When you are 'high' on technology, (which, most of us are), you forget to talk to real people, with their unpredictable quirky ways.
STIMULATING Conversation IS THE COMPLETE CONTRAST OF SILENT STIMULATION THAT ONE DERIVES FROM TECHNOLOGY.
Instigating Conversation:
FEELS like 'hard work,' — with many invitations, impregnated with treacherous, imperfect NUANCES — OFTEN, THE CREEPING ANXIETY OF loss of control, SPATTERED with UTTER boredom.
Yet, trade shows and events are about making talk happen —
That is the reason why you are spending bunch lead of money and that is exactly the reason why your attendees are coming to visit you.
FEELS like 'hard work,' — with many invitations, impregnated with treacherous, imperfect NUANCES — OFTEN, THE CREEPING ANXIETY OF loss of control, SPATTERED with UTTER boredom.
Yet, trade shows and events are about making talk happen —
That is the reason why you are spending bunch lead of money and that is exactly the reason why your attendees are coming to visit you.
ESTABLISH MORE ROI BY 'LIVING MOMENTS OF MORE'.
You see, in person, we have access to the messages carried in the face, the voice, and the body. You listen intently to another person and expect that he or she is listening to you; where a discussion can go off on a tangent and circle back; where something unexpected can be discovered about a person or an idea. Online, we settle for simpler fare: We feel our power, because, we get our efficiency and our chance to edit, and we get the luxury to ponder on the questions that a return email can answer.
Here are 10 Sample CONVERSATION CREATORS THAT WILL LAUNCH YOUR BRAND WITH POSITIVE ROI:
Use your imagination to expand on these questions to talk about your product or services. Use these idea bubbles as pointers to help you have a meaningful conversation. Build up your confidence by ditching the playbook and tread into the unknown —nothing of consequence happens within the territory of the known lands.
"When we are constantly recreating our basic patterns of behavior and thought, we never have to leap into fresh air or onto fresh grass. Instead, we wrap ourselves in our own dark environment, where our only companion is the smell of our own sweat. In the cocoon, there is no dance, no walking or breathing. It is comfortable and sleepy, an intense and very familiar home." — The Way of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa
Next time, time you see attendees, face down focused on their phone, walk up to them and help them realize the life and the movement that is happening all around them.
Immersed in their own cocoon, occasionally you will hear shouts, such as, "Leave me alone!" "Bug off!" "I want to be who I am!"... which comes from technology driven anxiety and the safety of smelling their own sweat...
With the confidence of a warrior, help them raise their head, lend them a genuine smile so that they may peek out of their cocoon... help them realize the safe anchor in you.
"When we are constantly recreating our basic patterns of behavior and thought, we never have to leap into fresh air or onto fresh grass. Instead, we wrap ourselves in our own dark environment, where our only companion is the smell of our own sweat. In the cocoon, there is no dance, no walking or breathing. It is comfortable and sleepy, an intense and very familiar home." — The Way of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa
Next time, time you see attendees, face down focused on their phone, walk up to them and help them realize the life and the movement that is happening all around them.
Immersed in their own cocoon, occasionally you will hear shouts, such as, "Leave me alone!" "Bug off!" "I want to be who I am!"... which comes from technology driven anxiety and the safety of smelling their own sweat...
With the confidence of a warrior, help them raise their head, lend them a genuine smile so that they may peek out of their cocoon... help them realize the safe anchor in you.
NOW, ON THE WITH QUESTIONS THAT WILL HELP YOU GET MORE BY REMEMBERING:
"In conversations that could potentially take unexpected directions, people don’t always try to get things “right.” They learn to be surprised by the things they say. And to enjoy that experience – the gradual completion of thoughts while speaking. The best thoughts, in this view, can be almost unintelligible as they emerge; what matters most is risky, thrilling conversation as a crucible for discovery."
1. What brings you to the show?
2. What have you heard about our company? Have you heard about our product? (the answers will help you determine how well you are known in the market place).
1. What brings you to the show?
2. What have you heard about our company? Have you heard about our product? (the answers will help you determine how well you are known in the market place).
3. What problems are you looking to solve by attending this show?
4. What have you seen at the show that you have found interesting or useful?
4. What have you seen at the show that you have found interesting or useful?
5. What are you looking to learn by attending this conference (or event)?
6. Have you seen our demo and what did you think about it (if you don’t have a demo you may want to consider it)?
7. Can I offer you some water, soda or a snack? While this may draw people who are not necessarily in your target it is a small cost to pay if your exhibit is empty and you are more likely to meet someone interesting by doing this than by just standing around.
8. Did you sign up for our <fill in relevant> giveaway raffle?
{Make sure you pre-qualify prospects if you have limited budget.}
9. What did you think about the keynote speaker?
10. Did you want to sit down for a minute? Use this with qualified prospects.
You know that your booth staffers are one of your most valuable, if not the most valuable asset when exhibiting at a trade show or hosting a business event. However, you may feel like you have little to no control over how they perform at the show.
Yet, by selecting the right staffers, offering appropriate incentives, recognition, and training, you can be sure they will rise to the challenge and become excellent brand ambassadors for your company.
Yet, by selecting the right staffers, offering appropriate incentives, recognition, and training, you can be sure they will rise to the challenge and become excellent brand ambassadors for your company.
EMPOWER YOUR STAFFERS WITH THE ESSENCE OF EMPATHY
To join in conversation is to imagine another mind, to empathize, and to enjoy gesture, humor, and irony in the medium of talk. As with language, the capacity to learn these human subtleties is innate. Yet, technology has done a great job of stripping us of these indwelling instincts.
Empathy is feeling the pain of others. Once your staffers get to empathize with the prospects, you will get quality leads that go beyond BANT — budget, authority, needs and timeline.
