I love Kim Duke, aka The Sales Diva. She's smart, sassy, and a boatload of fun.
She appeared recently on a teleclass for my mastermind group, and I've been a fan of her newsletter for months. Anywho, I've only recently discovered her blog, and Kim's recent post on conventions really got me going.
I just completed a Women's Expo in my local market - it's one of the big events I used to attract new customers each year. It keeps me out of my family and friends, puts me in front of new people, and grows my business handsomely - and for a minimal investment, it's DEFINITELY worth the time.
But you have to do it right. And Kim's post is dead on the money.
For almost a year now, I've been doing a particular type of activity at my booth that draws in attendees - and sends them out advertising for my booth. It works well, and every consultant that works with me walks away with warm leads they can use - and new shows on their calendar. All in a no pressure, fun and inventive way.
But as I walked around the event, there were other consultants not so savvy.
I walked into a candle booth, and within 60 seconds of starting a conversation, she had asked me to book a party, asked me why I wouldn't book a party, and shoved her information in my face. I stepped into her booth admiring her display. I wanted to compliment her and even offer to email her a picture of it (It was REALLY nice and I had my camera with me), but I changed my mind and made a bee-line for the aisle.
This is what most consultants dread: being pushy. This girl did it in spades.
A better approach? Try asking me if I've heard of the company. Ask questions about what I like from your display? THEN tell me if that item's on special. ENGAGE me BEFORE you try to sell me.
Then it's not being pushy, it's being helpful. Only AFTER you've tried to help me do you offer to book a show or take an order - or recruit me.
Seriously. I went to another booth, and within seconds, the lady was telling me that for only $250 I could sign up that very minute and become a consultant - for a product I didn't even understand. I stopped because the sign said lose 3-4 inches in 45 minutes. Heck - who wouldn't stop for that? But she didn't even give me a chance to ask about the sign until AFTER she tried (poorly, I might add) to recruit me.
Give me a chance to know what the product is about, people! Let me know how it works. Get me as excited as YOU are about it, THEN try to sign me up. People join opportunities for two primary reasons (and a third reason that should be primary):
1. they LOVE the product
2. they LOVE the way you work and believe you can help them be successful
3. they believe they can make money as a consultant, or that they'll at least get a return on their investment.
It's not always in that order - in fact, many times, it's YOU they sign up for, not the money or the product. They want to work with YOU.
But when I returned to my booth - I was witnessing the same thing!
GADZOOKS!
Two consultants from another team had signed up to work the event with me. And there they were out in the aisle asking people to book before they had even gotten into the booth! Don't get me wrong, if someone knows your product and is ready to book a show right on the spot, then by all means go for it, but these ladies had deviated from the plan... then they started to complain that people weren't as responsive as they had hoped.
So I suggested moving back into the booth and inviting people in to try our incredibly wonderful products.
Funny... things started to turn around.
Yes it's a little more work on the front end to invite, encourage and engage potential customers, but the rewards are far greater, too. I walked out with 5 recruit leads, 3 parties confirmed and 12 more to pass to my team for follow up. I had so many leads I couldn't handle them all!
And people were coming back to our booth because of the other visitors to our booth wearing free advertising for us!
I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but then you don't need a chainsaw to sift through hundreds of leads.
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