Synergy hosted 62 members for its 2023 Sales and Marketing Forum, May 21-23 at the Westin hotel in Indianapolis. This year's session featured large group discussions and small peer-to-peer breakouts.

The Sales and Marketing Forum started with a workshop on Spacious Productivity with Jason Henkel, founder and chief balance engineer, Focus to Evolve. Henkel first shared some of the science behind why humans aren't very good at multitasking and then showcased his strategies on how he gets more meaningful things done in less time. He showed attendees architectural calendaring, how to process their emails, and how to set up tasks within Outlook.

"This was really informative and eye-opening to the functionality of Outlook and brain chemistry," said Michael Shibata, estimator, Oahu.

After Henkel's workshop, attendees discussed the importance of diversifying client bases for long-term sustainability while considering their company's ideal client profile. Members shared insights on their best clients, explored common challenges and needs that each vertical market has, and talked about the significance of identifying clients that may not align with their business objectives.

"Having everyone’s input and ideas is key to success," said April Hollis, business development recruiter, Storer Services. "Every company has things they focus on and are maybe better at than the next. It’s good to be able to gain those tactics and share as a group of peers."

After lunch, members talked about how they're growing their client base through prospecting, networking, and referrals. Attendees said they are persistently addressing customer pain points and taking unconventional approaches to stand out, such as leaving business cards inside pizza boxes or empty shoeboxes. Networking efforts outside industry groups and participating in boards of directors were also highlighted as effective strategies for securing significant projects and raising one's status within an organization.

The last topic of the day was on marketing and social media best practices with Allison Rodgers, sales and marketing director, Synergy Solution Group, who encouraged members to think about social media as another way to network and a great place to share success stories with team members, current clients, and prospects.

"This was an eye opener about social media and the importance of networking and posting on social media platforms," said Mike Johnson, service solution specialists, Mechanical Services & Design.

On day, two Jim Bartolotta, managing partner, Synergy, kicked off the day by introducing the group sales activity, "Creating your Why and Closing the Sale." Each table was given an RFP opportunity in one of three vertical markets. They then had a clarification call with their client so they could uncover pain points to develop their proposal. Each table competed against two other tables to "win the business" through a presentation. After all the presentations, each vertical "client" awarded a winner. The sales mentors, who served as the clients in this group activity, then shared their thoughts on areas for improvement and gave specific feedback as to why they selected the winner.

"I found this morning's 'Creating Your Why and Closing the Sale' group activity to be quite insightful and engaging," said Matt Reynolds, BIM manager, JM Brennan. "I appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with my fellow group members and bounce ideas off of one another. The exercises we did really helped me to solidify my understanding of the importance of having a strong why when it comes to sales and how to effectively communicate that to potential customers."

After lunch, attendees talked about how they're handling objections. Jared Pourroy, service client executive, Baker Group, shared the company's Customer for Life Philosophy, and members shared how they're nurturing and building long-term client relationships in small groups.

The session ended with each attendee writing down his or her action plan, listing the goals they intend to implement when they return home.

“This was the best informative conference I’ve been to in my 32 years in the HVAC industry," said Mario Navarro, Miura Steam Boilers, outside sales rep., Five Star Mechanical. "The best part was growing the relationships with others here. I can’t wait to learn more at the next one.”