How to Be a GREAT CONFERENCE ATTENDEE (and Get the Most Out of the Show)
By Nancy Friedman, The Telephone Doctor Having worked both sides of a conference – as an attendee and working the booth – I’m not sure whose job is harder. When I’m working in the booth I feel the attendees have the harder job. Walking around aisle to aisle...dragging those big heavy bags. Sometimes not knowing exactly what they’re looking for. Then when I’m the attendee, I feel sorry for those booth folks who just STAND there. Some barely NOD at me, and some don’t even want to look me in the eye. (Of course, there are some that I don’t want to look in the eye either.) Boothmanship is an art, not a science. So who does have the more difficult job? Attendee? Booth person? Doesn't matter. Each has a separate job and function. Each has it’s own mission. We’re going to talk about the ATTENDEE for the time being. Ok, so you’re going to a conference. It’s a trade show. The people who try and sell you all year long. Some you’ve never ever even met, except by phone, will be there. All trying to gain your attention and, ultimately, your business. Walking a trade show can be exhausting. Before we share any tips though, you need to decide you’re going to have FUN. It must start with that premise. Here are some Telephone Doctor tips that can work for you, allowing you to really enjoy the show. 1. Have a plan – like a walking tour in a city. In most cases, you’ll have received material and information about the show, the booths and who’s going to be there. Read it all. CIRCLE the vendors you really want to meet and visit with. Use different colors for importance. (Example – RED can be a “MUST MEET/VISIT.” BLUE can mean “TRY AND VISIT.” YELLOW can be “if I have time, stop by here” and BLACK can be “FAGETABOUTIT.” Be prepared for the plan to deviate. In other words, say you have your booth chart all colored out. Certainly there will be some booths with no color. Those are probably vendors you don’t know - or maybe even vendors you do know but don’t want to visit with. (It happens.) You might have one booth catch your eye that isn’t in your “Plan.” If that happens, take the BLUE pen out & circle that booth number...as a reminder to try and get back to it. Remember, you have a PLAN. You want to visit all the Red’s first. And yet, there definitely will be some booths you’re not familiar with that will play an important part of your visit. Follow the Yellow Brick Road. Well, what I mean is start at one end of the booth area; it doesn't matter which end...Aisle 100 or Aisle 1400. As a matter of fact, it’ll probably be less busy if you start at the end and work forward! But either way, you’re on the ‘road’ to
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success. You’re following your Plan. Meandering around without a plan will be confusing. You’ll duplicate areas and booths unnecessarily. 4. When you do get to the Red’s (the MUST SEES), know what you wanted. Jot it down by the booth number on the chart. (Example: “Meet BOB – he’s been great on the phone” OR “See if XXX is carrying the new widget.”) Let the booth personnel know exactly what and who you’re looking for. Be sure you have enough of your own business cards. Even if the show has provided you with a SWIPE card, you’ll need business cards. Often the booths are so busy you won’t want to wait to get ‘swiped,’ yet you’ll want to receive information. This way you can just hand someone a card or drop it in the fish bowl they may have provided. Double check your SWIPE card for accuracy when you first receive it. As a booth person, I have found mistakes the attendee wasn’t aware of. So the first time you run your swipe card through one of the machines, take the time to double check all the names, address, phones, faxes and emails. Take a SHARPIE along with you and write your name on the swipe card if it doesn't have it imprinted. Many an attendee has left their card behind at our booth...and there was no identification on it. So when you visit a Telephone Doctor Booth, we write your name on it for you if it's not there. It’s most appreciated. 7. Here’s a special tip we’ve learned over the years. We see so many attendees dragging a bag around with all sorts of material from booths they’ve visited. Some of the information they really want and need but most of it is material they’ll pitch ASAP. Try this technique. When you’re at a booth other than the RED – MUST VISITS…and they want you to take material – ask them to MAIL it to you. You can even ask the MUST SEE booths to mail you their material. Otherwise we’ve seen so many conference attendees dragging a bag around that they fully admit not only is too heavy…but they’ll pitch most of it at the hotel room when they get back. Who has that kind of time to go through everything; especially stuff that they’ll never need/want? Having the booth mail information to you is a good idea and has helped many attendees. Get the booths to mail you what they want you to see. It’s really better for them too. They can personalize the information to you & also you’ll have more time to read through it than you probably would have during the show. 8. Fun give-a-ways. You know…those are the premiums that the booths give you. A key chain, pen, pencil, magnet, etc. True, they’re there to take – but as an attendee we do need to remember that there are other attendees. I’ve had some attendees come back many times to pick up a few more premiums. As a booth professional we don’t say ‘no’, but we do think it’s a little nervy. If you really want more of a certain ‘trinket’… ask someone at the booth if they could save you a few, and you’ll come back towards the end of the show. We found
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that 80% of the attendees pick these things up for their kids or grandkids, and not themselves. Sort of like ‘free holiday shopping’. Not a big thing. But nice to be considerate. 9. Review what you’ve done and where you’ve been. Before the show ends…go to a quiet area to review how it’s going. Did you linger too long at one of the booths so that you won’t have time to get to those you really did want to see? It’s OK to make amends to your schedule. Remember too, to save some time for the unexpected. Those are the booths that you might not have thought would be of interest to you, but you find they were.
