CERTPOINT - Vuepoint and its Client, Toyota, Featured in an Article on Maximizing Sales Force Effectiveness by Selling Communications reporter Martha White

LONG ISLAND, N.Y., August 31, 2004 - By the time attendees leave a one-way meeting, they lose 70 percent of what's been said, claims Ara Ohanian, who as CEO of Roslyn Heights, N.Y.-based consulting firm Vuepoint Corp. helps clients streamline meetings. "In many cases, you only talk to 30 percent of [attendees] anyway," he says.

Ouch! Not very encouraging statistics. However, Ohanian and his corporate clients, which include Black & Decker and Toyota Motor Corp., have come up with some ways planners can ensure attendees' in-person time is well spent--and that they take away something more relevant than doodles on a notepad.

Thinking Ahead

At Black & Decker, they would always have some activity before and after their sales meetings, so they could jump right into hands-on demonstrations when attendees got on-site, according to Ohanian. Afterward, they would tie in a post-meeting learning session, via electronic communication, he says.

This kind of pre-meeting communication and data-sharing is crucial. To make the time spent in meeting more useful, give attendees tools they can use during the time spent before and after the event. "Have certain activities before, during and after the meeting to tie it all together," says Ohanian, adding, "Do tech-based prep, through a 'Webinar' [a Web-based seminar] or other Web-based content delivery."

One corporate planner who does just that is Matt Gonzales, associate dean at the University or Toyota, the carmaker's training center at its Los Angeles headquarters.

"Publish the agenda beforehand so people know what they're coming to the meeting for," Gonzales advises. In addition to the agenda, he says, "We send information with the invite, and then we send a confirmation" that includes an attachment with the same information.

Although it sounds counterintuitive, Gonzales says not to bring extra copies of the documents you've already sent twice to attendees. Distributing all that paperwork takes time, and if attendees have already had a paper copy in their hands, the odds are greater that they've read it already than that they'll take the time to skin through it at the meeting. "You don't want to enable them," he says.

Data That Delivers

As for what kind of information you should provide pre-meeting, stick to facts, data and background details--essentially anything you suspect will make people's eyes glaze over if they're looking at it in a PowerPoint presentation. Doing this will help lighten the load of the meeting itself. "Rather than talking about informational things, you can talk about impact. You can start using the [meeting] time must more strategically," Ohanian says.

In addition, don't make it a one-way street, he advises. By finding out where attendees stand or what they know early in the process, content can be tweaked or adjusted so that it doesn't go over their heads or, even worse, bore them to tears. "Turn it into a process to make it more effective," he says.

Providing attendees with information about other participants is another talk that is certainly easy to accomplish via e-mail, yet many planners don't think to take this step, Toyota's Gonzales says. "The tendency is to now [include] a short description of the department you're meeting with," he says, adding planners shouldn't assume attendees will have that overview, especially if the meeting is large and/or bringing together disparate divisions within a corporation.

Another benefit that comes from publicizing the attendee list is that if a participant wants to get the ear of someone higher up the corporate ladder, they'll essentially have a captive audience if said exec will be at the same meeting. "Make sure people realize there may be people there of a high level, because you're kind of playing to their desire to have exposure to those people, "says Gonzales. "Some people make their decisions [to attend or opt out of a meeting] based on who else was invited."

And one final piece of advice comes from Toyota's Gonzales: "You've got to start on time. If people know they're come to meetings and they never start on time, they're not going to show up on time."

Notes to Editors

About Vuepoint

Vuepoint provides comprehensive knowledge transfer solutions that allow global enterprises to rapidly deliver revenue-generating product and service knowledge throughout sales, marketing and customer support channels. Vuepoint combines patented, award-winning technology, methodologies and services to help increase sales and market share for blue-chip clients including AOL Time-Warner, Black & Decker, The Hartford, Toyota, and Whirlpool. Founded in 1996, privately held Vuepoint serves more than 500,000 users in 35 countries. Vuepoint has won numerous awards, received top-ranked service and solutions ratings from industry analysts, and maintains the best financial stability ratings from leading financial institutions and information providers. Please visit www.vuepoint.com.