Networking and Career Guidance

In addition to his work with me at Marketing General, Inc. my colleague, Vinay Kumar, also spends much of his time as a career coach.

I wanted to share a couple of links to some of his recent articles and posts on careers that I think you will find of help.

Today, Vinay had a piece appear in the Washington Post on how to network at a professional event or party. He provides some simple steps you can take to connect with others.

The Career Wheel

I also enjoyed his recent post, Keys to Career Satisfaction and Success. I have included his graphic here which highlights his career philosophy.

Under the “Good Blogs” section of this blog, you will find Vinay’s latest postings displayed. So when you need a good career suggestion, please click through to his blog.

Improving Attendance using Content, Frequency and Multiple Channels instead of Marketing Bulk

A recent article by a reader and commenter of this blog, Darryl Walter, had some important insights that I wanted to share.

The article focused on promoting an annual conference, but as we have discussed in previous posts the concepts of content, frequency and channels are applicable to most all marketing efforts.

Walter shared the substantial increase in meeting attendance that he was able to achieve at The Wildlife Society by strategically reallocating his marketing resources.

“In the past, The Wildlife Society had mailed a 32-page pre-conference registration book to members and recently expired members.”1  But this year, he did away with the big mailer. Instead he refocused his budget and initiated three new techniques.

• He launched a conference web site and drove prospects to it using a weekly conference e-newsletter. It started going out ten weeks prior to the meeting and highlighted a different aspect of the event.
• Instead of one mailing, he sent out three low cost direct mail pieces that pushed prospects to the web site.
• Finally, the week that early bird registration was due to close, he sent out daily emails pushing for the sale.

He also expanded his reach by going beyond current members to “deeply lapsed expired members, as well as former non-member attendees.” 2

We all have limited budgets and need to decide how to use them in the most economical way possible. When you have the choice, select more touches in a concentrated timeframe to people who are aware of who you are and what you offer.

1.  Darryl Walter, Tips for Promoting your Annual Conference, DMAW Marketing Advents, December, 2009, page 7.

2. Ibid

10 Tips for Selling at Trade Shows

Booth duty at trade shows is a part of many of our jobs. So how is it done in a professional and helpful way? And, no it should not be a re-enactment of the movie Jaws.

Here is what I have learned from my experience and from my colleagues.

1. Schedule Appointments Pre-Show: Before you go to the show be sure to call or email your friends, prospects, and members and invite them to come by the booth. Provide them with your booth number.
2. Arrange Booth Traffic Pattern: Once the show starts, position yourself at the corner of the booth leaving a clear view of your booth message. Have your give-away (candy, gift, brochure) in the center of your booth, welcoming the entrance of your visitor.
3. Initiate Interaction: Reach out to people who pass by the booth and connect to them by asking an openning question like, “Do you do engineering (fill in with your profession or field) work for your company?"
4. Qualify Contact: Everyone is short on time at a trade show. There are many booths your visitor wants to see. So maximize everyone’s time with qualifying questions to see if your visitor is a decision maker for your product or service.
5. Identify Problems or Pain: Go deeper with qualified decision makers. Ask questions to see what particular issues or challenges are present.
6. Present Value Proposition: Provide a short, crisp outline of how you help with the particular problems that have been discussed. Your value proposition might sound something like, “We have members with that same challenge and they find that we help them by. . .”
7. Obtain Contact Information: Most trade show sales take place well after the show. To get back in touch for a sale, you need to collect follow up information. A business card is the easiest way to get contact information.
8. Agree on Next Steps: Get permission and agreement from your qualified prospect to follow up with them. This may be as simple as agreeing to send additional information. Write a note on the back of their business card with the action you need to take.
9. Ask for Referral: Before a qualified prospect leaves you, be sure to ask them to send other attendees your way who might have similar needs. Ask them, “Who else do you know that might be helped by our services?”
10. Prepare Follow Up Materials: Before you leave for the show, you should have your follow up materials assembled and ready to go. When you return, personalize your response with the agreed upon next steps and fulfill the request within days of your return.

Feel free to add any tips you have in the comments section. Also, I am curious to hear what you have seen done poorly at trade shows. We could come up with a top 10 list of what not to do.