Ramping up to attend the WBEC-West 21st Annual Procurement and Awards Conference with Marianne Ellis

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Women in Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Women in Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women in Motion, we have Marianne Ellis with CEO Success Community. Welcome.

Marianne Ellis: Hi, Lee, great to be back.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to get caught up. For those who aren’t familiar, can you share a little bit about CEO Success Community? How are you serving folks?

Marianne Ellis: Well, the way I like to say how we serve folks is we are the source for women and diversity-owned businesses seeking corporate contracts with Fortune 500 companies, which is why it’s perfect that we’re going to talk today about this upcoming September conference.

Marianne Ellis: Our mission, Lee, is to show CEOs the fastest path to increase revenue and growth and through RFPs and corporate contracting, that is a huge way to double and triple your company. We work both for corporations like Southern California Edison, PG&E, and CDW, putting programs together for diverse business owners. I can talk more about that later.

Marianne Ellis: And we also have a CEO Success Community where we have our CEOs work together to grow their business in a mastermind. And also we have about ten intellectual property workshops that have been very successful. And recently we were written up in the billion-dollar roundtable. So, big honor for us in 2024.

Lee Kantor: Now, any advice for other entrepreneurs out there that would like to build a community like you’ve been able to build? Like, is there some kind of things that are must-haves, nice to haves? Like, how would you go about building a community from scratch if you had to?

Marianne Ellis: It’s interesting. How to build a community from scratch, mine really happened organically and it all happened at WBENC West. So WBENC West has a wonderful program called the Platinum Supplier Program. I’m in year ten as a lead coach working with Jaymee Lomax, who is amazing. She’s the VP of WBENC West. Did the program for multiple years. It’s helping diversity-business owners, specifically women, get their capability statement ready.

Marianne Ellis: Capability statement is a like a resume for your business when you’re talking to corporations. And there’s a standard format, and we have a five-week program where we get the women, newly certified women business owners, ready with their capability statement. The story goes, after about two or three years of doing this or when the program ended, Lee, the CEO, said, “Marianne, can we keep working with you?” And I said, “Well, we don’t have a program for that right now.” And they said, “Well, could you create a community where we met monthly, got some more coaching advice since you, you know, were in a $16 billion spend procurement team? You know how the buyers feel. Can we keep working with you?” And here I am seven years later, Lee.

Lee Kantor: So, is that kind of at the heart of it? You have to be useful. You have to have some kind of organic reason for everybody to get together, that it’s a kind of a win-win around.

Marianne Ellis: I think when you think about affinity clubs, you know, whether you’re involved with your college, you know, after you graduate, whether you’re involved with certain charities or different causes that are important to you, it really has to do with being in a community of like-minded individuals and having things in common.

Marianne Ellis: So, what the CEOs and CEO success community have in common is they want to grow their business through RFP and corporate contracting. Some of them do do what we call WBE business owner to business owner contracting. But primarily it’s about RFP and corporate contracting. So they’re all, you know, also trying to run their business. So it’s staffing, it’s insurance, it’s process and procedures. It’s sales and marketing. They all have the same needs. We have a CEO group that’s been meeting on Tuesdays since the very beginning twice a month.

Lee Kantor: So, now if somebody wants to learn more about your community, what’s the best way to get a hold of you or check it out?

Marianne Ellis: I would say go on ceosuccesscommunity.com, like all good websites. Like, I try to do as I coach, make sure that, you know, you check out our website, look at our different programs and there’s a way to respond also on the website.

Lee Kantor: Now, we’re also here to talk about the upcoming 21st Annual Procurement Conference in Vegas in September. What is your take on that? How have you experienced this conference in the past?

Marianne Ellis: Well, first of all, I want to do a shoutout to anybody that’s listening that is a platinum supplier graduate. When you sign up for the conference, please check the box: yes, I’m a PSP graduate.

Marianne Ellis: I am so excited. Now, that we are post-COVID, WBENC West, so that’s Dr. Pamela Williamson and Jaymee Lomax have brought back the in-person platinum supplier showcase. So about 10 or 12 lucky business owners are going to be able to go in front of MGM, Chase, Disney, you know, Amgen, Amazon, and present their company. And what a fantastic opportunity.

