Meeting Specialists Take the Chaos out of Last-minute Check-in

As an event planner, you’re a multi-tasker, do-it-yourselfer, master of details. And we can totally relate. Created by a certified meeting planner over 30 years ago, pc/nametag not only offers the convenience of customized name tags and registration products, but we also understand your specific needs and provide the best advice possible – before, during and after the big day. Jessica O’Dell is a pc/nametag customer service manager who co-leads our staff of 21 meeting specialists. She emphasizes how they immerse themselves in the particulars of our products and services well before talking to customers on the phone or via live chat. “Once customers call, our goal is to learn as much as we can about their company and the events they are having by asking the right questions,” she explains. Jessica monitors calls and emails to ensure the meeting specialists are providing the best possible service with every interaction. She also assists with any problem orders to make sure resolutions are handled quickly. Jessica, who has worked in sales or customer service most of her life beginning with her parents’ grocery store at 13, believes it’s much more about relationships than it is about selling. “Anybody can sell a product.  But you need to be a certain kind of person to care about a customer’s needs and then have a conversation about what they’re looking for. I think that’s what we do really well. We’re not just selling them something, we’re engaging with them and providing solutions,” she says. It’s not uncommon for pc/nametag to pinch hit for a planner who’s having problems printing name tags on-site and their event starts early the next morning. We’ll take their artwork and attendee list, print and assemble their name tags and ship them directly to the venue. There are also those times when a customer calls stating they received a lanyard from their sponsor only to find out that the attachment is not compatible with their name tags. We’ll either guide them to a different lanyard or offer a new holder to work with what they have. A subset of our meeting specialists, the production artists also spend a lot of time working with customers on proofs of their customized lanyards or name tags to make sure the artwork prints well and results in the best branding opportunity possible. They’ve even gone the extra mile and produced physical samples just to make sure the final product meets pc/nametag standards and more importantly, those of the customer. Jessica is constantly amazed by how creative our customers are when it comes to designing their own name tags and lanyards. Our stack-a-ribbon® awards are a perfect example. Worn below a name tag, these packable little messengers are so popular, pc/nametag hosts a badge title contest each year with customers in celebration of National Badge Ribbon Day. Totally tongue-in-cheek, they are the perfect ice-breakers at events. Jessica delights in the unusual requests the meeting specialists have received during her nine years with pc/nametag; everything from badges for Doctor Who conventions or Comic Cons (she admits she didn’t completely understand), to a lanyard pc/nametag supplied with a tequila-filled skull-shaped flask dangling from it. “The best part of my job is listening to the conversations between our customers and the specialists. We must adapt to every call that comes in, because a customer having a 50^th class reunion is going to be a lot different than someone ordering for a convention with 5,000 attendees. It certainly keeps things interesting.” To learn more, visit www.pcnametag.com