Happy Spring! We’ve already enjoyed a tease of spring with several days of sunlit warmth breaking up the relatively kind winter we’ve had this year.  Although New England has had its share of Nor’Eeasters in April, I’m betting on lots of warm sunny days!

Many of us started our spring wardrobe shopping at Neiman’s at The Natick Collection last month as ISES and NENACE members gathered together for their annual joint meeting. Neiman’s was packed with event professionals coming together to network, mingle, enjoy complimentary makeovers, headshots and roundtable discussions on everything from personal style to resume writing, public speaking, Facebooking and more. You can check out the video here:

http://vimeo.com/37542628

Several of our members returned from The NACE Leadership Summit glowing with reports of how fabulous our New England chapter is when compared to other regional chapters. Thank you, thank you, to our board of directors, committee members and all our fabulous members for making this the best chapter in all of NACE. We will be submitting nominations for several chapter awards. Whether or not we win an official award, we KNOW we’re the best!

On the subject of awards, I hope that you will submit for the individual and industry awards at www.nacewards.com. The deadline of May 1, 2012 is fast approaching. Make sure you submit your very best work (applications are on our site) and take a well-earned bow as your own NENACE chapter acknowledges your success and hard work.

July 15-18 is an opportunity to take a break from all of that hard work, and spend time with your peers learning and socializing in New Orleans at the NACE Experience Conference. You’ll meet event professionals from all over the country, attend workshops and learn about cutting edge concepts in our industry, and even have a chance to take the Certified Professional Catering Executive (CPCE) exam.

We’re less than 6 months into 2012, and between moving the Feeding Our Neighbors initiative forward by giant steps, offering stellar programming, and community service projects, involving and bringing in new members, we have a lot to celebrate this spring.

Don’t forget to put the August 50’s themed prom on your calendar (Tuesday, August 7). It’s not too early to begin thinking about the perfect outfit! You could be crowned the 2012 NACE Prom King or Queen!!!

Lyndsay Picciano
Fairmont Copley Plaza Boston
138 Saint James Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617/867-8525
Fax: 617/437-0794
e-mail: lyndsay.picciano@fairmont.com

Michelle Reid, Vice President of Programs and Community Service

How to Close the Sale in the New Information Economy

By Marc Wayshak

In today’s technology-driven world, information is cheap. The internet has changed everything for prospects. No longer do they need the big sales pitch explaining all of the features and benefits of a product. There’s a website for that—and probably many of them. Prospects are savvier than ever now that they’re armed with so much information. They are also more guarded because of the way sales people have been portrayed over the past 50 years in the media. Finally, prospects are also busier than ever in history—the average corporate employee has well over a full week of work piled up on her desk right now. Times are different in the twenty-first century and sales people must adapt or die.

A sales person’s job now entails helping prospects identify whether they’re the right fit for a particular product or service. Most importantly, the ability to close a sale in today’s economy depends more one’s mindset than his specific closing technique.

Bill was the sales manager at a hotel that struggled with sales despite having an intelligent and charming sales team. The team had been trained by an old-school sales trainer to smile a lot, turn on the charm and give rehearsed pitches based on some preliminary probing questions. The result was that they were simply not closing deals—and the deals they did close were won through very competitive pricing.

Bill didn’t understand what the problem was. His sales people would often get positive feedback from prospects about how they were treated, and people always mentioned how his sales team had “the gift of gab.”

By giving rehearsed sales pitches based on little information, being insincerely smiley and friendly, and trying to persuade prospects rather than understand them, Bill’s sales people were acting like all of the other sales people the prospects had ever met.

It’s not that this stuff is inherently wrong; it’s just extremely common. When the sales people were perceived as like every other sales person out there, they instantly appeared lower value to their prospects.

The New Mindset

In order to close sales in today’s economy, sales people must be different from the rest of the pack. By being authentic and aiming to understand your prospects, you come off as unique from the majority of sales people out there. Think of yourself as a doctor, rather than a sales person.

When you go to the doctor with a problem in your elbow, the doctor doesn’t say “Well, I have a solution for YOU! You are simply going to LOVE this fantastic arthroscopic surgery that we can offer. It is so great!”

That would be ridiculous and insincere, but that is what most sales people are doing right now.

A good doctor asks you where it hurts, what it feels like, and what you’ve been doing that might have caused the pain. Mirror the doctor-patient dynamic in your selling life. Replace all of that enthusiasm with a genuine desire to understand where prospects hurt and determine whether you can help them.

People open up to those that they perceive as a real person that understands them. A connection with a prospect is ultimately created when they feel that you seek to understand their situation.