Marianne Ellis: So, number one, I want to do a shoutout to the PSP graduates. Make sure that you register for the conference. It’s September 17th to 19th. We’re saying it’s in Vegas, but it’s really at the Westin Lake in Henderson so we’re not on the strip, and it’s going to be the 21st annual conference, and it’s going to be amazing. There’s going to be matchmakers, there’s going to be roundtables, there’s going to be cornhole playing with corporations. So if you haven’t registered for the conference, make sure you do so before it gets closed out and full up.

Lee Kantor: Now, the theme this year is amplify your success. Do you have any tips for conferencegoers when it comes to amplifying their success?

Marianne Ellis: Absolutely. I do a program right now that is sponsored by CDW. They are amazing WBENC Corporation. I think they’re a Fortune – they’re within the Fortune 40. And I take 15 business owners to the conference. So this is definitely my sweet spot. And to anyone that’s listening, I wanted to give you what I call my six top tips.

Lee Kantor: So I’ll go as long as you want, Lee, and then feel free to interrupt me. I would say tip number one, read the WBENC West Conference website three times and look for prospect names and conference opportunities. I’ll give you some hints if you’re listening. There’s a lunch on Wednesday where WBEs, business owners, can have an expo table. Now, unlike nationals, this is only going to be the WBE, the women business owners, are going to be tabling, and the corporations are going to have an opportunity to stop by your table. And you can also invite them. So if you look at the website and you check that on sign up, that’s important.

Marianne Ellis: Number two, there is a breakfast Thursday morning, a pitch competition. So, get your 60-second pitch ready and you’re going to pitch at the table. And then you’ve got to win your table. And then you go up on stage. And when you go up on stage, you’ll again have a chance to pitch your business.

Marianne Ellis: Also, when you read the conference website very carefully, which is tip number one, you’ll see that Amazon is listing their sourcing opportunities, but you’ve got to apply by August 19th, so don’t miss that.

Marianne Ellis: Two more things. WBENC West and Jaymee Lomax are having pre-conference training on August 9th and August 27th. Plus, you can sign up for the cornhole competition. You want to do that. It was a lot of fun when WBENC did this before and you get partnered with corporations.

Marianne Ellis: So, tip number one, Lee, read the conference website. Look at the prospect names, and the corporations that are going to be there. I also have the list of all the corporations that I saw on the sponsorship page that I can share with our listeners. As well as if you look at the pitch competition, they list their name and their company name. So, you can learn so much by – don’t give the website short shrift. Make sure that you read it three times. That’s tip number one out of six. Back to you, Lee.

Lee Kantor: And this is one of those things where, sure, it’s in Vegas, sure, you’re going to be at a nice hotel and resort, but you have to do some pre-work if you want to wring out the most value. Right? You wouldn’t just show up here and think like, oh, I’ll just figure it out when I get there. How hard could it be?

Marianne Ellis: So, okay, you are teeing me up perfectly, Lee. So tip number two, if you’re new at this, target three to five businesses. If you’re experienced, target eight to ten. What do I mean by that?

Marianne Ellis: So, when I talk about targets – this is going to surprise some of your listeners. The first thing you should do is thank your current clients. When I was at an event last week, that was a real fun one in Newport that WBENC West did. We got to network on a boat. The first thing I did was thank my current clients, Southern California Edison. So, shoutout to Gloria and William. They were there. So, that’s number one. Find out which of your current clients are going and put them on your list.

Marianne Ellis: Number two, you want to think about new business. So when you think about targeting new business, you want to look at the corporation category. Like, what industry are you an expert in? Are you an expert in utility, banking, pharma? And then put them on the list.

Marianne Ellis: And then I also say when you pick your three to five, definitely do your homework, what’s important to that corporation and how can you be of service and help. Do they have some new construction happening? Do they have a new product launch? What role can you play and how are you better than their current incumbent?

Marianne Ellis: There is a third group when you make your targeting list, I want to remind you. Don’t forget to thank the WBENC West team. So, definitely you don’t need to include them in your 3 to 5, or 8 to 10. But I would definitely make sure to connect with them.

