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Trade shows are so obvious. You go. You hand out
brochures. You come back to the office. It’s just a glitch in
your work week. Well, it’s much more than that. Your bottom
line can float on when you make - or lose - a sale at a trade
show.

Trade show training. So, who needs it? Well, you do - if you
want to understand the process and do a better job. Is
training just for one person? It’s a start but it’s best that
everyone involved in a show understand the impact a show
can have.

Through the years, I’ve been asked lots of questions about
training. These are the one that are asked most often - the
FAQs about why training is important.

Q - We’ve been going to shows for years. We always send
the same crew. Why do we need training?

A - Because if you’ve been going to the same shows,
sending the same staff and selling the same products to
the same people, you’re in a rut. The business world is
changing quickly, and you need to adapt. Trade show
marketing is unique for each show because there’s a
change of exhibitors, attendees - and most important - your
reason for attending. To “just do it” doesn’t work for trade
shows.

Q - Why does everybody involved in the show need training?

A - Because old habits are hard to break. And bad habits
are
tougher. Trade shows are a company-wide marketing event,
not a trip for the sales staff. Statistics show that 80% of
leads are not followed-up after a show. When you have
more people responsible for the success of the show - from
the executive office to the loading dock, from the
telemarketing staff to the out-of-town reps, your odds are
greater for making sales and keeping customers.

Q - We have had sessions on how to sell and follow-up.
What’s so different about trade shows?

A - Trade shows are a completely different environment. The
time is compressed, the expectations are high (sometimes
too high), you’re constantly on stage meeting strangers.
Then you get back to your office? Well, you have to follow-up
leads as well as do your regular work. The more you know
about this unique marketing opportunity, the more
comfortable and successful you will be.

Q - We’re just going to a show to walk the aisles. Why do we
need training?

A - Are you a good spy? What are you looking for? Do you
know trade shows are the best source of market
intelligence about your industry, new products, new
processes, new suppliers, new partners, new reps, new
employees and new competitors? Training can help you be
more aware of your surroundings, focus on your targets and
be open to new opportunities.

Q - Our display is looking worn since we do lots of road
shows a year. But the boss doesn’t want to spend money.
Can we substitute training for a new display?

A - Sorry, no. A sad-looking display is a reflection on how
important you think your company is. Training can make you
more effective, but it can’t overcome a neglected image.

Conversely, a new and expensive exhibit cannot overcome
an inexperienced staff, pushy sales people, a lack of
purpose or that infamous I-don’t-care attitude. Don’t put all
your exhibit money into the exhibit. A sharp exhibit is
important to get people to your space, but it’s people who
make the contact - and the contract.

The more you know, the better you will be at a trade show.

Julia O’Connor - Speaker, Author, Consultant - writes
about practical aspects of trade shows. As president of
Trade Show Training, Inc, now celebrating its 10th
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.

Sales, that unique experience that comes and go!

When we have it, we think it will last forever, when we don’t, we worry that it will never come. It is not only an experience, it is a way of living in a permanent challenge with competition, with customers and with ourselves.

You have been successful selling your product for a while. You have grown, you have achieved your goals and you have the will to continue to grow and achieve! You cannot wait just doing nothing the time when you will have no demands because your product is an old one.

You must find something new to keep your market warm or if you don’t have one, is the time to Reinvent Your Product!

1. Evaluate your product very carefully and make a list with its functions. You might discover a new one or a function you have never promoted.

2. Evaluate the market demand and check the list with your product functions. It is very possible to find that you cover a demand you have never took into consideration.

3. Evaluate the content of promotion in the light of above two points and add a new benefit your competition doesn’t offer and use it as your main selling tip.

4. Analyze the ways trough other similar successful products are promoted (websites, mini sites, ezines, etc) to see if you spread the information in an usual and comfortable mode for customers.

5. Set a package containing your product and another 3-4 (free) products (reports, e-books, tools, programs, etc). Promote this full package as a new product able to solve a larger area of problems.

6. Choose a new name but not a very different one. Your old customers must recognize previous brand and product they trust. The simplest method is to add ‘Gold’, ‘Platinum’ or something else to draw attention that your product is a new one.

You may think this ReInvention process seems unorthodox, but it sure has worked for other people and will work for you as well. There is no reason to judge yourself because you can’t do something extraordinary as long as people buy from you.