That is why sales people must change their goal when with prospects. The entire focus of sales meetings must be on the prospect and his situation. This is achieved when you ask questions that begin to dig into where the prospect hurts about his current situation.

For example, rather than begin a sales meeting by talking about the benefits of your product, begin with one of these questions:

1. “Tell me about your challenges with regards to…[your category of service or product]”
2. “Give me an example of that challenge.”
3. “Tell me a little more about [prospects challenge]”

It goes back to that doctor’s mindset. A good doctor will thoroughly examine a patient before telling the patient if there is a solution. Only a quack doctor will offer a solution without identifying the real problem. Sales people must have this same mindset with their prospects. Realistically, about fifty percent of your prospects will not be a good fit for buying from you. This could be for a wide range of reasons from, they don’t need your stuff to they don’t have any money.

Whatever the reason, it is your job to discover as quickly as possible whether they are or are not a fit for you and your company’s product or service by using your doctor’s mindset.

As life has become more complicated, many sales people have sought more complicated solutions to their selling problems. However, the solution is not complicated. In fact, it is as simple as a small shift in mindset.

Vince Lombardi once said, “Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things—blocking and tackling.”

The same is true for selling. By changing your mindset to think more like a doctor, rather than like the traditional sales person, you immediately move into an elite group of sales people that stand out from the pack. This is the difference required to close the sale in the new economy.

 About the Author:

Marc Wayshak is a sales coach and the author of two books on sales and motivation: Game Plan Selling and Breaking All Barriers. He has combined his experience, research and years of training organizations with his deep understanding of sports achievement, as an All-American athlete, to create the revolutionary Game Plan Selling System. Marc has a Master’s degree from University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. For his free sales eBook or to learn more about Marc’s training, coaching and consulting, visit: www.MarcWayshak.com.

2012 has been off to a great start!  The “Feed our Neighbors” program at The Marriott Long Wharf in January was extremely enlightening, and inspired many of our members to get involved in the initiative.  Our joint meeting with ISES New England at Neiman Marcus in February was another great collaboration between the two organizations.

We are looking forward to our student chapter produced meeting in April at the newly renovated Alden Castle by Longwood Events.

The programs committee is currently seeking venues for our meetings on 8/7 (Annual NACE Prom) and 9/4. If you are interested in hosting, please contact Danielle or Maria for details.  We are also still in need of music and floral sponsors throughout the year, please reach out if you are interested in participating!

Danielle: dduane@bostonmagazine.com

Maria: maria@brianphillipsphoto.com

Now that 2012 is in full swing we are looking forward to some great updates with our chapter. I wanted to take a moment to introduce all of our great communications team members and let you know what all of these hardworking ladies are up to:

*Jenna Howard of Rentals Unlimited is our Website Chair (overseeing the website and Facebook). Email her anytime with job openings, exciting announcements etc. that you want to share with your colleagues. Remember to "Like" our NENACE Facebook page for all the latest updates

*Naomi Raiselle of GENERATIONS cinemastories and Diana Hoffman of SD Events are our Co-Chairs for the NENACE Public Relations and will be spearheading the new blog project throughout the 2nd half of the year.

*Dana Siles (Dana Siles Photographer) is our Community Service Chair and she is on a mission to get NENACE on the map for community service giving including the Feeding Our Neighbors Initiative. Check in with her for more details about this amazing project!

*Molly Lanigan of WeddingWire, Inc. is our Newsletter Chair and creates and distributes this newsletter via email quarterly to keep all of our member in the loop of our happenings

*Last but not least - Mara Weiner of Allure Invitations is our new Hospitality Chair. You can find her each month welcoming guests and new members.

 Jill Person, VP of Communications

Jill@PersonKillian.com

NACE/NE COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dear NENACE members and friends,

New England NACE's monthly FUNraisers have supported our neighbors by providing local non-profits with much needed food, books, clothing, household goods and donations from our generous membership. Our upcoming May FUNraiser has special, personal importance to me and I am reaching out to you to help me support The Payton Elizabeth Watson Memorial Foundation.

 I met Payton and her family through my service work with Hasbro Children's Hospital's DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) Program.

One month before her tenth birthday, Payton was diagnosed with Acute Mylogenous Leukemia.  Two years and one day later, less than a month shy of her 12th birthday, Payton lost her battle with this disease. The Foundation was created in her memory, to support the organizations that brought joy to Payton and other children through educational, athletic and art programs for kids with childhood cancer.

