2021 Travel Plans Starting Off Strong
Logging More Air Miles in 2021
In June, I wrote the blog, "Pivoting: Selling Northeast Indiana During COVID-19".
I ended that blog with the following remarks, “It’s officially June, and I am back in the office. I am not sure what the next 7 months look like, quite frankly, no one does. But what I do know is the resilience of our business development team is unmatched, and we will continue to pivot as to not allow our momentum to slow. In the words of John Sampson, “Onward!”
It was four months later in October when our business development team took our first trip since early March. We went to Atlanta, and this trip was carefully calculated by our team at the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and consultation with a number of site consultants and brokers in Atlanta.
We invited consultants and brokers to attend one of three dining meeting opportunities. Each restaurant had policies in place to maximize social distancing, and we would limit the number of attendees. During our two-day trip, we communicated with 25 consultants or brokers, including face-to-face meetings with 15 individuals. Overall, the trip was highly successful and well-received.
We decided to replicate our success in Atlanta to a trip to Dallas in early December. Over the course of two days, we met with 10 individuals in-person and connected with 30 consultants in total. In the spirit of collaboration, two of the region's local economic development leaders joined the trip as well.
As we launched into 2021, it's clear this year is a bit different for our travel plans. So far, we traveled on a sales trip to Nashville and will be in Tampa by the end of February. Our team continues to proactively communicate with consultants and companies about the benefits of doing business here, virtually. We attend conferences and webinars on nearly a weekly basis and continue to enhance our internal selling points and external marketing materials.
Selling Northeast Indiana globally in 2021 is still unique due to the challenges of the pandemic, but the lessons learned from 2020 have given us great understanding and confidence as we work to reach our 2021 goals.
