by Michael F. Bourke
Are you stuck in the tradeshow rut, spending most of your time chatting to your neighboring exhibitor, catching up on your voicemails and wondering if there are potential leads wandering past your booth? Do you find yourself doubting if all of the time and expense you put in to exhibiting at trade shows is worth it? Is the only reason you are there because you want to support your local sales rep or because you fear your ‘noticed absence’ will hurt your reputation? I want to let you in on something – trade shows are an extremely valuable opportunity to strengthen existing customer relationships and to bring in quality new leads – but you only get out of a tradeshow what you put in!
Fishin’ without bait…
If you think all you need to do is turn up to the show with your booth and literature and the leads will flow in, you’re dreamin’…. This is like fishing without bait. You may be extremely lucky and hook an unsuspecting fish passing by but… more than likely you will have plenty of time to get to know your neighboring booth buddies and keep on top of your emails. And you are not the only one in the boat. At most regional water industry shows that I go to, I hear the same complaint from my fellow exhibitors …the show was dead… the organizers didn’t do enough to get people into the hall…there were too many competing events….we had a horrible spot in the hall...” So you think all you have to do is pay for your booth space and you should be guaranteed a flood of quality visitors to your booth?” If that is the case, save your money and don’t bother exhibiting!
In contrast, my booth neighbors will say to me “Wow you sure had a lot of traffic at your booth…you’ve hardly had time to blink!” These neighbors have also made the aforementioned complaints when I have been located in the same dead spot in the hall! So how did I get that much traffic when all the booths around me were dead? There are a number of reasons, including having an eye-catching display and planning activities during the show to direct people to your booth, but by far the biggest factor in generating traffic to you booth is pre-show marketing! I cannot emphasize enough the importance of putting in some effort before the show to draw people to your booth. If you don’t have time to do this don’t go! Here are a few suggestions for pre-show marketing that can really help you get a return on your tradeshow investment:
Pre-Conference Mailer
A pre-conference mailer can be a relatively inexpensive marketing tool for regional trade shows. Prior to the national trade shows you can be bombarded with incentives to visit booths but very rarely do attendees receive this type of marketing leading up to the regional shows – so here is an opportunity to get noticed. Most conferences offer pre-show registration lists to exhibitors at no cost. Take advantage of this list and mail a booth invitation directly to attendees. Personalize the letter as much as possible and it helps if you add an incentive to visit the booth such as a business card drawing for a prize if you are doing a mass mailing or a direct exchange of the letter for a gift for a very targeted mailing. One of my most successful pre-show marketing efforts was for a show in South Carolina several years ago. At the time I was selling a water treatment process that removed a particular contaminant. I went through the EPA register and compiled a list of every city in the state in violation of the relevant regulation and sent them an invitation to the booth to find out about our process. Almost 50% of the invited cities visited the booth!
Pre-Arranged Meetings
Don’t expect to turn up at the conference and be able track down attendees to arrange meetings. The consultant you want to see is probably being pursued by other manufacturers while she is also trying to meet with water utilities who are her customers. Let’s face it, in the water industry we manufacturers are at the bottom of the importance food chain, even though we provide the technology. So we need to be very organized in planning our meetings. Make appointments prior to the show before your target customer has a full dance card! If you have the pre-show registration list, use it to help set up some meetings in advance, or at the very least, get people to meet you for a short while at your booth.
Pre-Show Advertising
Pre-Show advertising is not cheap (you can do a lot of direct mail for the price or one ad) but if you have the budget, many trade journals have pre-show issues where if you advertise you can get a free product spotlight. On your ad you will also have your booth number advertised. At a previous company, prior to our first national trade show as part of our launch into the U.S. market, I developed a preshow marketing campaign using an eye catching jumping goldfish in direct mail and in preshow trade journal advertising. Even though we had a small booth at the back of the hall, we almost always had a queue of people in front of the booth wanting to find out about ‘that company with the cute goldfish’.
Got the Message?
Don’t waste your time and just show up to the next trade show. American Water Works Association (AWWA) surveys show that over 80% of people visiting their annual water industry show participate in purchasing decisions and over 30% intend to purchase equipment from exhibitors in the next 12 months. Pre-show marketing can help you find those people who are looking for your product and let you get a step ahead of your competitors. Try it once and your time invested will be repaid many times over!
