Hey , 

 

First camping trip of the year coming up in a few days when I get together with a bunch of rapidly aging radio cohorts from decades ago. We've done this gathering for years - except for last year - so we're excited to do it again.

 

How about you? Are you planning a little travel this summer, either by plane or by car? How about train? Trains are cool. I've done at least a handful of train trips and would love to do more.

 

The last couple of weeks have seen a few new things on TradeshowGuy Blog. A new "quick" video showing follow-up tips; also articles on the roadmap to tradeshow marketing success, and how your exhibit configuration must remain fluid.

Soundtrack for this week's issue: Smashing Pumpkins' "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness." I've never followed Smashing Pumpkins too close, but last year I sat and listened to this album from 1995 all the way through and came away impressed. It's an expansive triple album/double CD that started when the band went into the studio with more than four dozen songs written by lead singer/songwriter Billy Corgan. He was trying to create "The Wall for Generation X." I don't know if he succeeded but it's pretty fun to listen to. Stream it here on Spotify.

 

This is why some companies get a bad rap! Our colleague here at Shepard Presentations, Nate Jones, shared a story about something that recently happened to his father. This is a great customer service training lesson. He bought a new car. About a month later he’s in a parking lot and the car won’t start. So, he calls the dealership’s customer service number, which was actually a support center for all of that brand’s dealerships in the U.S. – maybe even the world.

The call started off okay, but quickly derailed into one of those, “You won’t believe this” kind of stories. After a little troubleshooting over the phone, the customer support agent said, “I’m sorry, you’ll have to take the car in to the dealership.”

One BIG problem. He couldn’t get the car started. But you knew that, and let’s all assume the customer service agent knew it, too. But rather than show empathy and make the suggestion that the car would have to be towed to the dealership, this rep simply said to take the car to the dealership, ignoring the fact that the car wouldn’t start. That was until the customer said, “I would if I could get the car started.” Her response was, “Oh. Sorry about that.”

It was obvious that this rep was trained to tell the customer that when the problem couldn’t be solved over the phone to make an appointment to take the car to the dealer. It probably wasn’t an actual script, but it was an answer she was trained to use.

 

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Jeff Bajorek:

 

One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that if you can say the right thing to the right person at the right time, they will buy from you. This just isn’t true as often as you’d like it to be. The truth is, that selling is a process, not a one-time event, and you have to treat it as such.

So what does success look like for that cold call or email? Do you feel like you need to walk away with a firm next step and an appointment on the schedule in order to feel good about it? If so, then you’re being way too unfair to yourself. I believe that the only field sales call is one where you didn’t learn something. As long as you come away with a small piece of information that will help you on a later sales call, it’s a win. 

Play the long game. No step is too small if it’s headed in the right direction. Just keep taking steps. Every one of those little wins is a step forward, and those steps and add up very quickly. That momentum forward becomes very tough to overcome, and you sell more and more effectively the further it carries you. 

 

What to Do If Your Tradeshow Booth is Overwhelmed With Visitors? It's a good problem to have, right?

 

Care and Feeding of Tradeshow Exhibits. It's not exactly like a pet, but it ain't that far off, either!