Patience, Persistence and Passion

Over the past few weeks I've been in several situations that all lend themselves to human interaction. And while they are very divergent activities (a wedding, a fishing trip and a meeting with my management), several themes rang true. These same themes lend themselves to face-to-face marketing and trade shows.

1. Patience.
2. Persistence.
3. Passion.

A wedding is the ultimate event when it comes to planning. There is every detail to attend to on a schedule rivaling a space shuttle launch. And let's not talk about budget. Everyone involved had to be patient, there was a persistence in making sure we all followed through with our respective roles and the passion with which it was all orchestrated goes without saying.

When our company's management came to town for an annual review, the same attributes were present: we had been persistent in meeting our goals, they had been patient with us in meeting them (and reporting them) and it was evident we had a pasion for the work we were doing for the company.

The fishing trip was the ultimate example, however: no one can sit in a boat waiting for a fish and braving the elements without being patient, persisting despite the bugs and rain and they sure must have passion for the sport.

I know this more of a "think piece" than usual, but I didn't want the lesson lost on us in the trade show industry:

1. We must be patient with our managers as well as our customers.
2. We must be persistent in promoting our view that trade shows are integral to the business cause of the company.
3. We must continue to have a passion for the work that we do.

TTSG

The Booth Staff Meeting

The show is about to start, so it's time to gather the staff for a briefing before the attendees flood onto the show floor. At NACStech, we had a staff of about 12 for the 7 workstations. The meeting was led by the two main sales people for the business unit. We took 15 minutes to brief them on three key topics and take a quick tour of the booth:

1. How to take and record leads.
2. Booth etiquette, rules and expectations.
3. Customers and others to expect in the booth.

A quick tour taking them to each station confirmed who was to demo what product or offering at each station.

How to take and record leads. We emphasized that leads are why we are at the show. We demo'd the lead device, scanning a badge, showing them how to fill out and attach the comment form and where to stow the finished lead. (for the record, the first day yielded 54 contacts, which is actually up by about 30% over last year's show).

Booth etiquette, rules and expectations. No eating, no drinking, smoking, talking on cell phones or congregating needlessly. Engage the customer, deliver the messages you've been coached with, and qualify people before gathering the lead.

Customers and others to expect in the booth. The sales guys gave us a short list of which top customers would be by and what demos they expected to be shown. We also advised the team that press and media should be directed to the VP of Marketing or me.

The first day went well. Looking forward to the second day.

Lesson learned: plan your work and work your plan.

TTSG