A major reason business owners join the Chamber is to market their products and services. The Meet the Purchasers program provides an opportunity for Chamber members to meet with purchasing agents from large companies and governmental agencies to learn what they buy locally and their bidding and purchasing procedures.
It’s an excellent marketing and direct sales event for business owners, sales and marketing professionals, and business development staff.
NEXT EVENT!
Meet the Purchasers events will be held on:
- June 10, 2008
- Aug. 12, 2008
- Nov. 18, 2008
How Meet the Purchasers works:
Each attending company may send as many representatives as it wishes. The event begins with each purchasing representative providing a five-minute overview describing what the company does, what it purchases locally, and its means of interacting with potential vendors. (How does it offer bids? Is it online? Does it prefer to pay for small jobs with credit cards? Do vendors have to qualify, etc?)
After the presentations, attendees take turns talking with the purchasers of their choice. They have the opportunity to network with the purchasing representatives and among themselves.
The Chamber provides table space for each company to display business cards and a marketing piece.
Remember to bring plenty of business cards and marketing materials!
Check our monthly Focus newsletter or our Calendar of Events for upcoming sessions.
Testimonials
“The Meet the Purchasers event is a great opportunity to meet buyers face-to-face. These organizations seem to be sincere in their desire to do business with local solutions providers. As a small, locally based, minority-owned information technology consulting company, we're always looking to do business with these larger and more well-known organizations. Also, I really enjoy chatting with other sellers while waiting to speak to the buyers ... I usually get a few solid leads just from that!”
Bob Casey, Sales Manager, WorkSmart
“Large companies are sometimes difficult to penetrate. The Meet the Purchasers program is a great avenue for accessing those companies. It gives all of us a chance at one-on-one time with a buyer that we might not have had otherwise.”
Kim Roberts, Snelling Personnel Services