The Summit gave us focused time with providers we had never met

“The Summit gave us focused time to get to know providers we might not have otherwise met. We now have an ongoing relationship with a provider that Marcus Evans introduced us to” said Larry Pociask, Vice President, Tax & Treasury, Primient, a delegate at the Marcus Evans Tax Officers Summit.

What new business opportunities has the Summit brought your way?

It has provided access to new and different providers that we wouldn’t have normally met. They provided ideas, opportunities and projects we wouldn’t have thought of ourselves. For example, tax credit syndication, which we had very limited exposure to prior to the Summit. We evaluated and partnered with a number of the providers, one of which is a boutique firm that we have an ongoing relationship with.

Did you know those providers already?

No, I had no relationship with them before attending the Summit.

If they had approached you directly, would you have still ended up partnering?

Probably not. I receive many cold calls and I rarely pursue them, unless I happen to be looking for that particular service at that point in time. The nice thing with the Summit is that if you go into it with the right mindset, you can identify new initiatives or uncover risks that might not have otherwise been on your radar. With a cold call, that is typically not the case.

Is it usually a tough process to get through your door?

Yes. There are only so many hours in the day, and we want to make sure we are working with experts in the field, firms with a good reputation that will produce quality work. Cold calls alone aren’t good enough to get over that hurdle. It is easy to get intelligence about the big accounting and law firms, but Marcus Evans introduces us to firms where information is less available. That is where the Summit plays a great role. We have a 30-minute meeting with them, and two days to network.

Is the 30-minute one-on-one meeting format an efficient way to meet different providers?

It is a great start. In a short period of time, both parties can figure out if it is worth having another conversation and exploring the relationship further, or if there’s no fit. It works very well.

How would you compare Marcus Evans Summits with other industry events?

The quality of attendees is very strong. The format is unique, compared to other events. The content of the presentations is useful. Other events just don’t work in the same way. The peer-to-peer interactions and networking opportunities are very valuable to me.

 Find out more about the upcoming Tax Officers Summit.