There are some self-employed professionals who spend a lot
of time and money attending Expo's. They'll grab 5,000
business cards, get tri-color brochures printed, and
network at every booth until their feet wear out. But, they
still don't attract the exact target audience that will do
anything and pay anything to work with them. You know this
type of person, because they'll tell you that their doing
all the "right marketing" and yet producing no real results
at the Expo. (Hey, is this you I'm talking about?)
You might say to yourself, "Well, what am I doing wrong?"
Since I actually get asked this a lot, here is what I've
discovered. Expo's differ from networking events in that
most of the adults at the event will want to do business
with one another, but most of the time not. Most of the
time they are your direct competition or your strategic
alliance. But keep in mind...you will find a few clients in
all this activity.
So, The Key to Client Communication at these events is to
know something new about the industry that the average
professional does not know. Most folks who attend Expo's
make a CLIENT KILLER mistake by talking about themselves,
before asking engaging questions. Yak...yak...yak. So your
chance for a high-trust connection just went down the drain.
You've heard me say it before, that there is an outer
strategy of marketing, and an inner strategy. If you got
the brouchures, the business cards, the suit, the haircut,
the bright white teeth, but you don't have a set of
memorized engaging questions to ask...then you are going to
blow your opportunity to connect with clients at an Expo.
This by far is my most effective strategy to work on with
my clients. Why? Because when you begin a conversation at
an Expo with: Have you heard about so-in-so? How has X or Y
affected your business?.....you are asking someone for
their advice or their wisdom. And, when you ask an adult
for their professional experience, you ALWAYS have a
greater chance of making a connection that attracts clients.
Remember, the key here is to cultivate relationships first,
then shift to explaining what line of work you're in and
the results your clients get.
So, here's an Expo strategy that will leave you feeling
energized, instead of burnt out:
1. First, seek out the vendors who are your exact target
audience to visit. Do not market yourself to everyone!
2. Then, connect with the speakers to hear their experience
and how it has impacted your line of work.
3. You could ask the speaker who the organizer is, so that
you can determine if you can speak the next time around.
4. Why not seek out the media, and take advantage of an
interview?
5. Last but not least...trade your business cards and
information with other Expo attendees who are not your
ideal clients.
One final thought. Depending on the ethnic or regional
culture that is attending the Expo, don't be fooled if
adults seem to be interested in your business. For example,
there are Asian cultures who will politely listen to you,
in order to save face, and then do their best to forget
about you when you walk away. Just remember to seek out
your target audience first, then watch their body language
as you ask engaging questions. If they appear to enjoy
speaking with you, then you have a connection.
----------------------------------------------------
Kim Schott, your Global Client Communication Expert, is the
author of the Keys to Client Communication System, the
step-by-step, paint by numbers client communication program
to attract more clients in less time. To receive your
weekly how-to articles on consistantly attracting more
local and global clients in less time, visit
http://www.SchottCulturalConsulting.com
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