How
to use Exhibitions for Market Research and Encourage Sales
It won't surprise you to know that for many people
'selling' is their least favourite occupation. However, as
with any business skill, selling is a skill that you can
develop and improve - and even, dare I say, start to enjoy. If
you work in the voluntary or not-for-profit sector, you may be
selling a concept and a 'sale' may take the form of a
commitment of support from a stakeholder or potential funder.
An exhibition - possibly one held in the foyer of a major
conference on a relevant topic - could provide an excellent
opportunity to promote and sell your organisation. The
advantage of an exhibition is that the prospects come to you,
but you need to maximise this advantage and spending a little
time planning how you are going to sell and market your
organisation from your stand will help you get the best
results. Don't just go along and see what happens - set
yourself some objectives and work out how you are going to
achieve them.
An exhibition provides a good opportunity to collect names
for a database of prospects that you can contact at a later
date. Always tell people why you are collecting their details,
and the easiest way is to have a form prepared in advance for
them to fill in, which briefly explains how you plan to use
the information they are providing.
An exhibition stand is also an excellent way of doing a
little market research amongst customers or stakeholders, and
asking for their opinion on e.g. current activities, or just
by finding out a bit more about the people who are potential
users or funders of your services. The more you understand
your customer, the easier selling becomes.
To achieve a good result, you need to understand the
'decision process' that people go through when deciding
whether or not to buy or to make another form of commitment.
AIDA stands for the 4 stages of that process - Attention,
Interest, Desire, and Action - and by helping people move
through these stages will increase your chances of success.
Attention -The design of your stand and the display
are obviously key factors in attracting people. Various
marketing techniques such as sending our invitations in
advance or including literature in the delegate pack can help
to boost visitors to your stand.
Interest - Once someone has expressed interest, you
need to engage him or her and build on that interest. Your aim
should be to develop a natural conversation with the customer
about what you are selling. Remember that, ultimately, people
buy benefits - what benefits are you offering?
Desire - The more you can spark someone's interest,
the better chance you have of moving him or her towards a
commitment. Asking questions is important - the best kinds of
questions are the ones that start Who? What? How? When? Where?
as they don't invite just a Yes/No response.
Action - This is the point where they decide if they
are interested in what you are offering. You also need to be
clear what your objective is at this point - is the result you
are looking for an agreed date for a meeting to discuss their
support? Or are you looking for a greater level of commitment
at this stage? This is the point at which you may have to ask
outright for their business - many opportunities are lost
simply because no-one actually asked for the business or for a
commitment of support.
If
you are interested in finding out more about using market
research to identify, measure and keep in touch with your
customers contact Fiona.Ballantyne@4-consulting.com
Fiona Ballantyne is a director of 4-consulting, click here to view
her
profile.
