MondayMorningMarketeer, Six Trade Show Tips to Cultivate Internal Enthusiasm

Monday Morning Marketeer, Trade Show Tips, Cultivate Internal Enthusiasm 

Episode Notes: On my refrigerator is a hand made sign in a magnetic placard that says," Enthusiasm" This is not a once a day or once a week proposition. A millionaire network marketer, Dexter Yeager, said, "nothing happens until someone gets excited." Enthusiasm, excitement, these are things your exhibit personnel at trade shows must exude. But it's not something you can cultivate of a day or several hours during the trade show, it's a day to day, week, by week, hour by hour propositon.  Developing an Enthusiastic Culture in and outside the workplace is not just a week before campaign, it’s a day to day, lifetime of your business proposition.

Listen to the Live Show at:    http://www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com/broadcast.php?IdChan=3&IdItem=11

Dale Carnegie, author of the classic book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," once said, "Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic."

3rd Annual NAWBO Day Program Cover,
What a Title for a Trade Show Conference!

1.  You are the People You Associate With  

Surround yourself with positive people. Optimism can be contagious. Gather up a team of happy-go-lucky, energetic people who will feed into your self-esteem and create some infectious positive energy.  Ask your employees how you can boost morale.   Get some input.   Make the morale of your employees a priority everyday just not before and during a trade show.

Have a contest and if it’s just you, have your own contest and reward yourself for how much you get done.

Greet your employees every day with a smile and anticipate them smiling back.

2.  Action Cures Eveyrhing

Get busy on a new project or tackle a big obstacle. There's no better way to breathe energy into a stale state than to start something new and exciting.

Seek out things that you and your company and employees are genuinely enthusiastic about.

What are the great things about your company?

For an example, an associate of mine was introducing herself as Five Time Past President of the Greater Pittsburgh Chatper of National Association of Women Business Owners.  I asked her how much money she had helped to raise for small business owners and she then realized it was over forty million dollars.  She got excited about that.  She now introduces herself as a thirty year veteran business consultant who has helped to raise over forty million dollars in difficult loans for small businesses. 

When analyzing my results as an internet TalkCast host I calculated that I had accumulated over 500,000 unique listeners nationally and internationally.   I have also established the FIRST Pittsburgh Internt Radio and TV Network, PositivelyPittsburghLiveMagazine.com

A client Sanna Carapellotti put a former Super Bowl Champion Steeler to Sleep with her Sleep CD.  When you can put a Super Bowl Champion to sleep with a voice CD, that’s something to get excited about.  Everyone knows that better athletes need better sleed.

Don’t just put these things into your brochures but on your lips and the lips of your employees.  Remember the apple does not fall far from the tree, what you are excited about your employees and customers will be too.  Excitement is contagious. 

3.  Garbage In, Garbage Out

There are only so many ways to say one thing and countless motivational authors probably starting with “As a Man Thinketh, So Is He” promote the adage that:  YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE MOST.

So send yourself and your employees a Thought for The Day

Make it mandatory to read something positive every day, Great Book, “Attitude Determines Altitude.”

• Don’t like the menu in the cafeteria today, try to find something about it to be enthusiastic about. Even if      it’s just that it’s hot and you don’t have to go out for it.
• ·         Are you sitting next to a person you absolutely can’t stand?   Use this time to get to know them better, you might have some common ground you did not know about.
• ·         Yes, there is a downturn in the commodity and your competitors may be folding up, find the opportunity here.
• ·         Need  to cut costs, ask your employees to help you figure out a way to do that without letting anyone go.
• ·         Here’s one for you, give an award for the employee who smiles the most both in front of customers and other employees.  Let the other employees vote, bet you will automatically have a more enthusiastic environment.  Great practice by the way for a trade show if they are doing it all the time.
•  

4.  Without Purpose You are a Ship Without a Sail

What is the purpose of your business, not just the profit motive.

For instance I help people “Get Their Google On!”  I help people get found on the internet and they can afford to pay me, although I am not cheap, because of what I teach them to do for free and more effectively.

A Landscaper might be Beautifying America One Yard at a Time

Esspa Kozmetika in Aspinwall, Pa answers the phone,  “How can I make your day a little better?”

5.  Know What You Stand For

A great quote:  “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

What do you stand for?

What’s your perspective, if it’s just to make money, then make it fast, sell the business and GET OUT!

Perspective is important to have a truly successful business.  Both you and your employees need to know why you are in business.  Does each employee know your mission statement?  Before they go to a trade show, they should.


6.  Transfer the Enthusiasm 

6.   

