Coach your C-suite and prepare your story
‘It’s all about preparation – and practice, practice, practice,’ says T+L’s Christopher Agnew on what goes into a successful investor day.
From coaching on presentation style to running through the Q&A multiple times beforehand and carrying out a full dry run before the event itself, Agnew, eDreams ODIGEO’s David de la Roz Fernandez, StarHub’s Amelia Lee and Mary Winn Pilkington of Tractor Supply Co all talk about the various methods they employ in preparing for an investor day.
While top management is a given, these events are also an opportunity to bring out a deeper bench of management figures – some of whom might not be accustomed to talking to the investment community. And who you bring out depends on the story driving the event.
It’s all about preparation – and practice, practice, practice
‘You’re always going to have your CEO or CFO but, outside of those, it depends on what story you’re trying to tell,’ says Pilkington. ‘Over the last few years, supply chain has been such a huge topic of concern. As a retailer, distribution is so important to us and we’re investing in our distribution centers so we would always make sure we had our executive vice president of supply chain present, as an example.’
It’s not all about presentations, however. At Tractor Supply’s big Nashville investor day, Pilkington says the firm had investors and analysts walk through its store, meet vendors, attend a concert and sit in on a motivational talk for staff. It also held a dinner that was a big hit.
‘We had 30+ officers of the company attend and they were on rotation during dinner,’ she recalls. ‘Investors and the sell side stayed in their seats and, with each course, the most senior Tractor Supply person at that table rotated to another, so that every table had some time with management. That was something we got really great feedback on.’