Payton's mom will be at our May meeting to talk about the foundation's work and plans for a fundraising event. In advance of that meeting, I am inviting our members to donate a service or product to be auctioned off at the fundraiser. Every single donation matters, no matter how small - whether it's a floral arrangement for someone special, a children's portrait sitting, or a night for 2 at a Boston hotel or restaurant. It is my personal goal to inspire as many contributions to this auction as possible so that we as NENACE can bring our love, our generosity and support to the kids helped by Payton's foundation. Please join me, and if you can, bring a printed or written certificate describing your donation to our May meeting. As we have seen this year, when NENACE members join our hearts and spirits together for a cause, we can make a huge difference!

Feeding Our Neightbors Initiative:

We had an incredible January meeting with Julie S. Nack Locke, Associate Regional Vice President of HelmsBriscoe and Eric Grenfell-Muir of Boston Rescue Mission, on the importance of our Feeding Our Neighbors Initiative. To revisit the informative slideshow presentation, log in as a member and click “Downloads” from the menu bar.

February 9, 2012: NENACE President Lyndsay Picciano, Director of Catering for The Fairmont Copley Plaza, initiated a donation of left over food from a recent event to Boston Rescue Mission. The food, which will be used to feed the hungry in Boston, consisted of 100 plates of food including filet mignon, halibut, and a vegetable medley. These meals go a long way toward our continuing commitment to serve over 120,000 meals per year from BRM's kitchen at a rate of 6 meals per day. The meal served to a hungry person may be the only meal they will have all day. NENACE Feeding Our Neighbors Initiative. GROWING! Way to go Lyndsay and the staff of The Fairmont Copley Plaza Boston.

FUNraisers:

NACE/NE proudly hosts “FUNraisers” at each meeting to support local non-profit organizations. Thank you to everyone who has graciously supported our FUNraisers over the last few months, since our last Newsletter:

December 2011: Starlight Children’s Foundation. Special thanks to our Sponsor, Gretchen Schultz-Ellison of Enchanted Wedding Cakes, who donated a delicious cake to our FUNraiser Drawing winner, John Zucco of Entertainment Specialists (who was nice enough to share with all of us)!

January 2012: Prison Books Program. Thank you to our Sponsor, Dana Siles Photographer, who donated a retouched old family photograph to our FUNraiser Drawing winner, Amanda Utz of Groove Entertaiment.

February 2012: Rosie’s Place. Big thanks to our Sponsor, Brian Phillips Photography, for donating a children’s photography session to our FUNraiser Drawing winner, Howard Boles of Lyrical Edge (member of ISES)!

We are looking for FUNraiser Sponsors to donate your services to the drawing winners!

Light The Night:

January 18, 2012: Naomi Raiselle, Jenna Howard and Dana Siles gladly accepted TEAM NACE's "Best Team Spirit Award" from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's 2011 Light the Night Walk Awards Ceremony! We are gonna ROCK IT AGAIN this year! Mark your calenders: 10.11.12 is our next Light The Night Walk for LLS! The goal: $5,000.

PASS IT ON - NACE/NE Supports WISH UPON A WEDDING BOSTON & NEW ENGLAND: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=241296659231525#!/WishUponaWeddingBoston

Check our NACE/NE FACEBOOK PAGE for regular updates.

Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and support! I am proud to be a part of NENACE!!!

MARCH 20^TH COPY/PASTE/POST THIS NENACE STATEMENT ONTO YOUR FACEBOOK/TWITTER PAGES. :

Let's share our celebrations by promoting the recycling of event food to those around us who are experiencing hunger. Join New England NACE in helping educate venues, caterers, planners, vendors and friends that recycling uneaten food is both sensible, compassionate and carries no liability to donors: http://tinyurl.com/7doenvs

Dana Siles, NENACE Community Service Chair                                             

Email: dana@danasiles.com

Phone: 401.965.4532

Happy Spring to all of our NACE New England Members!  Hopefully the sunshine and beginning of wedding season will help to invigorate our businesses and personal lives.  I was recently invigorated myself when I attended the NACE Leadership Summit on February 17^th, 18^th & 19^th at the Hilton San Jose.  It was great to be in the heart of Silicon Valley and interact with NACE members from all over the country.

I learned some very interesting things while attending the Leadership Summit, the following among them.  Every month you should be receiving a digital copy of the “Catering & Events” newsletter from NACE National.  The subject matter in your email that you receive should look like this “Enjoy your NACE Monthly Newsletter - February 2012”.  If you have not or do not receive this you should contact the fabulous Alicia Crosby at NACE National. Her email is acrosby@nace.net.

