Schedule

Schedule

Wednesday, January 12

1:00 pm—5:00 pm

MBNA Board of Trustees Meeting
(by invitation only)

Atlantic

Thursday, January 13

7:30 am—5:00 pm	Registration Open	Grand Ballroom Reg Area
8:30 am—8:40 am	Welcome Remarks Ryan P. Worthington, CM, AICA Worthington Monuments, Inc	Harborside Ballroom
8:40 am—9:40 am	Sales: A Bulletproof Selling Approach Doug Lotierzo Neuberger and Company, Inc., Baltimore, MD Growing sales can be a challenging undertaking, especially in today’s global market with highly self-educated prospects. Whether you are charged with managing a team or closing business yourself, there are hundreds of potential pitfalls, including self-limiting beliefs, the challenges presented by your prospects, the marketplace, and, of course, your competition. In this training, we will discuss a different selling approach that will put you one step ahead of your prospects. Topics covered include: The importance of an effective selling system How to avoid the perception of a salesperson and built rapport Your value proposition and questioning strategies Uncovering the prospect’s budget Identifying the prospect’s decision-making process Closing the sale and setting up clear next steps
9:40 am—10:00 am	Break
10:00 am—11:00 am	Perception Is the Only Reality Donald B. Calhoun, CM Create a Legacy, Richmond, MN The harsh reality is that consumers determine their perception of you and your business. This does not always align with your reality. You may think you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, only to find out they are allergic to wheat. Consumers make judgments about you and your company very quickly, and you are the primary reason they buy or don’t buy. This seminar has the potential to dramatically increase the success of your business, provided you are hungry enough to learn how to improve the key value factors in how consumers judge you.
11:00 am—11:20 am	Break
11:20 am—12:20 am	Finance/Benchmarking Nancy Geary, CPA, CLFP ECS Financial Services, Northbrook, IL
12:20 pm—2:00 pm	Lunch (on own)
2:00 pm—3:00 pm	TBD
3:20 pm—4:20 pm	Operational Excellence: Building an Excellent Business Doug Lotierzo Neuberger and Company, Inc., Baltimore, MD As a business leader, it can be difficult to see your blind spots, especially if you’re too busy fighting fires on a daily basis and/or most of the business falls on your shoulders. In this training, we will focus on providing business leaders with a clear process to create a strategic growth plan to continually work on their business instead of in their business and take control of where their business is going. This is only for attendees who have a desire to grow and have an interest in understanding the ideal framework from which to build a healthy business. Topics include Sandler’s 6 P’s from the Organizational Excellence Process: Planning Positions People Process Performetrics Passion

Friday, January 14

7:00 am—6:00 pm	Registration Open	Grand Ballroom Reg Area
7:00 am—9:00 am	Manufacturers and Suppliers Table Top set up	Grand Ballroom
8:00 am—9:30 am	CYA (Cover Your…Advocacy) Poul Lemasters, Esq. Lemasters Consulting, Cincinnati, OHWhen it comes to advocacy, many people think of supporting, promoting, or even defending a cause. In fact, it’s hard to talk about advocacy without a discussion on politics and lobbying. But advocacy has many layers and effective advocacy must include organizing, educating, and communicating. For monument builders, there is a variety of issues that are specific to their day-to-day practice, and to implement effective advocacy it is critical to cover all these layers.This session will not only look at the issues, but will specifically identify how to organize, educate, and communicate the issues. Overall, the session will: Provide an in-depth look at restraint of trade and unreasonable practices, including laws and cases that have defined these issues. Educate on the regulatory agencies that oversee these issues, as well as how to communicate with them. Identify effective communication tools with all the parties involved, form the consumer to the regulators, and of course the deathcare providers too. And, if it all goes bad, provide a conflict resolution plan to resolve an issue.	Harborside Ballroom
10:00 am—Noon	Exhibits Open	Grand Ballroom
Noon—1:30 pm	Lunch (MBNA Business Meeting & Awards)	Harborside Ballroom
1:30 pm—4:00 pm	Exhibits Open	Grand Ballroom
5:00 pm—6:00 pm	Manufacturers & Suppliers Reception Hosted by Mid-Atlantic Committee Members and MBNA Board Members (by invitation only)	Grand Foyer West
6:00 pm—7:00 pm	Welcome Reception	Grand Ballroom
	Dinner on your own
7:30 pm	New York State Monument Builders Association Dinner (by invitation only)

Saturday, January 15

8:00 am—4:00 pm	Registration Open	Grand Foyer West
9:00 am—Noon	Exhibits Open	Grand Ballroom
	Lunch on your own
1:00 pm—4:30 pm	Exhibits Open	Grand Ballroom
5:30 pm—6:30 pm	Closing Reception	Harborside Ballroom Foyer
	Dinner on your own