Successful Meetings: What led you to start site selection firm HelmsBriscoe (HB) in 1992?
Roger Helms: I had been at The Registry in Naples, FL, and we used to retain a firm to extend our marketing reach, but those firms were limited by their lack of product in certain cities. So we wanted to create a company that could always find clients dates, rates, and availability. Now it's 13 years later, and it's been a fantastic ride.
SM: HB currently has over 700 associates in 28 countries. Why do you think HB has been such a success?
Helms: We're a wonderful resource for meeting managers because we free up their time to focus on content and the delivery of the meeting's message. Also, we can offer them the advantage of our volume purchasing, which means better pricing, more lenient contracts, etc.
Also, hoteliers favor us because we provide business they weren't reaching and we save them the cost of setting up sales offices in markets we've penetrated.
Lastly, and probably our biggest strength, we don't change ourselves to suit a client. When a client asks for a service that falls outside the capabilities of a given supplier, many will say, 'Yes we can do that, no problem,' when they really are not the organization to provide that service. That's a recipe for disaster that will ultimately leave the supplier with a big margin of unhappy customers. We know that 90 percent of our business is site-selection/procurement and if someone is looking for assistance with call-centers or registration, there are better places to find solutions to those needs.
SM: What changes have you seen in the hotel industry in the past several years?
Helms: Hotels have become much more accommodating to groups. Leisure business used to be hotels' main focus but group business is back in style. Also, hoteliers are doing a better job of defining their value proposition, in part by creating sub-brands, such as W in the case of Starwood, which has given us the opportunity to better match customer and supplier. And I personally have lost more hair in the past 13 years, but that may not be due to business.
SM: What's changed in terms of destinations?
Helms: It's been pretty consistent in the last five years but I think we're going to see a heightened interest in third-tier markets. They are improving their convention centers—Oklahoma City is a good example—and it's become tough to find bargains in higher-tier markets now that business is back.
SM: What's next for HB, and you?
Helms: We've been blessed with such great growth, we'll just keep doing what we do best. The market continues to expand and the outsourcing side is becoming something that people are more and more intrigued with, thus we have wonderful opportunities. So I'm sticking around.