Procurement Conferences: Are they worth it?

Hot on the back of me going to a couple of conferences, I thought it’s worth asking the controversial question: Are they worth it?

We’ve certainly been subjected to a lot of inflation with conference pricing. Both for practitioners attending them, as well as sponsors who purchase conference booths or other promotional packages.

With such rampant price rises and an increasingly crowded marketplace of tech providers, do they still make sense?

This was inspired by a great, provocative blog by respected procurement tech analyst Michael Lamoreux, which he shared on LinkedIn. Quite predictably, it generated a lot of comments and discussion.

Firstly, we’ll look at it from a sponsor or solution provider perspective. Then I’ll tackle it from a procurement practitioner standpoint, from both a corporate employee angle, as well as for freelance consultants and interim managers.

 

What is the pecking order for procurement conference organisers?

Before tackling the question, it’s worth assessing who the conference and event organisers earn the most money from. This will help us identify where their priorities lie.

While there is no clear answer on this, my hunch would be:

1. Sponsors
2. Practitioners
3. Media Partners and service providers who are not sponsors

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at whether conferences provide an ROI for both sponsors – specifically procurement software vendors – and practitioners.

 

Is there ROI on procurement conferences for Sponsors?

Are conferences still a good investment of your marketing dollars as a sponsor?

I guess that depends on a few different variables.

There are certainly less competitive and smarter ways to get conversations with prospective customers than spending a substantial 5-figure amount on a booth, conference hotel, and flights for your sales team.

As a general rule, it’s always wise to seek out where there is less competition, but still a warm and receptive audience.

But then, on the other hand, would you knowingly turn down an opportunity of being in a hall full of potential customers, if you knew your competitors were all going to be there? Is the FOMO and potential damage to your brand of not being there pushing you into feeling like you have to bite the bullet?

So, let’s look at a few different variables:

 

How much does the event cost?

Not only that, but most importantly, what are you likely to get out of it for the investment?

Not all events are the same animal. Some will attract a more senior audience. Others will have a higher ratio of practitioners to sponsors and salespeople.

What would you otherwise spend the money on, and can you estimate your customer acquisition cost vs. other sales & marketing channels?

Due your due diligence on the event. Compare what you’d get from running Google or LinkedIn ads, or gated white papers or webinars. Or even an exclusive micro-event such as a day at the races or invite-only dinner for warm prospects.

 

If you don’t prepare, you likely won’t see an ROI

As my friend Sarah Scudder walked through on a recent episode of her Dual Source Discourse podcast, do your homework before attending.

• Which other solution providers are going?
• Why is your product better?
• Where is it perhaps weaker?
• Are there potentially any channel partners among the other event sponsors?

Most importantly, don’t take a “spray and pray” approach to email spamming everyone who’s attending the conference. A truly awful tactic.

Tailor your message so as it resonates with the audience. Which brings me nicely on to…

 

Understanding the event demographics

The obvious angle here is to understand how many decision makers there are at the event.

If you’re having conversations with middle managers, it might be fantastic for brand value but you’re going to be stuck hoping that this person makes introductions or follows up with the economic buyer after the event.

Quite understandably, event organisers generally don’t provide contact emails for practitioners to their sponsors. Otherwise, nobody would attend in fear of being spammed!

So, how do you find out whether it’s going to be an audience containing more CPOs, or one which is predominantly Category Managers or Process Excellence Leads attending?

The answer is a bit of good old-fashioned research.

1. Utilise your network, especially those who you know have a good overview of the conference circuit.
2. Have a look at who the speakers are. Reach out to them to find out more. They’ve likely been before, or know people who have been.
3. Perhaps even post on LinkedIn in one of the Procurement groups to see if anyone knows anything about the event.

 

What is the ratio of Procurement Practitioners to Sell-Side?

It may be difficult to get a clear answer here from the conference organisers, especially if the ratio is low.

Nonetheless, it’s a vital question you must ask. A 2:1 or 3:1 ratio is going to be more attractive than a 1:1 ratio. And believe me, there are some conferences out there that definitely have 1:1 ratios.

Equally important is the number of decision-makers, and industry verticals too.

The latter is especially important if your product only serves, say, the private sector, but an event may have a significant percentage of attendees from the public and non-profit sectors.

 

Is there ROI on procurement events for Delegates?

This one is a bit more difficult to precisely evaluate.

Delegates, especially those who don’t have family commitments, will likely jump at the chance of escaping the banalities of a typical work day to spend 3 days in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Orlando or Las Vegas.

Getting a budget to go in the first place is going to be the biggest hurdle.

It would be almost impossible to estimate whether attendees are able to drive savings or projects through which are a direct result of ideas generated from keynotes at a  conference.

It’s more about networking, inspiration, and the necessity to take yourself out of the day-to-day to be able to see the bigger picture. As a business owner, I can 100% corroborate that this drives massive value to my business. A clear head and an open mind allow fresh ideas to take root that can solve specific challenges.

Depending on the content and format of the event, it also enables you to benchmark your organisation against your peers.

Meeting in-person allows you to nurture and grow relationships with other procurement practitioners which you otherwise wouldn’t have established. Procurement professionals typically aren’t as sociable as Sales & Marketing when it comes to networking online. And while this is changing, especially on LinkedIn, there’s still no substitute for a conversation during an evening meal or coffee break at a conference.

Likewise, the information and education you may get from meeting with some of the sponsors and exhibitors can broaden your knowledge of, say, the procurement tech or managed services provider landscape.

