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Author Topic: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks  (Read 5010 times)

Ray Aberle

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2018, 11:28:23 AM »

- If you are teaching a class, then establishing yourself as an authority on the topic(s) being covered is important. Otherwise, people may not respect what you have to say. Giving background on yourself and your company is part of that process. I wouldn't call that a "sales pitch," so I think you're safe on that point!

- Re: collecting information for a giveaway or whatever- be very respectful with the attendee's information. Few things bother me more than signing up for a giveaway and finding a week later I've been added to that company's email marketing list. Be very clear as to what you are going to do with the information you gather. Personally, I think the proper procedure (when you obtain someone's email address in this manner) is to send //one// email post show, i.e. "Thanks for coming to my presentation! If you have any further questions about the topics we discussed, I would be happy to help in any way I can." Then, the ball is in their court to reach back out to you should they choose.

If you have an email marketing list, in this ONE post-conference email to the attendees, you can include "If you'd like to get more information regularly, I have this list you can sign up for. It comes out (frequency of emails) and is a great resource for you to follow the trends of the market, as well as stay in touch with what we're up to!" and then provide a subscribe link. By letting the user know how often the emails are sent out, they can make an informed decision as to whether or not it'll be too frequent for their preference. Remember, it only takes ONE complaint for Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc, to investigate your account, and their terms of service require (CC) or strongly recommend (MC) that you only have subscribers who have specifically opted in to receive your email marketing materials.

- Networking in general: People LOVE to talk about themselves. Make a mental note to ask more questions of the other person, as opposed to just starting into your personal sales pitch. "How long have you been an AV tech at your church?" "What's a fun show you did recently?" "How does it sound?" "What console are you mixing on?" (Followup, if you know the board, "How do you like (feature)?" If they don't know about this cool feature, now you've got an in to teach them something new while subtly establishing yourself as an expert.) In short, always have a good followup question to any of your initial questions-- this builds a conversation and adds to the rapport that you are establishing.

- Ask the other person for a card, as opposed to being all "here's my card." Gives them the opportunity to ask for your card, and in general indicates that you're more interested in getting to know them and their venue/company instead of wanting them to know about you. It's sneaky, but again, creates this unconscious thought in their mind that you're not trying to aggressively sell them anything.

-Ray
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Rob Spence

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2018, 01:43:09 PM »

I hate the trade show USB give aways. They are always too small to be useful. Many have junk or worse on them. To be inexpensive they are slow and won’t work to update most consoles which is about all you can do with a 4gb drive these days.

Yes, my grumpy is showing today...


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Scott Helmke

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2018, 01:49:23 PM »

The big thing to keep in mind is that the church market is all about building relationships. You might meet a church tech tomorrow, give them your card, then not hear from them in years.  The goal is to be one of those companies that they remember in five years when they finally have budget to do upgrades.  The upside is that a *lot* of church techs are volunteers or music people who really crave useful information directly related to their job, so this is definitely not a place to hoard your "secret" tricks.

You don't have to be religious to serve this market, you just need to understand their needs and not chase them off with a rock&roll attitude.
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Dave Garoutte

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #13 on: June 20, 2018, 04:49:31 PM »

If you're going to spend time in a booth, get a comfy pad to stand on.  Many hours on concrete will do in your feet and back.  Bring a bar stool or two with a back.
Often, anything you can't hand carry in, the venue will charge you for their burly boys bringing it in.
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Scott Helmke

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #14 on: June 20, 2018, 06:22:06 PM »

I hate the trade show USB give aways. They are always too small to be useful. Many have junk or worse on them. To be inexpensive they are slow and won’t work to update most consoles which is about all you can do with a 4gb drive these days.

Swag Sharpies always seem to make techs smile.
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Nathan Riddle

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #15 on: June 21, 2018, 03:45:01 PM »

I hate the trade show USB give aways.

I was thinking 8GB drives to be more useful, but its rather expensive and you make good points. I'm re-thinking this.

Swag Sharpies always seem to make techs smile.

Sharpies/Pens might be a better idea. I love my Shure & EAW & Danley pens/sharpies, better pens than I usually buy...

If you're going to spend time in a booth, get a comfy pad to stand on.  Many hours on concrete will do in your feet and back.  Bring a bar stool or two with a back.
Often, anything you can't hand carry in, the venue will charge you for their burly boys bringing it in.