Valerian Dinca is the owner of the newest online business tutorial. Everything you need when you need it.

Sales textbooks are filled with examples of trial and final closes, and if you are a student of the art and science of professional selling you no doubt have read many, if not all of them.

The issue of course is that in today’s marketplace buyers have become accustomed to just about every clever line and manipulative phrase that sales people ever invented. Instead today, the buyer community is keenly aware of the overused, old hat clichés sales people traditionally used to qualify them.

In today’s world buyers are strongly focused on products, systems and services that return real value for the commitment of doing business with you. And old style stale selling ways are fortunately being replaced by new, and greatly improved methods that give the buyer credit for intelligent decision-making.

One of those methods is to make a professional presentation after enough fact-finding that establishes the buyers needs, wants and desires. Professional salespeople who have spent a reasonable amount of time investigating these are the ones who will be in the best position to perform what traditionally is referred to as trial closing.

As a professional, however, you recognize that part of the fun of selling is to enjoy what you are doing for a living. Let no one doubt for an instant that buyers still like doing business with professionals who are competent in their company’s policies, products, processes, procedures, practices and prices. Taken as a body these cumulatively could be called “manifested” competency skills. Similarly, interesting, fun and enjoyable could be called “personality” competency skills. Top-flight professional sales people usually have huge amounts of both.

Yet, how can you be fully knowledgeable about your company, be up all the time, be fun and entertaining too when by virtue of what you do for a living has “no’ associated with it.

Here’s a way to do it and at the same time develop an additional skill set as a by-product.

Have you have reached a point in your sales career where you recognize that all the trite and hackneyed trial closes just don’t seem to make you feel comfortable anymore? Do you see your prospect rejecting them? Then try this. It’s called use your senses, and here’s how it works.

There are numerous studies that describe the types of communications that are successful; typically these are culturally dependent. Kinetics, body language, appearance, voice modulation, pace and delivery of speech and personal space are a few. Each on its own is a study of and by itself. So how do you determine if your delivery and message are being well received and you are getting through to your prospect?

One way is to provide a natural checkpoint in the presentation that lets you find out how your message is being delivered. Three of your five senses, namely see, hear and feel give you the checkpoints to determine if your prospect and you are tracking in parallel.

The purpose of a demonstration and presentation is to clarify in the prospects mind what your product, system or service will do for them; this you would have already identified in the fact finding/analysis stage. During the presentation, whether on the phone or face-to-face you should be able to “sense” how your prospect wishes to have information presented. So now you should be able to pause during your statements of fact and ask simple yet effective questions.

And using one of those three senses is a sure fire way to monitor how well you have been doing.

Try these the next time you want to intermittently check your presentation progress. If your prospect appears to be visually oriented ask them ‘do they see it’? If on the other hand your prospect concentrates on the words, ask them ‘how does that sound’? Moreover, if your prospect is outgoing, then you have a wonderful opportunity to ask them “how they feel’ about what you have said. In the process you have called on the prospect to make an assessment or evaluation. They certainly will be more comfortable with you since you listened for their response, what they had to say and in so doing have made them part of the process.

In the new age of selling, the cornering techniques used by past generations of sales people are just not effective anymore. The savvy buyer is immune to them and more than likely will turn off to overused phrases and outdated methods. An improved way to demonstrate your professionalism, sales skill and knowledge of people is to let them assimilate your information and while they are doing that, stop and ask a question or two based on using their senses. You’ll find the buyer is more appreciative of your down-to-earth forthright style, as well as much more prone to give you honest feedback that you need in order to “see”, “feel” and “hear” if your presentation is on track…especially for them.

Don McNamara is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and is President of Heritage Associates, Inc. http://www.heritage-associates.net

Heritage Associates is a full service sales management consulting, training and coaching company. Don also speaks and writes on the art and science of superior sales management and top sales performance. He is the author of “Visionary Sales Leadership.”

With over 30 years sales experience from the field level to executive sales management, in his career he has been an individual contributor, corporate sales training manager, regional manager, national sales manager and vice president of sales. Don is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants, where he serves as Professional Development Chair for the southern California chapter, and the National Speakers Association.

For a free e-newsletter contact Don McNamara at djmcn@heritage-associates.net or by phone (949) 230-4363.