Marianne Ellis: And I also say take a look at the sponsor page. So again, if you’re listening, here’s the sponsors I saw: MGM, Chase, Aflac, SoCal Gas, SRP, Disney, Banner Health, SCE, Sony, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, ASU, Amazon, Intel, Amgen, Caesars, Metropolitan Water Bank of America. So are any of those corporations ones that you have experienced with their industry, or are they current clients that you should check in with? Definitely, do your homework before you come to the conference so that you have your conference offer. Or what is it that your company can do to help that corporation? So tip number two, make sure to target your top 3 to 5 targets if you’re new at conferencing, or 8 to 10 if you’re experienced, and be conference ready.

Lee Kantor: Now, we’re talking obviously a lot about the conference and how to kind of get the most value from it. How do you handle the follow-up after the conference? You go to the conference, you have your list, you go through, you meet these people. How are you kind of elegantly following up with the folks you met throughout the year? Because you don’t want an event like this that you put this much time, energy, and resource in to just be that event. Like, you don’t want it to end there. You need kind of the relationships to kind of build over time. So how were you kind of doing follow-up where you’re staying top of mind?

Marianne Ellis: I’m so glad you asked that question because 50% of those that attend the September conference in Vegas for WBENC West will do absolutely nothing. According to the National Sales Association, over 50% of people that go to conferences or in sales never follow up, and it can take 5 to 12 meaningful interactions to win a relationship with a corporation to get in there for an RFP invitation.

Marianne Ellis: So, what I recommend is that you have your follow-up ready before you go so that all you have to do is fine-tune it once you learn more about the company, either in your one-on-one conversation or if they’re presenting at all at conference. So, that was going to be my suggestion number five. So we got through two.

Marianne Ellis: I’ll go down to number five, which is, be ready with outreach before you go. So you want to send out emails, LinkedIn messaging before you go to conference with those connections that you have that you know they’re going to be there and you want to up your posting on LinkedIn. That’s pre.

Marianne Ellis: During, you want to reach out to them to connect for coffee or a drink or a meal.

Marianne Ellis: And then post, you want to request a 15-minute introductory follow-up. Or if they specifically asked for something, you can follow up with that, but I would have this all pre-written before you go to conference. So in terms of outreach, I always say be ready with your drip five-plus program. And it has everything to do with pre, during, and post-outreach.

Lee Kantor: And like you said, you can get like 80-90% of that done before the conference. Like, you could be working on that today.

Marianne Ellis: You’ll be exhausted. There was actually a very impressive diversity-business owner. We were at a conference. I was talking to a corporation. They had asked for something and she emailed it that day right back. And when I looked at, because they shared with me what they had received in my mind but I didn’t say it out loud, a lot of that was pre-written. So, absolutely, you know what your company does best and how you help your current clients, be ready to express that when you go back and talk to the companies you just met.

Lee Kantor: Now, is WBEC-West doing anything to help, maybe before the conference to get ready? Is there going to be any type of education to help prepare a conferencegoer, you know, to help them kind of get the most out of it? Is there any webinars or anything like that?

Marianne Ellis: Absolutely. Jaymee Lomax is going to have her amazing pre-conference training on August 9th and August 27th. I want to tell you, I am uber-experienced and I have already signed up for 08/09 and 08/27 for her conference training because each conference brings something new and it’s really important that you listen to part one and part two. And just again, it’s about a month prior to the conference, so you still have plenty of time to take what you learn and apply it for your company.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned you’re a veteran and you’ve been to, you know, more than one of these things in the past. Are there any highlights or anything memorable about any of the conferences in the past you’d like to share?

Marianne Ellis: I have a couple of quick stories because it’s their success stories, and we always love success stories. So, when we were in Denver, which was the last national conference, one of the business owners had really highlighted their keywords, which is so important in corporate contracting. Keywords is like, that’s the menu, that’s what they’re sourcing and shopping. And she had highlighted her keywords, and I was physically standing there when the corporate said, “I am sourcing that. You do that. Let’s sit down. I want to talk to you about an upcoming RFP.”

Marianne Ellis: Wow! She didn’t even have to do a 15-minute introduction. Her keywords did that. And I know that WBENC-West has a monthly keyword training. I would definitely recommend that you check that out on their website, which is wbec-west.com. If you go into the calendar, they monthly talk about keywords.

Marianne Ellis: A second great story is a business owner had really prepared themselves, and they were able to show to a corporation a problem on their website, which they could fix immediately for them, and they immediately got a purchase order. It was amazing. This corporation was so grateful. And they said, “You know, we have all these suppliers and you’re not even one of them. And you spot and you saw a problem on our website.” And rather than just pointing out the problem, they quickly had the solution and they immediately got a purchase order for that. Wow!