So now you are saying, what does all of this have to do with a trade show.  Well I guess what I am saying is if you don’t have these five things in place then SAVE YOUR MONEY.  Don’t go until you do your homework.  But if you are ready then don’t go without a promotion whether it is a really good deal or a great giveaway but Let Your Call To Action for Your Customer be YOUR PATH TO BETTER AND MORE BUSINESS.  Do not go to trade show without a promotion about which you are absolutely excited that even the competition will have to get excited about and say, “Now Why Didn’t I think of that?”

Next time, what to give away at a Trade Show.

This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:

© Joanne Quinn-Smith 2011, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048

Listen at:  http://tinyurl.com/MondayMorningMarketeer

Blog:  www.mondaymorningmarketeer.com

Or on its unique radio channel at:

www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com

Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.

Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to and advocacy of small businesses.

Follow at:  https://twitter.com/monmornmarketer

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/mondaymorningmarketeer

Phone:  412-628-5048

8 Power Tips to Maximize Returns on Trade Shows

8 Power Tips to Maximize Returns on Trade Shows

2nd Part in an 8 Part Series on Trade Shows and how to maximize the benefits of working the show. Why spend your money without an expectation of results? Next week Third topic in the series, Cultivate an Internal Attitude of Enthusiasm Smiling NAWBO Board Members Modelling St. John Reseale Items at 2nd Annual NAWBO Day, photo compliments of BlackTie-Pittsburgh Listen to the audio version of this show at:  http://www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com/player.php?IdChan=3&IdItem=12

 Why spend your money without an expectation of results? Record who you met, what their interest level was, where are they in the sales pipeline.  This means giving something away to collect business cards and also FOLLOWING UP!  What is your expected Return on Investment ?  Have you thought about how you will track this?  Just going for branding purposes is not sufficient any more. 

1.       What are your goals in attending and exhibiting? 

·        Do you just want to add to your list that you can market to?

·         Are  you looking to create relationships with potential clients? 

·        Do you want to set up appointments to get eyeballs on your presentation? 

·        Are you looking or realtime demos at the trade show? 

·         Are you looking for on site sales?

·      How many active leads do you want to put into the pipeline

·        How many names do you want to add to your e-mail list to keep in touch with?

·          

2.       Rehearse with your representatives ahead of time, do a little role playing, make sure they know what you are promoting, how to promote it and that they have some passion about what you are doing.  I personally are very turned off by some interns or entry level representatives that say, “Our manager handles that, if you will give me your card, I will have them get back to you.”  All representatives are not always going to know everything but they should know a good bit.  Also teach them to say, “That’s a very good question, but I want to make sure that I give you the best answer, can I get back to you on that?”

3.       Role playing is always good so that you staff is prepared in advance for these scenarios:

·         engaging prospects on the show floor. 

·         How to handle your qualified leads,

·         How to move those along who are not a good fit.  

·         Make things fun so that your staff will be light hearted and confident at the event.

·          Teach them how to deal with a fumble ahead of time and get back on their feet.

·          How to answer objections

·         How to better interact with other team members

4.       Some questions to ask yourself with regard to your staff:

·         What is each staff member responsible for? Do they know their job for that day?

·         You spent money on this trade show.  Does your staff understand this is not a fun trip or just a day out of the office?

·         Does your staff understand what is expected of them?

·         You might think about giving them a trade show tip sheet or mini instruction page.

5.       Reward those who exhibit for you at the Trade Show.  Some ideas of actions that should cull rewards:

·         Appointments set up

·         Decision Maker Info

·         Referrals

·         Follow Up Request

Prizes. 

Create a sales contest for closed sales or leads gained. 

Ok, maybe you don’t have the budget to give away a Mercedes Benz or dinner at a five star restauarant but something that will get your reps attention and keep them focused on your goals for the show.  It could be a gift card to a nice restaurant or retailer, a paid day off, or maybe a round of golf!  You can have a winner for each day and/or an overall winner for the entire show.  Creating competition amongst your staff to drive results is an excellent way to motivate the team.

6.        Some tips for better staff involvement:

·         Discuss your expectations in terms of gaining new leads and closing sales.  Get everyone on the same page for a rating system for your leads to help everyone understand where the leads are in the pipeline.

·         Set goals with your staff and get their commitment to reach these goals.  Cover housekeeping rules such as being on time, on your feet, not eating in the booth, and the use of personal mobile phones in the booth. 

·          If mobile marketing is part of your show promotions this may be acceptable but obviously this is not the time for personal business.  

·          It is an exciting and fun time but it’s definitely not a vacation!

