemployment insurance and workman’s
compensation and
enjoy the benefits of a flexible spending account, profit sharing and
access to
a 401K.
Another
attractive aspect for the associates is access to the more than 100,000
records
in CPR’s state-of-the-art database, allowing them to query and directly
solicit
meeting planners and to strengthen their own account base. “We want to
give our
sales associates as many tools as possible to ensure their success,”
said Rich
Fassl, CPR’s Director of Operations who manages the database.
One of
those
tools is the opportunity to tap into additional revenue streams. CPR
partners
with various industry alliances (lifeline partners) so that the company
and its
sales associates are not dependent solely on commissions from hotels.
Meeting
planners,
many of whom are not able to afford a full-service event planning
company, also
benefit from this a la carte selection of services provided by CPR’s
lifeline partners.
Berger is as selective with these partnerships as he is with hiring.
“We have
been approached by dozens of organizations that provide transportation,
premiums, and event planning services and they need to have the same
core
values as CPR, being fair and equitable. If a planner works with one of
our
alliances, they know they will benefit from the same level of service
and value
as they have from CPR. With our event planning company, for instance,
there are
no mark ups or surcharges and we identify all partners to our planners
from the
onset so it is clear who is delivering all of the human resources and
who is
handling what services. Transparency is crucial at every level.”
Also
crucial
in servicing the needs of the planners is CPR’s involvement with
contract
review and negotiation. “With every contract, we are in the trenches
with our
planners. We are helping them construct clauses and reduce their
potential
liability. In 2009 and 2010, we saw a slew of new challenges as the
economy
took a hit and regional issues surfaced, such as the tenuous situation
in
Mexico. The standard Force Majeure clause wasn’t addressing all of the
possible
scenarios. For instance, we now even have a bed bugs clause we can
offer to our
planners,” said Berger.
Berger, a
veteran in the hotel industry, also understands the difference between
knowing
a hotel’s threshold and crossing it and he imparts that knowledge onto
his
team. “We understand the
importance of having a business opportunity fit the
hotel’s revenue model as well as negotiating a contract that is fair
and
equitable for both parties.”
Not content to rest on his laurels, Berger
is focused on the next level of technology that will transform the
process of
collecting and reviewing hotel proposals and sales collateral. “We
can’t wait
to unveil this exciting new program later this year. It will make
everyone’s
jobs so much easier. Stay tuned for more.”