Michael Bourke is Vice President Business Development at Wigen Water Technologies and
has worked in the water treatment/environmental industry for over 23 years. Visit his blog at http://michaelswatercooler.blogspot.com/ Contact him at (303) 350-3086 or email him.
Sharing best practices in sales and sales management www.salesassociation.org
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
I'm Calling Because. . .
by Paul Donehue
Most people agree that when making outbound prospecting calls we only have a few seconds to make an impression on our prospects... and hopefully it will be a good one!
Consider the fact that, when receiving such a call, prospects quickly wonder, "Why are you calling me?"
It follows, therefore, that to maximize the effectiveness of outbound prospecting calls we should be prepared with a strong introductory statement that quickly and concisely addresses this oh-so-common question.
Common Pitfall
And along those lines, there is one oh-so-common pitfall to avoid, which is beginning these conversations with an introduction that is all about us!
Here's a simple exercise that can help us avoid this mistake. When preparing to make a prospecting call, craft an opening statement that begins with the following ten words: "Hello, my name is __________, and I'm calling because..."
Now, here's the challenge... the next word we say -- that is, the word following "because" -- can NOT be one of the following: "I," "we," or "our."
While this might sound simple, in practice it is not easy. If after the ten-word opening the next word we use is "you" or "your," we stand a much better chance of gaining our prospect's attention or consideration.
A Few Examples
Put yourself in the position of receiving such a phone call. Now, which approach is more appealing:
Most people agree that when making outbound prospecting calls we only have a few seconds to make an impression on our prospects... and hopefully it will be a good one!
Consider the fact that, when receiving such a call, prospects quickly wonder, "Why are you calling me?"
It follows, therefore, that to maximize the effectiveness of outbound prospecting calls we should be prepared with a strong introductory statement that quickly and concisely addresses this oh-so-common question.
Common Pitfall
And along those lines, there is one oh-so-common pitfall to avoid, which is beginning these conversations with an introduction that is all about us!
Here's a simple exercise that can help us avoid this mistake. When preparing to make a prospecting call, craft an opening statement that begins with the following ten words: "Hello, my name is __________, and I'm calling because..."
Now, here's the challenge... the next word we say -- that is, the word following "because" -- can NOT be one of the following: "I," "we," or "our."
While this might sound simple, in practice it is not easy. If after the ten-word opening the next word we use is "you" or "your," we stand a much better chance of gaining our prospect's attention or consideration.
A Few Examples
Put yourself in the position of receiving such a phone call. Now, which approach is more appealing:
- "Hello, my name is John Doe, and I'm calling because we're the largest supplier of widgets in North America. Might you have a few minutes to speak with me?"
- "Hello, my name is John Doe, and I'm calling because you are a frequent user of widgets; many of our customers prefer our approach to streamlining widget management. Might you have a few minutes to speak with me?"
Starting each outbound prospecting call with a statement about our prospect is one sure way of getting up to bat more often.
Of course, after that, we must have a value-added message and, hopefully, a suggestion for logical next steps.
But it's a lot easier to deliver that message if the prospect is listening!
Paul Donehue is President, Paul Charles & Associates, a sales management consulting firm. He can be contacted at pdonehue@paulcharles.com or call (603) 537-1190. His blog: www.salescallsblog.com and website: www.paulcharles.com
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Is Consultative Selling Relevant?
by Marcia Gauger
Question: Over the years, I have adopted what I consider to be a consultative approach to selling. Lately, I’ve left meetings feeling a little “unfinished.” I spend so much time asking questions that I feel there is inadequate time for presenting solutions. Is it time to adopt a new model of selling?
Answer: If you’re asking if consultative selling is obsolete, the answer is no. Some experts feel that transactional selling has prevailed over the last couple of years, however all agree that consultative selling is more important now than ever. We agree. Perhaps the definition of consultative selling needs to be visited. Some salespeople define consultative selling by what it’s not; not using a standard approach, not overdoing features and benefits, not talking too much, etc. While these are all probable pieces of a consultative sales model, they are not the complete picture. It sounds like you have fallen into a trap that many salespeople have.