Marianne Ellis: Now, most of the time, as we like to remind everybody, it can take 18 to 24 months to get a contract with a corporation going through the RFP process. But they also have discretionary spend. Many corporations, Lee, can – they can do a purchase order for under 50,000. Some corporations it’s even higher. And they – again, if you’re what you do, your service is below their threshold, they could even pay you on a credit card. It’s called the p-card.

Marianne Ellis: So, sometimes that magic happens where you get invited to an RFP right at the conference. Or the even rarer one is you get a purchase order right at the conference. But I have seen it with my own eyes happen.

Lee Kantor: And it’s one of those things that those weren’t just random, pure luck. I mean, there was a lot of preparation that allowed them to be lucky at the right time.

Marianne Ellis: What do they say? It’s like hard work is how luck happens. Both of these business owners, both women, had worked very, very hard. And the woman who had worked on the keyword, she had really fine-tuned them. So the minute that these corporations saw her keywords, they were like, yep, that’s what I need. Or nope, that’s not what I need. And the other business owner, she was a very experienced conferencegoer so she went to that 8 to 10 level of preparation. And the corporation that, you know, she had taken a look at these 8 to 10 corporations and were looking for any flaws or problems. Her area was website, Ux/UI.

Lee Kantor: Now, you’ve mentioned so many things that are obviously valuable to growing a person’s business. But part of this conference is kind of building relationships and nurturing existing relationships. Are there things that you’re going to be doing or looking forward to maybe that aren’t the hardcore business stuff but it’s more the fun, friendly build rapport and build and deepen relationship stuff that you’re looking forward to?

Marianne Ellis: I think you have the right spirit, Lee. Absolutely. I always say in my area of must-do’s, yes, we all need to have a conference checklist, and we can talk about that in a minute. But I think the most important thing you need to pack before you go to the September conference in Vegas, you need to pack the right attitude. And what I mean by that is this is not the hard sell time. Nobody likes to be hustled. You don’t like to be hard sold when you walk into a store or you meet people.

Marianne Ellis: So, this is really relationship building, getting to know people as human beings because we all are human beings, having a lot of respect. So, I always say relationship and respect come before revenue. If you put revenue first and you don’t build that relationship and respect, it’s never going to happen. I also think what’s really important besides, you know, having a conference checklist and packing the right attitude, I also think you need to live in the moment.

Marianne Ellis: And that’s one of my favorite parts, is I can plan and plan and plan and so can the CEOs I work with but opportunity will find you if you are open. If you have your head in your playbook or your head in your phone or your head in your notes, a terrific opportunity could pass right by you. My favorite story in that area was they had meet and greets at one conference, and there was this one corporation sitting all by themselves because everybody rushes, you know, to the, you know, the Amazon table or the Disney table.

Marianne Ellis: But they were sitting all by themselves and one business owner said, you know what? I’m not going to rush where the crowds are. I’m going to go to this individual person and create a relationship. They now have a contract with that corporation. They got the full one-on-one time with this company. So, sometimes it’s good to go where others are not. Sometimes it’s good to say hello to somebody standing by themselves. You have an opportunity to have a one-on-one. And it’s also great to make relationships with other business owners. And that’s your network.

Marianne Ellis: Jaymee Lomax is famous for her saying, HASU, which is hook a sister up. So all the time, if I meet a corporation, I ask them what they’re sourcing. I just recently did that when I was in Newport, and I heard that one company is looking for electricians and people who can do more, you know, residential, commercial repairs. So, I’m going to look into the business owners I know and refer them.

Marianne Ellis: So, yeah, I think you have to – that’s to me the spontaneous – sort of spontaneous things that happen. And that’s a really big part of having all the preparation but living in the moment.

Lee Kantor: And that’s what’s so magical about these in-person conferences. It’s hard to duplicate that virtually. And so when you have the opportunity to be in-person and meet face-to-face with folks you might have been on a Zoom with, it really becomes magical. And you can really accelerate relationships in this environment.

