Pick a sales training buzzword and it may have touched you. Maybe managers said you should go to a course to get your inner feelings in tune with your Palm schedule in tune with work-life balance, and everything in tune with your life strategy. Life was great. For about a week.
Then, products changed or were recalled. Lawsuits mounted. Customer expectations in today's financial and ethical marketplace demanded more of you and your company. In too short a time, your corporate financials were being restated while your 401K melted and your stock portfolio slunk away, embarrassed by its original exuberance. Half your department or division or the whole company disappeared. Life was great once.
If you're in sales or marketing, you know what you did every day. That was the daily drill. You can't do it any more. And, you certainly can't do it at a trade show.
Here are four ways to understand your own - and your company's - sales style at a trade show. Maybe you're still hot. Probably not.
THE GOOD OL' BOY NETWORK ... This is the way it used to be and in some industries, it still is. Women may have broken some of the glass in the ceiling, minorities may be a tad more than token, and you may believe age doesn't matter. Wrong. It's attitude, networking and politics. It's still who knows who.
If you're in certain industries - usually the ones at the beginning of the industrial food chain or international money making - you may think your job is safe because of trust and GOB networking. Yet, because of international tensions, economic disasters, lousy mergers, and technology which produces a 24-hour business day, those handshakes you felt so comfortable with before, now may get you handcuffs or a brush off.
TRADE SHOW - Don't rest on laurels or assume the GOB will protect you or guarantee your deals. Self preservation may be more important, pricing may be more critical, and the pecking order may have changed without making the papers. What to do? Gather critical information before you go to the show, don't be naïve, and learn to open up your networking channels.
THE RAINMAKER ... It was expected that the right connections (often from GOB), basic product knowledge, a handle on financials and a pleasing personality could get you business. Maybe you were no more than the hunting dog who was well dressed and played tennis or golf, so you could flush out business and bring it back for someone else to close and control, but you brought cache to the firm.
If you're in the professional services firms - such as accounting, banking and insurance, law, architecture, etc. - this has been an accepted method for years. The designated "Golden Boy" has been critical to these types of businesses because advertising was not allowed or was considered crass. The belief was that - work should speak for itself, and the firm and client should like each other.
TRADE SHOW - This is still a critical aspect of marketing but don't expect to do more than nudge the timeline along. It is time to meet with prospects for a second or third time, understanding that your competitors will do the same. Time to bring out your "big guns", the partners and experts who will handle the account if you score.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ... Now get serious about business. Clients disappear. Products lose dominance. Suppliers change. The smart firms have individuals and departments, or outsource experts, who work only for development of new business.
It's a whole new ball game and you may be in a different league without knowing it unless you're smart about who your markets really are, where they are, and your understanding of trends â€" are you current or obsolete? This is sophisticated analysis, not just friendly hand shaking. Real-life market research. Serious looks at partners, strategic alliances and allegiances. Cutting losses. Adding specialists. Consider corporate intelligence to be the cutting edge of staying in business this year, next year and more.
TRADE SHOW - The short intense time at a show is absolutely the best way to find out what's happening in your industry. When you hear a new word three times, that's a trend. Learn all you can about it, its originators and its potential for your firm. On the flip side, watch the intelligence your firm gives in trying to entice prospects. Remember that the more you give away at a trade show, the less you have to discuss at deal time.
SALES PROFESSIONAL ... The full-time, on-time, my-time-is-money guy who has been through all the courses yet has the innate sense of making the sale and, best of all, securing the best deal to make the client happy. Of course, the company is happy with the deal, the margins and the prospect of continuing business.
Competitive, smart, dogged, technology intense and friendly, this is the best person to ask for competitive information. Yes, he knows his clients but his antennae's up and can tell you what's going happen to clients in the next year, the trends in the market niche and ways to save business - better terms, time to buy or drop.
TRADE SHOW - There's a tendency to send sales folks to trade shows. Nice idea. Not necessarily right. Check your answers to these points -
1) Is this a sales or a marketing show? Are you closing deals or showing off products and services?
2) The sales oriented show is generally in the retail related sectors. Examples - the shows are about toys, school supplies, hardware, stationery, holiday decorations, etc. Short term sales opportunities. Send your best deal closers to these types of shows.
3) The marketing shows are generally in technology, harder industries, those requiring a long-term sales process with waltzing, tap-dancing, RFPs and more bureaucracy than the retail segments. Depending on the size of the show, one sales person to three or four marketing personnel is usually adequate, but you must know the capabilities of your staff, the expectations of the attendees, and your firm's realistic ROI on this particular show. Jeez, are you planning to follow-up? What are the requirements of on-floor staff in that process?
4) Remember that every show is different. And, the difference between you and your competitor is the sales-oriented preparation you make before the event. Know your people, know your corporate style. Be prepared each time.
Julia O'Connor - Speaker, Author, Consultant - writes about practical aspects of trade shows. As president of Trade Show Training, inc,, now celebrating its 11th year, she works with companies in a variety of industries to improve their bottom line and marketing opportunities at trade shows.
Julia is an expert in the psychology of the trade show environment and uses this expertise in sales training and management seminars. Contact her at 804-355-7800 or check the site http://www.TradeShowTraining.com
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