Laila Rach: As we approach the close of the quarter, what currently occupies your client's thoughts?
Armine Terzyan: Top of everyone's mind right now coming out of Q3 is how do we make sure we're set up for success in ’25. It's reviewing budgets, reviewing finances, reviewing what potential revenue opportunities do we have. Even with three quarters almost down in 2024, it acted very differently from a trend perspective in the group space. We're taking a lot of pause to see how is this different from last year; ’23 and ’22 was a different experience; ’24 is acting a lot like 2019. There's a lot to take out of from a production and booking window timeline.
Karen Richardson: Can you say a little bit more about that? What does that mean like ’19?
Armine: For example, we're seeing great kind of comeback of association business. Corporate came back post-COVID a lot sooner than associations did. Short-term business and ‘in the year, for the year’ when we're looking at what we're booking this year. It's a little bit different in that in ’22 and ’23, we had a lot of availability. We also had a lot of demand for ‘in the year, for the year’ business. It's not the case as much in ’24. It's been great, but it's not to the levels that we originally anticipated budgeting for 2024. Just in the industry overall is just what we're hearing from Clients and Members I serve. So, it's taking a pause to see what is ’25 going to look like. It's like crystal ball of what can the data show us. What can our booking patterns show us to see how we plan for the year ahead and make sure we're ready to serve the clients and groups ahead.
Karen: I am talking to my clients about talent because that's the space I live in. What I would say is probably three main things that people are thinking about with three quarters, almost in the rear-view mirror, and looking forward to the end of this year in ’25. The first is employee burnout. There is concern across the board about employees and their ability to maintain the pace that they have been running at. I often say the treadmill is on high and it keeps speeding up even though it's on high. One of the things people are talking about because of that burnout is upskilling and re-skilling. How can we help employees be broader in their job or maybe work in a different role to give them a little bit of change because often that will help with the burnout and then flexible work. (There are) lots of headlines around CEOs requiring people to come back to work, other companies saying, ‘no, we don't need to come back to work.’ So obviously a little different in these industries that we're talking about today, but outside it is a big topic. All three fall under employee experience and we can talk a little bit about that if we've got time but those three are what my clients are mostly talking about.
Neen James: I'm so glad you said that because I think mine builds on what you're both saying. When I'm working with my CEOs and the leadership teams, what we're really focused on is how do you finish strong in ’24 and this 100-day sprint. That's what my focus is with a lot of my executive teams is we can't stop looking at what we want to do in ’25, but we've got to finish ’24 strong. When I'm working with the sales leadership teams, what we're really looking at is how do we maximize that top tier client out? How are we increasing the revenue from existing clients because I think that is some things that sometimes we overlook in our pursuit of attracting new clientele. We sometimes overlook existing clientele and so that's a strategy that I've been working with many of my leadership teams on. The second part of that in the last 100-day sprint is really paying attention to what matters for the individual within the organization, Karen, exactly what you're talking about, employee experience. So many of our teams are outward focused on the clientele and the great CEOs and their teams are very focused internally on the internal clients being their team members. When it comes to really paying attention, it's paying attention to the health and wellbeing of the internal clients, but also looking at the external clients and making sure we're looking after them in the greatest way.
Laila: What one piece of advice do you have to anybody who listens to this webcast? I remind us all; our practicality is our strength.
Armine: I will share one and that is what I always go back to: What is one less click? Whatever that means to you in your organization, what is one less click you can find to improve your system or your process or your team. What's one less thing … that you can instill that impacts your team's day.
Karen: I would use just one word and that's listen. Of course, that means you probably have to ask, you probably have to act, but just the umbrella of listening, and that can be to your employees, to your peers, to your leader, to your customer. We all have our own points of view, and my point of view can't be wrong, but you have your point of view, which means your point of view can't be wrong. And that's very hard for individuals to kind of get past.
Neen: Challenge leaders to ask themselves how they could elevate everything. The question that they could use is, ‘how could I make this an exceptional experience right now.’ An exceptional experience for an existing client, an exceptional experience for a team member, but what could I do right now to make this an exceptional experience? That would be my challenge to people listening today.
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