Marianne Ellis: I would also – to the listeners if anyone gets to Vegas and starts to panic or gets confused, I think we, you know, come by my table. Just take a break and come by my – I’m in a table. I have a CEO Success Community table. Just come by and say, you know, or if you have a question or if there’s something I can do to help you, you know, just know that there’s a lot of us that have been doing this for a while and we’re always willing to help other business owners.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned this checklist. Do you got any checklist information to share?

Marianne Ellis: So in terms of the checklist, I’ll go through a couple of things that I would like everyone to keep in mind that they should have prepared. First thing is business cards. And make sure your business cards have plenty of white space so the corporates can write notes. Don’t have those cards that you can’t write on or all-colored front and back. But, you know, we do want to be more sustainable. We do want to be digital. So I always say bring a digital card and a hard, you know, regular card.

Marianne Ellis: Capability statements. I think it’s good to bring a few – they may not want to walk away with it, but at least it can anchor a conversation. QR code is another thing that a lot of corporations like. Again, if you’re doing your table, you want to bring whatever signage you need for your table or giveaways.

Marianne Ellis: I also think on that checklist, you want to make sure that you pack comfortable shoes and clothes that you’ve worn before. Don’t run out and buy new stuff. Make sure it’s comfortable.

Marianne Ellis: You’re using your phone a lot during the day, so bring a battery. And, you know, some people are more on their phone versus notepad.

Marianne Ellis: You definitely want to check your website and your LinkedIn before you go. And matter of fact, you may want to announce on LinkedIn that you’re going to be there because there’ll be a lot, a lot of other business owners there. But also think about your email signature.

Marianne Ellis: I also think on your checklist, it’s good to have a group, kind of a gang, that maybe you’re in a group chat so you don’t feel like you’re all alone. We talked about your homework on your top, whether you’re doing 3 to 5 if you’re new prospects, or 8 to 10 if you’re experienced. I think those are the big things.

Marianne Ellis: And then, like Lee and I talked about earlier, you know, get that prospect outreach program ready. So when you get back, you can just change a few things and then follow up. So, that would be my checklist.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And a great place to start is the WBEC-West website. That’s W-B-E-C, hypen, W-E-ST, dot com. Go there. You can sign up for those webinars, which I think are really important, and that’s going to be happening, you know, several weeks before the event so it’s important to kind of just dip your toe in and just start to meet some of the folks that are going to be there and that can be helpful.

Marianne Ellis: I also think that messaging is really important, Lee. So I do want to remind everybody, take a look at the messaging on your website.

Lee Kantor: And then, so, the messaging and the website, and then you mentioned the email signature in any way you’re communicating probably on social media as well. Right?

Marianne Ellis: To really get a Word document and introduce yourself in 20 words. That’s about 10 seconds and that’s about all you can hear if you’re online. And then if you’re doing an expo table, I’d have a 30-second introduction, which is about 75 words.

Marianne Ellis: So, I also think there is a preparation. And then I would practice. Practice with your family, practice with your employees, practice with your friends. Make sure that once you socially introduce yourself, you’re someone that they’d like to continue to talk to, not run away.

Marianne Ellis: And, for the expo table, or if you get a longer period of time with the corporation, you know, what is your 30-second introduction? Your elevator pitch, if you know what I mean. So, I think messaging is important, and I think being short to the point and succinct.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, absolutely. And, Marianne, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom today. It’s so important for folks. If someone wants to connect with you, one more time, your website for SEO Success Community.

Marianne Ellis: It’s www.ceosuccesscommunity.com. And I’ll also be there, helping with Jaymee Lomax with the platinum supplier in-person showcase. So, yeah, year ten working for WBENC West in this area is such a joy. And again, if I can help anyone, please come and seek me out at the conference. And hopefully, I’ll see you at the training on August 9th and August 27th.

Marianne Ellis: My last fast piece of advice, my iPhone is my secret weapon at the conference, so come by my table and ask me about that.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, Marianne, thank you so much for sharing your story and for all those tips. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Marianne Ellis: Thank you. And thank you to WBENC West. We owe so much to WBENC West, Dr. Pamela Anderson – Dr. Pamela Williamson – I love that – Jaymee Lomax, as well as Tera Jenkins. We also have Heather who’s on board, and Ella, I mean, Maria. There’s a whole great team behind WBENC West and we really appreciate all of them. So, thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women in Motion.