“In the real world outside economic theory, every business is successful exactly to the extent that it does something others cannot." Empathy should not be an exception. Empathy is the condition of every successful business.
Empathy will give you a 'league of brand soldiers' that will extend your brand beyond the confines of the show floor. Ditch the playbook — set a new norm, reward your booth staffers, based not on the quantity, but on the quality of leads.
Empathy is feeling the pain of others. Once your staffers get to empathize with the prospects, you will get quality leads that go beyond BANT — budget, authority, needs and timeline.
“In the real world outside economic theory, every business is successful exactly to the extent that it does something others cannot." Empathy should not be an exception. Empathy is the condition of every successful business.
Empathy will give you a 'league of brand soldiers' that will extend your brand beyond the confines of the show floor. Ditch the playbook — set a new norm, reward your booth staffers, based not on the quantity, but on the quality of leads.
Communicate ASPIRATION NOT GOALS
Goals are fact based. For example you need to collect X amount of leads within 3 days. Aspiration is feeling based — how your booth staffers can communicate the feeling of your brand. You can aspire to get quality leads only if you can get in touch with the feelings of the person you are talking to.
“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”
Communicate your team's desire and intention for the show to staffers and give them an idea on the number of meaningful conversations they should strive for each day. Spend the bulk of your training time, talking about your company’s objectives, your customers' frustrations — what you offer as a company and how to be a good host. The overall message should be to treat each booth visitor as the important guest they are. You want prospects leaving the booth with a better impression of your company than what they started with.
Some would argue that this could be a waste of time.
Here are some of the questions that you will face from the C-suites and perhaps from your team.
What about the competitors that come to scope us out?
What about the client who you know is not buying anything else?
What about the person who is just coming over for the giveaway?
Here, are the answers to all the questions above.
If you have competitors snooping around, strategize your booth design that accommodates for that.
If you cannot up-sell to your clients, it is because, your company offering has not grown in value.
“For a company to be valuable it must grow and endure, but many entrepreneurs focus only on short-term growth. They have an excuse: growth is easy to measure, but durability isn’t. Those who succumb to measurement mania obsess about weekly active user statistics, monthly revenue targets, and quarterly earnings reports. However, you can hit those numbers and still overlook deeper, harder-to-measure problems that threaten the durability of your business.”
If someone is coming over for the giveaway, it is good for the brand foot print.
“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”
Communicate your team's desire and intention for the show to staffers and give them an idea on the number of meaningful conversations they should strive for each day. Spend the bulk of your training time, talking about your company’s objectives, your customers' frustrations — what you offer as a company and how to be a good host. The overall message should be to treat each booth visitor as the important guest they are. You want prospects leaving the booth with a better impression of your company than what they started with.
Some would argue that this could be a waste of time.
Here are some of the questions that you will face from the C-suites and perhaps from your team.
What about the competitors that come to scope us out?
What about the client who you know is not buying anything else?
What about the person who is just coming over for the giveaway?
Here, are the answers to all the questions above.
If you have competitors snooping around, strategize your booth design that accommodates for that.
If you cannot up-sell to your clients, it is because, your company offering has not grown in value.
“For a company to be valuable it must grow and endure, but many entrepreneurs focus only on short-term growth. They have an excuse: growth is easy to measure, but durability isn’t. Those who succumb to measurement mania obsess about weekly active user statistics, monthly revenue targets, and quarterly earnings reports. However, you can hit those numbers and still overlook deeper, harder-to-measure problems that threaten the durability of your business.”
If someone is coming over for the giveaway, it is good for the brand foot print.
ENCOURAGE YOUR STAFFERS TO THINK OF YOUR BOOTH VISITORS AS HUMANS — NOT AS LEADS OR PROSPECT
If you motivate staffers simply based on the number of leads they get, then they will think of prospects as “just another lead” rather than as an individual. Granted, if you select your staffers appropriately they will likely be polite and qualify prospects. Yet, they may rush from one interaction to the next because they are focused simply on the number of leads.
Part of this can be overcome by properly training staffers on the right qualifying questions to ask. Still, if you are judging their performance on the number of leads that will likely distract them from taking the time to ask questions and have a meaningful conversation with the prospect.
It is not an easy act that you have to follow, once you come out of the cocoon. Because, you are dealing with the "messiness of real people in the real world".
"In the cocoon, there is no dance, no walking or breathing. It is comfortable and sleepy, an intense and very familiar home." The real world is alive with real people. The real world demands the diminished performance of technology. The real world demands us to be unitaskers — the rewards are plenty — increased performance, rapid creativity and decreased stress.
Conversation is a human way to take charge of our humanness.
Good Luck.
Happy Conversing!
Part of this can be overcome by properly training staffers on the right qualifying questions to ask. Still, if you are judging their performance on the number of leads that will likely distract them from taking the time to ask questions and have a meaningful conversation with the prospect.
It is not an easy act that you have to follow, once you come out of the cocoon. Because, you are dealing with the "messiness of real people in the real world".
"In the cocoon, there is no dance, no walking or breathing. It is comfortable and sleepy, an intense and very familiar home." The real world is alive with real people. The real world demands the diminished performance of technology. The real world demands us to be unitaskers — the rewards are plenty — increased performance, rapid creativity and decreased stress.
Conversation is a human way to take charge of our humanness.
Good Luck.
Happy Conversing!
“It is the most human – and humanising – thing we do. Fully present to one another, we listen and learn. It’s where we develop the capacity for empathy. It’s where we experience the joy of being heard, of being understood. And conversation advances self-reflection, the conversations with ourselves that are the cornerstone of early development and continue throughout life”.
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