When you join NACE you are also privy to many Member Benefits which can be found on the NACE National Website at http://www.nace.net/cs/membership/member_benefits. These benefits include discounts from many companies including Staples, FedEx Shipping and Amazon.com.  NACE members have an all access pass to participate in the monthly members only “Idea Swaps” webinars. Each month, you have the opportunity to discuss issues, share best practices and nationally network with colleagues in your area of interest including Small Business Owners, Event Planners, On-Premise Caterers, Off-Premise Caterers and Event Professionals. You should receive an email each time there is an upcoming Idea Swap but you can find the complete listings on the NACE National site at  http://www.nace.net/cs/events

Lastly, there is still time to nominate yourselves for a local NACE NE Chapter Award.  If I could I would give all of you an award just for being a member of NACE NE however, you can find the award nomination forms on the NACE New England website at www.nacenewengland.com.  You will need to log in so if you cannot remember your NACE member ID please send me an email and I will provide it to you. The local awards are based on the criteria of the NACE National Awards so the is a good opportunity to make the next step in submitting yourself for a national award.

See You At The Next NACE Meeting!

John Zucco

Event Professional Chair

NACE New England

eventpro@nacenewengland.net

*Diana Hoffman has joined the board as PR co-chair

*GENERATIONS cinemastories has launched a new website, blog. As of May we will be taking on a limited number of clients for website design. We are excited to be working with SD Events on the Italian Home Gala - producing a video to be shown at the event at The Fairmont Copley Plaza on April 28. It's a wonderful cause. We are delighted to be adding several non-profit clients to our Spring events.Our studio is now all HD/dslr

*The Fairmont Copley Plaza participated in a large food donation recently. Go FCP!

Happy first day of Spring to Everyone!

Best,

Molly Lanigan Carr, Co-Chair Newsletter

mlanigan@weddingwire.com

Catering Director with ARAMARK (Hartford, CT area)

Description
About ARAMARK

ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. In FORTUNE magazine's 2009 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," ARAMARK was ranked number one in its industry, consistently ranking since 1998 as one of the top three most admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and analysts. ARAMARK seeks to responsibly address issues that matter to its clients, customers, employees and communities by focusing on employee advocacy, environmental stewardship, health and wellness, and community involvement. Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 255,000 employees serving clients in 22 countries. Learn more at the company's Web site, www.aramark.com, or www.twitter.com/aramarknews.


About Higher Education

When it comes to on-campus dining, facilities services, sport arenas and conference center services, ARAMARK is the real head of the class. Partnering with close to 600 colleges and universities throughout the United States, we strive to provide the best residential, retail, and catering options, service and facilities for students, faculty and administrator. Our programs are second to none in their innovation, excellence and results. As part of our commitment, we are determined to build and develop the best team of professionals in the industry - people who aren't afraid of spearheading change and who know how to lead.

ARAMARK Higher Education is searching for a Catering Director with sales experience in the Hartford area. This role is responsible for planning and managing all aspects of a catering operation. Individual is tasked with establishing, maintaining, and driving short and long term strategic and operational plans, while ensuring that all Higher Education catering brand standards and initiatives are consistently achieved.


• Develop and be accountable for a safety culture that creates a work environment where no one gets hurt.
• Supervise total catering operations to include such duties as booking events, supervising sales / support staff, developing, selecting and costing menus, pricing, staff selection / development, and departmental administration.
• Supervise all aspects of preparation, service, and cleanup for catering operations.
• Directly supervise catering staff with responsibility for hiring, training, discipline, communication, performance management, retention, and administration.
• Ensure establishment, communication, and compliance of appropriate sanitation and safety standards.
• Assist with components catering forecasts and develops strategies / plans for achieving, including but not limited to development and implementation of a comprehensive marketing plan with associated collateral.
• Responsible for timely and accurate reporting and communication of all catering related revenue, expenses, and receivables.
• Maintain records to comply with ARAMARK, government, and accrediting agency standards.
• Interact with Client Management and maintains effective client and customer relations at all levels with client organization.
• Will participate in sales process and negotiation of contracts.
• Look for opportunities to implement new products and services to support base business growth and client retention.
• Keep abreast of and advise client, customers, and staff on current catering trends and products.
• Ensure implementation of and adherence to all ARAMARK OpX catering initiatives and guidelines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (and/or requisite industry and management experience).
• Minimum of five years operational experience in hotel/banquet setting required.
• Experience in full life-cycle catering from planning to execution
• Proven ability and experience selling catering services
• Current ServSafe and TIPS/TABS certification required.

To apply please send a word doc resume to:
Ripp Kardon
Kardon-ripp@aramark.com
215-409-7299
Talent Acquisition Manager- ARAMARK Higher Education