7.       Connect your Leads to Performance.  Some sales people confuse activity with retuslts.  Once you get these leads into your pipeline.  Track what happens to them, how many follow ups do you have scheduled, who wants additional information, how many sales were made, how many referrals did you get from the original leads. 

8.       Follow Up and Follow Through

Plan ahead of time how you will divide the leads. Address the distribution of leads after the show.  Make sure you are up front with your crew about how leads will be allocated. Is it the top seller that day, does everyone keep the business cards they collect?   If you are using a scanner, then you really need to have a plan for allocation ahead of time.  Whether it’s based on their performance at the show or some other metrics make sure everyone is clear so there is no dissension amongst the ranks.

Be the First One to Be Accountable. Why would you take your team to a show and then not follow up with them later to see how they are helping you to get a return on  your investment. Check with your team on how your new prospects are moving through the pipeline.  Don’t micromanage but let them know that you’re there to lend your expertise to help move them from prospect to client!  It may be that a team member can benefit from your seasoned talents.  What benefits them in making a sale, benefits you.  The first step in accountability is the boss’s accountablility to her staff.

What are some of  your tips that you have used at a recent trade show?  Please comment here.

This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:

© Joanne Quinn-Smith 2011, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048

Listen at:  http://tinyurl.com/MondayMorningMarketeer

Blog:  http://mondaymorningmarketeer.com

Or on its unique radio channel at:

www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com

Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.

Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to and advocacy of small businesses.

Follow at:  https://twitter.com/monmornmarketer

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/mondaymorningmarketeer

Phone:  412-628-5048

Monday Morning Marketeer, Five Musts for Trade Shows to Put Your Best Food Forward

Hosted by: technogranny Title: Monday Morning Marketeer, Five Musts for Trade Shows to  Put Your Best Food Forward

Time: 11/01/2010 11:00 AM EDT Listen to the archived show at:  http://www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com/player.php?IdChan=3&IdItem=13 Episode Notes: The Bare minimum five things that you need when spending your already strapped budget to attend a trade show. Don't leave home without them or you might as well throw the money you spent on the show out the window of an expressway going seventy miles an hour.

1.  Take your best people

Don’t send out the second string if at all possible.  Remember for most prospects, this is their first contact with your company, their thirty second impression so to speak.  Why waste your money sending in second or third string or interns.  They will be little better than window dressing and probably not as attractive as store mannequins.

2. Have information about your product or service

My flier for Techno Granny, free stuff, and premium service

Always let them know, “what else you do”

Samples of “what else you do”

NAWBO Day program

Make sure you have an offer,  TODAY ONLY,  two week deadline, they will forget about you after that.

3. Have something for free to attract people to your booth or table

Demonstration:  blood pressure scan, how to use quickbooks, 5 minute massage, galvanic spa treatment, chocolate dipped marshmallows that you dip yourself in the chocolate fountain as pictured here.

If you are selling jewelry have another vendor wear it at their booth and direct traffic to you

Candy is okay and you hope you can pitch them but if you can afford it a free ad specialty that will get them thinking about your business is a much better option.

Stress balls work great for alternative health or yoga practitioners.

Unique ad specialties can be found for your particular business, just google them or find an advertising specialty person in your area who will get to know your business and watch for unique items that help with your branding.

Computers, screen cleaner or canned air are great items because they are always used and most people don’t think to buy them.

Organizer, binder to keep all of your ad stuff in that you got at the conference

Business card holder for all of their conference cards that has your name on it

Pens are cheap and great but make sure that you get the kind that won’t dry up or leak, remember they are representing your business.

“How to Give Away” if you have no money, then follow up later, did you use my” how to.”  This will only cost you your time to write it and then print it.

On the follow up call, you can ask, “Is there any way I can I help you?”

4. Have a way to capture contacts—give away

Give away something they will want, could be one of your products, make sure it is something you can upsell if you do that.

Make sure you get referrals out of it

5. Always work the front of the table not the back, from the back you are like the sales girl that seems like she really doesn’t want to come out from behind the counter to assist you.

6. Enthusiasm and excitement is contagious.  Always be excited about your business. Remember, nothing happens until someone gets excited and it has to start with you.

This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:

© Joanne Quinn-Smith 2011, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048

Listen at:  http://tinyurl.com/MondayMorningMarketeer

Blog:  MondayMorningMarketeeer Blog

Or on its unique radio channel at:

www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com

Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.

Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to and advocacy of small businesses.

Follow at:  https://twitter.com/monmornmarketer

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/mondaymorningmarketeer

Phone:  412-628-5048