 

What tactics dilute the experience for Delegates?

There are definitely certain things that will turn off delegates. And without paying delegates, you usually don’t have a viable conference business model.

1. Quality of speakers. Just because someone is a successful CPO doesn’t mean they are a good speaker. I’ve seen some truly awful, boring keynotes by some very senior people.
2. Too many sponsored speaking slots. Yes, the sponsors want their opportunity to present directly to the audience. However, too many sponsored speaking slots water down the value that attendees will get from the event. If you’ve paid $3,000 for a ticket, you want thought leadership and inspiration from speakers. You definitely don’t want a salesperson.
3. Tired formats and agendas. I have to hand it to DPW. Matthias and his team have laid down the gauntlet and the other events organisers need to up their game.

 

What are the soft benefits of procurement events?

We’ve looked at whether events are worth it for both sponsors and delegates. Then we explored some of the alternatives to attending procurement conferences.

But what are the more intangible benefits?

1. Increased brand recognition – There’s no denying that those solution providers who sponsor or exhibit at events have better brand recognition. You may have a better product than the market leader, but that’s useless if nobody knows who you are and what your product does.
2. Nurturing warm leads – The enterprise sales cycle is notoriously long. Buyers and sellers alike know this. Sales of high-ticket items requires many touch points. Events are a necessary part of any marketing activity, unless you’ve got one specific channel really dialled down.
3. Competitor analysis – As a software company, being able to benchmark what your competitors are spending money on and what their message is can be invaluable. On the flip side, they’ll also be able to do the same due diligence on you too.
4. Teambuilding – For remote-first or distributed teams, events are a great opportunity to combine with an offsite, without incurring major additional travel costs.

 

What alternatives are there to Procurement Conferences?

So, what could both solution providers and delegates do instead of attending procurement conferences?

Well, COVID proved once and for all that virtual events are a poor substitute. Fair play to the events companies in 2020 and 2021. They gave it their best shot and made a gallant effort. But it’s just impossible to create the buzz though and the networking opportunities.

It’s easy to get distracted when you’re in front of your phone and laptop, rather than in a conference hall having spontaneous conversations.

Michael indeed suggested a few in his article, and they all struck me as sensible options. I’ll also include a couple I’ve come attended myself.

 

Invite-only events

ProcureCon already does this with their CPO Round Tables. I’ve never been to one (because I’m not a CPO…). DPW also did it this year with their inaugural invite-only US event in New York.

We’re certainly seeing an increase in more exclusive, invitation-only dinner or round table events.

I suspect this is because C-level leadership won’t invest the time to spend 2 days at a conference, plus travel, unless they’re going to be able to network with peer level contacts.

For solution providers, it’s a blessing and a curse. Yes, you get your time with decision-makers. But you’re not going to hear feedback from those who use your software on a day-to-day basis. Is a CPO aware of any day-to-day issues? The better ones will be, but the majority probably won’t be.

When it comes to CPOs, the advantages are clearer. For busy leaders, being able to network in a small community of peers at the same level opens the door for building deeper connections and sharing thought leadership.

 

Solution-provider hosted events

I’ve attended a couple of these this year. I have to say, I think they’re an incredible opportunity when done right.

Think about it. An event costs maybe $50k-$75k to put on, depending on the size and location. Your average deal size per customer is, say, also $50k.

If your event results in one or two less customers churning, it’s paid for itself. Customers feel special when they’re invited to these events. It gets them out of the office and enables them to network with their fellow peers. This is extremely valuable to the procurement leader as an attendee. It would otherwise cost him or her several thousand dollars for a conference ticket.

You’re offering it to them for free. All they have to pay for is their travel.

If they take one idea away which gives them inspiration to do something differently and drive more value, it’s two days well spent.

The key here is to ensure that it’s not a pitch-fest and that the number of attendees is manageable to facilitate meaningful networking. 300 people won’t get to bond and interact as effectively as 50-100 will.

Venues also matter. A soulless hotel conference suite won’t be as memorable as a classic or cool venue.

 

Themed events

DPW is the closest we have to this currently, with a focus JUST on tech.

The German Procurement, Supply & Logistics Association (BME) to their credit also run tech-themed events twice a year.

CIPS, not exactly known for their cutting-edge thought leadership on modernising our profession, has even tried it too. I heard from a couple of sponsors that their event was good.

But what about more specific, niched down events?

Tactical and operational improvements such as Source-to-Pay optimisation are pretty different to risk, resilience, and ESG-driven initiatives. The digital solutions and the stakeholders involved in selecting and using the software will be different.

 

Virtual demo days

Watch this space! We’re currently looking at putting together one of these.

One of the biggest challenges of the procurement software market is that practitioners don’t really understand what makes each of the different providers’ products unique.

Of course, running a demo for a spend analytics tool, then an SRM platform, then a P2P application or carbon emissions tracking tool doesn’t really solve that problem. It’s all a bit mixed up.

We’ve been guilty of this too with our Live Demo sessions on LinkedIn. There’s no similar, competitor product to contrast with. So, the viewer comes away clear about that one solution, but not really any wiser about what the rest of the market can offer.

I’m deeply convinced that a themed demo day focused on one specific primary category of procurement technology would deliver huge value that can’t be replicated by a conference.

Interested in attending or sponsoring it?

Drop me an email and would love to jump on a quick call and hear your ideas.