This is genius, thanks!

- If you are teaching a class, then establishing yourself as an authority on the topic(s) being covered is important. Otherwise, people may not respect what you have to say. Giving background on yourself and your company is part of that process. I wouldn't call that a "sales pitch," so I think you're safe on that point!

That's what I was imagining in the introduction/about me part of the class. I just don't want to dwell on it.

- Re: collecting information for a giveaway or whatever- be very respectful with the attendee's information. Few things bother me more than signing up for a giveaway and finding a week later I've been added to that company's email marketing list. Be very clear as to what you are going to do with the information you gather. Personally, I think the proper procedure (when you obtain someone's email address in this manner) is to send //one// email post show, i.e. "Thanks for coming to my presentation! If you have any further questions about the topics we discussed, I would be happy to help in any way I can." Then, the ball is in their court to reach back out to you should they choose.

If you have an email marketing list, in this ONE post-conference email to the attendees, you can include "If you'd like to get more information regularly, I have this list you can sign up for. It comes out (frequency of emails) and is a great resource for you to follow the trends of the market, as well as stay in touch with what we're up to!" and then provide a subscribe link. By letting the user know how often the emails are sent out, they can make an informed decision as to whether or not it'll be too frequent for their preference. Remember, it only takes ONE complaint for Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc, to investigate your account, and their terms of service require (CC) or strongly recommend (MC) that you only have subscribers who have specifically opted in to receive your email marketing materials.

Good points, I'm not really at the point to have an email marketing list or email more people. I think I'll probably skip trying to get people's info.  I like your below method more/better.

- Networking in general: People LOVE to talk about themselves. Make a mental note to ask more questions of the other person, as opposed to just starting into your personal sales pitch. "How long have you been an AV tech at your church?" "What's a fun show you did recently?" "How does it sound?" "What console are you mixing on?" (Followup, if you know the board, "How do you like (feature)?" If they don't know about this cool feature, now you've got an in to teach them something new while subtly establishing yourself as an expert.) In short, always have a good followup question to any of your initial questions-- this builds a conversation and adds to the rapport that you are establishing.

- Ask the other person for a card, as opposed to being all "here's my card." Gives them the opportunity to ask for your card, and in general indicates that you're more interested in getting to know them and their venue/company instead of wanting them to know about you. It's sneaky, but again, creates this unconscious thought in their mind that you're not trying to aggressively sell them anything.

-Ray

Oh this is exactly what I needed. Extremely practical, KISS statements/questions to get/keep the ball rolling and making them feel awesome and like I care (cuz I do).

As always, Ray, well thought out. Thanks!

It doesn't have to be a negative experience and you're not pitching to a captive audience of 1 person.

The point is to reduce whatever info into 30 seconds or less.  Become an economizer with words.

I stand corrected. Elevator speech it is, then asking them about themselves ;)
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Nathan Riddle

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #16 on: August 08, 2018, 03:57:59 PM »

Just wanted to update this post with how things went.

I used both Ray's and Tim's suggestions to help myself not stand there :)

I asked people questions about their church and mostly listened to what they wanted to do.

I just did basic pens and business cards, pens were a hit though.

Art Nadelman joined me in my booth with his A&H dLive & SQ & touchscreens and we had a good time getting to know eachother and Jeff Lelko drove 2 hrs!! to have dinner with me we also had a great time!

Those are the better (stronger?) connections I made that weekend.
The speech went well.
I accomplished my goals of improving myself and representing my company and making connections.

Thanks all!

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James Feenstra

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #17 on: August 08, 2018, 04:37:40 PM »

Many shows have scanners for attendee badges to eliminate the need to collect cards in a bowl.  I don't know if they're at additional cost, though.
When it comes to doing trade shows, everything is an additional cost...I've done many a trade show booth and they are NOT cheap. Lead retrieval systems are usually in the $1000 or so range.
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Dave Pluke

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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #18 on: August 13, 2018, 09:17:31 PM »

Lead retrieval systems are usually in the $1000 or so range.

Good to know.  Guess the ol' "toss your business card into the fishbowl to win a prize" gambit still has a place.

Dave
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Re: Trade show / Conference (church) Tips 'n Tricks
« Reply #18 on: August 13, 2018, 09:17:31 PM »


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