10. Most important. Have fun. Keep that smile on your face. Enjoy yourself. It’s just a trade show; you’re not buying real estate. It’s a great place to make new friends, and renew old friendships. Oh, by the way - - wear sneakers!!! ~~~~~~~~~~ Nancy Friedman is President of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training and a speaker at conferences around the world. Nancy will be a speaker at our 2004 conference. For more information on Telephone Doctor, log on to www.telephonedoctor.com or call 314 291 1012.
9 Ways to Gain the Competitive Edge
By Nancy Friedman Telephone Doctor NEW!! ATTITUDE Tight economy! Reduced staff! TRAINING COURSE Demanding customers! "These days it’s extra challenging to satisfy and keep customers," says Nancy Friedman, president of Telephone Doctor, Inc., an international customer service training company. "It’s even more important than ever because customer loyalty is generally considered the primary engine today to This powerful 25-minute retain sales levels and gain an DVD-based training advantage over the competition. It’s package will help your been this way for a long time; it’s just team understand that a getting more attention now," Nancy great attitude isn't continues. something which magically There are hundreds of ways to do happens. Successful people better. Here are 9 we like: who display a great 1. Know your product and attitude have made a services . . . inside and out. choice in advance about Not being knowledgeable frustrates how they'll handle life's customers. An uneducated employee is events. Your team will semi useless to a customer. Job learn the seven key steps knowledge is key in any position. If for to a positive workplace any reason your company doesn’t offer attitude. We invite you to job knowledge training, make it your preview this must-see own priority to find out as much as you training tool! can. Job knowledge is a key ingredient Click to request a noto serving customers. charge preview. 2. Believe in your product and services 150%. We know of a salesperson who has never had any formal sales training. However, based on the belief in the product, services and contagious enthusiasm, this person is a top seller. People LOVE to buy from people who get excited about their product. Customer service reps are sales people!!! 3. Walk the walk, talk the talk. Practice what you preach. A Ford dealer would not drive a GM car. Employees need to support their company’s product or services before they can expect their customers to have confidence in them. 4. Keep your word. Companies spend thousands, sometimes millions of dollars advertising their services and products. They tell the customer they are THE BEST, THE ONLY, they are NUMBER ONE. "WE GUARANTEE OUR WORK" isn’t enough. Customers need to know that you’ll do what you and your
advertising says you will. If you claim to provide the ‘best of anything,’ make sure you keep your word. And be sure all employees keep their word. Telling a customer something will be to them in 7 working days, and then having it NOT show up is a creditability buster. 5. Return all calls and emails. It boggles my mind when a call or an email is not returned. There’s not an excuse in the world I could buy when that happens. Sure, some of us get way too many calls and aren’t able to return them in a timely manner. Well, then have the call returned on your behalf.! Not returning an email? How much work does that take? DUH? 6. Don’t ever forget "who brought you to the dance." In other words, there are always customers who were with you from the start. They helped make your business a success. They believed in you. A nice simple note once in a while is an ego booster to them and you'll feel good about it too. 7. Make NO ULTERIOR MOTIVE CALLS or NOTES. Every once in a while, drop a note or make a phone call to customers (and prospective customers) without trying to 'sell' them something. Telephone Doctor labels those "no ulterior motive" calls. They're "just because" calls. . . and very welcomed. When was the last time you heard from a sales person or a company just to say HI? (See what I mean?) 8. Be in a good mood. All the time! Be the person that when the customer leaves or hangs up the phone, they think to themselves, "That was a great call/visit." Not in a good mood? Learn how to be. Remember one of our Telephone Doctor mottos: "A phony smile is better than a real frown." Do you really think the first runner up of the Ms. America contest is as "thrilled for the winner" as she says or shows she is? Talk about a great big phony smile!! 9. Participate in customer service training programs at your company. Sure you know how to be a good CSR. But everyone could use a refresher. And if there are no programs in place on customer service, ask for them. At best, you’ll be ahead of the competition, and at worst, you’ll at least be even with them. Customer Service is not a department. It is a philosophy. And it’s for the entire company. Everyone needs to embrace it - or it doesn’t work.