Over the years, consultative selling has been promoted as the way to sell, and I agree. However, the key word is "sell." There are those that believe that consultative selling means that you only ask questions and solutions will develop on their own. While asking questions is a key to uncovering needs, if that’s all you do on your sales calls you will disappoint yourself and your customer.
If a customer takes time out of their presumably busy schedule to meet with you, they must be interested in what you can offer them. They just don’t want to know everything about what you offer! Asking questions alone without making recommendations causes the customer to feel empty, like they wasted their time.
Consultative selling is somewhat of a well-timed dance. Dancers that are in-tune to each other seem to glide, anticipating every turn and movement. Ideally, customer interactions should feel the same way. In a recent class on consultative selling, I asked the group to define what consultative selling was. I like the definition they came up with, “Consultative selling is to identify needs and suggest solutions that help a customer solve problems or more adequately reach their goals.” This is more of a collaboration between salesperson and customer rather than the more self-serving sales models.
If you’re feeling “unfinished," it may be that you are spending too much time asking empty questions. You should never feel like you are firing off questions. The questions you ask should be the result of pre-call analysis that reveals what you know and what you need to find out. Questions should be strategically woven into the conversation to produce the desired result. The most fulfilling consultative sales situation is when you help the customer uncover a better means of accomplishing their goals. Asking the right questions is key to getting to that point. However, questions are like the tools of a mechanic. You don’t pull out a wrench when you need a hammer. Each question you ask should be purposeful. For instance:
Help customers reveal needs by asking questions about their goals – These should not be general questions, but questions that relate to how you might help them. For instance, if you were selling office machinery, you might ask them how productive their office staff is. Listen for gaps that you can fill. Ask open-ended questions to provoke thought and uncover needs. You should think these through in advance of your sales calls. Start by asking what you know about the customer and what you need to know.
Ask questions that reveal value for the customer – “What would a 10% increase in productivity mean to your bottom line?”
Check the pulse of the customer by asking involvement questions – These tell you how close a customer is to a commitment. As customers reach a decision, they begin to think about how your suggestion will fit into their situation. So, you ask specific questions about how they will use your product of service in advance of the sale. How they answer tells you where they are mentally. For example, “If you decide to go ahead with this, what plant will you want to have trained first?” If the customer’s response, “I haven’t thought about it," you have a bit more selling to do. If the customer’s response is, “I was hoping to start with the Waukesha plant,” close the sale!
Ask questions to position a solution – “Keeping up with technology is difficult these days, isn’t it?” If the customer agrees that this is a challenge for them, you would present the applicable solution to solve their issue.
Here are some additional tips to ensure that you have adequate time to position solutions during your sales calls:
Position a single solution after each discovery instead of waiting until the end – Doing so will enable you to keep the customer involved in the conversation and build interest throughout the sales call. The customer will see the “What’s In It For Me?” throughout your interaction.
Set expectations up front – Position why you are there and what you expect to accomplish. This will ensure that you and the customer are on the same page right from the start. You could simply state something like, “Here’s what I’d like to do today. I’d like to review your need for just-in-time inventory and your current practices to see if we can help you meet your requirements. Is that what you expect?”
Schedule a follow-up meeting to present solutions – Don’t assume that you have to accomplish the entire sales process in one meeting.
Only provide solutions that are of value to that specific customer – You may indeed offer many valuable features and benefits. The only ones that matter are those that apply specifically to that customer’s concerns.
Don’t think of consultative selling as a single event – Take regular tours of your customer’s production areas to help you understand their challenges.
Marcia Gauger is Partner at DVR Learning, LLC, specializes in the design and delivery of performance-based learning programs and materials for sales professionals. Her blog is: http://www.dvrlearning.com/blog You can contact Marcia at email or call 262-642-9610. www.dvrlearning.com
Question: Over the years, I have adopted what I consider to be a consultative approach to selling. Lately, I’ve left meetings feeling a little “unfinished.” I spend so much time asking questions that I feel there is inadequate time for presenting solutions. Is it time to adopt a new model of selling?
