4 THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR
Welcome to a whole New Year.
Did you, like me and so many others, make commitments to what you were going to change this year, you know the traditional ones of lose weight, give up drinking, spend more time with the family?
Well you’re back at work. So let’s get you focussed and let’s see if we can kick start some practices that get you off to a great start!
When you were making your commitments, did any for work enter your mind at all?
More than likely not however to be effective, now you’re back, you need to!
I would propose the following:
* You need to plan early;
* Look at how you can support your customers (and potential customers);
* Communicate more regularly;
* Better value your clients;
* Connect more often with them.
2009 was a tough year for most, although not as tough as everyone predicted and my view is that it made all of us re-evaluate, as when times are good we tend to just let things flow and unless it’s broken we don’t focus on improving it.
Our company direction at the end of 2008 was to look towards 2011; far enough away at the time but realistic enough to factor in tangible plans. We made the decision to further invest in our products, spend more on marketing and promotion and look at ways to support our clients better, on the basis that come 2011 when the world’s economies settle down we can spring from the platform we have created. The risk is that we achieve marginal or no profit but the upside is establishing a strong client base that shares the ride and can be built on as the economy grows and gets stronger.
So this month I thought I would put out FOUR thoughts/ideas that if you’re not doing now, maybe you can consider for the start of a fresh new year.
Book early By booking your space early not only are you more likely to secure a better position, but your planning can start.
Commitment is good; it becomes a foundation to build from and allows everything to flow from it.
Plan The key to any great success is good planning. This is as much about what you will have on the stand and what the stand will look like, to how you will communicate to your potential and existing clients.
How does it tie back to the company’s objectives? Look at what your objectives are, where you want to be at year’s end, what you want as your ROI and most importantly walk in the shoes of your customers. Think about what they want. As an example we have three customers: sponsors/associations, exhibitors and visitors.
The last one quite often can be forgotten - because exhibitors exert pressure it’s easy to think the exhibition is all about them. The truth is that without listening and looking at the visitors’ needs, there would be no exhibition, so for us they are ranked as number one because if they are happy and attend the event, then exhibitors are happy.
So look and define who your clients are and determine whether you are prioritising correctly.
Communicate regularly Establish a channel to communicate. It doesn’t always revolve around a direct sale but it is about reinforcing your existence and that you are a possible solution for them.
This monthly newsletter is testament to that. I realised that a number of companies were keen to be assisted and prompted to look at what they were doing at an exhibition, hence “My Exhibitips”.
Look and see what you can do to connect more regularly with your customers, whether it is with product updates, education or letting them know what’s new. If you have a database have you sent them a New Year greeting? Made a New Year special offer release? A special sample that gets in their hands and creates further demand.....remember though if it doesn’t have a purpose people won’t value or read it!
Connect Our collective enemy is time; we just don’t have enough of it!
An exhibition is a strong means to connect face to face with potential and existing companies in a compressed time frame. Think how to build on this outside the exhibition and maybe use a social network such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked ln or any other social site that connects you.
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Research shows that the majority of exhibitors still don’t effectively follow up or keep in contact with customers they collect from an exhibition. Make sure you place a high value on the leads and that a program of follow up and communication is in place.
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I don’t profess to have all the answers and, like you, I make mistakes, however if you can adopt some ideas from the four thoughts above I’m sure your business will be better for it. See you on the floor!
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FOR EXHIBITION SUCCESS
- Book early
- Plan
- Communicate regularly
- Connect
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Regards,
Gary Fitz-Roy
P.S This edition clocks up 12 months of Exhibitips. If you would like a copy of the collection as a bonus next month, a special collectors edition of the past 12 months newsletters will be available for download.
Also next month we are updating the masthead and layout ...
so look out for it !
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