The Professional Service Organization That Relied On One Successful Annual Event

Background:

A prominent professional services organization sponsored an annual event in Dallas for the industry.  The event was popular, informative and participants paid to attend the event.  The event was also very profitable.

Discussion at a management meeting:

In attendance were the CEO, CFO, private equity investor and myself, as a consultant.  The investor indicated that it was difficult to understand where the company stood on the special event, which was about three months away.  The CEO and CFO were very uncomfortable and could not explain why the status was not comparable to the last monthly report.

My recommendation:

That the CFO design monthly status reports that take into account KPIs such as attendance and paying sponsorships as well as the accumulation of expected costs and planned costs.   The Investor and CEO readily agreed and directed the CFO to do so going forward.

The lessons learned:

A meeting with a board of directors can be challenging, but it is worthwhile for a formal meeting to do the following:

• Anticipate the board members’ questions.

• Provide information that you would want if you were on the board, including how challenges should be or will be addressed

• Have an agenda prepared to give structure to the meeting.