Answer: If you’re asking if consultative selling is obsolete, the answer is no. Some experts feel that transactional selling has prevailed over the last couple of years, however all agree that consultative selling is more important now than ever. We agree. Perhaps the definition of consultative selling needs to be visited. Some salespeople define consultative selling by what it’s not; not using a standard approach, not overdoing features and benefits, not talking too much, etc. While these are all probable pieces of a consultative sales model, they are not the complete picture. It sounds like you have fallen into a trap that many salespeople have.
Over the years, consultative selling has been promoted as the way to sell, and I agree. However, the key word is "sell." There are those that believe that consultative selling means that you only ask questions and solutions will develop on their own. While asking questions is a key to uncovering needs, if that’s all you do on your sales calls you will disappoint yourself and your customer.
If a customer takes time out of their presumably busy schedule to meet with you, they must be interested in what you can offer them. They just don’t want to know everything about what you offer! Asking questions alone without making recommendations causes the customer to feel empty, like they wasted their time.
Consultative selling is somewhat of a well-timed dance. Dancers that are in-tune to each other seem to glide, anticipating every turn and movement. Ideally, customer interactions should feel the same way. In a recent class on consultative selling, I asked the group to define what consultative selling was. I like the definition they came up with, “Consultative selling is to identify needs and suggest solutions that help a customer solve problems or more adequately reach their goals.” This is more of a collaboration between salesperson and customer rather than the more self-serving sales models.
If you’re feeling “unfinished," it may be that you are spending too much time asking empty questions. You should never feel like you are firing off questions. The questions you ask should be the result of pre-call analysis that reveals what you know and what you need to find out. Questions should be strategically woven into the conversation to produce the desired result. The most fulfilling consultative sales situation is when you help the customer uncover a better means of accomplishing their goals. Asking the right questions is key to getting to that point. However, questions are like the tools of a mechanic. You don’t pull out a wrench when you need a hammer. Each question you ask should be purposeful. For instance:
Help customers reveal needs by asking questions about their goals – These should not be general questions, but questions that relate to how you might help them. For instance, if you were selling office machinery, you might ask them how productive their office staff is. Listen for gaps that you can fill. Ask open-ended questions to provoke thought and uncover needs. You should think these through in advance of your sales calls. Start by asking what you know about the customer and what you need to know.
Ask questions that reveal value for the customer – “What would a 10% increase in productivity mean to your bottom line?”
Check the pulse of the customer by asking involvement questions – These tell you how close a customer is to a commitment. As customers reach a decision, they begin to think about how your suggestion will fit into their situation. So, you ask specific questions about how they will use your product of service in advance of the sale. How they answer tells you where they are mentally. For example, “If you decide to go ahead with this, what plant will you want to have trained first?” If the customer’s response, “I haven’t thought about it," you have a bit more selling to do. If the customer’s response is, “I was hoping to start with the Waukesha plant,” close the sale!
Ask questions to position a solution – “Keeping up with technology is difficult these days, isn’t it?” If the customer agrees that this is a challenge for them, you would present the applicable solution to solve their issue.
Here are some additional tips to ensure that you have adequate time to position solutions during your sales calls:
Position a single solution after each discovery instead of waiting until the end – Doing so will enable you to keep the customer involved in the conversation and build interest throughout the sales call. The customer will see the “What’s In It For Me?” throughout your interaction.
Set expectations up front – Position why you are there and what you expect to accomplish. This will ensure that you and the customer are on the same page right from the start. You could simply state something like, “Here’s what I’d like to do today. I’d like to review your need for just-in-time inventory and your current practices to see if we can help you meet your requirements. Is that what you expect?”
Schedule a follow-up meeting to present solutions – Don’t assume that you have to accomplish the entire sales process in one meeting.
Only provide solutions that are of value to that specific customer – You may indeed offer many valuable features and benefits. The only ones that matter are those that apply specifically to that customer’s concerns.
Don’t think of consultative selling as a single event – Take regular tours of your customer’s production areas to help you understand their challenges.
Marcia Gauger is Partner at DVR Learning, LLC, specializes in the design and delivery of performance-based learning programs and materials for sales professionals. Her blog is: http://www.dvrlearning.com/blog You can contact Marcia at email or call 262-642-9610. www.dvrlearning.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)