Do Your Prospects and Customers Really Know What You Do?

Author:

Keith Reznick

Many of your customers will source the products/services you sell from other suppliers simply because they don’t know that they can buy them from your company. More often than not, the older the supplier/customer relationship, the greater the probability that:

The supplier has not continuously provided the customer with current information about new products and services; and
The customer has ‘pigeonholed’ the supplier and does not consider the supplier for products and services outside the pigeonhole.

Whether you are looking to grow your business by selling more to existing customers, developing new customers or both, it is important that your prospects and customers know what your current products, services, solutions, and capabilities are and how you can help them succeed.

If you surveyed your existing customers, what percentage would be able to describe your current products, services, or solutions? If the answer is less than 100%, there is a Perception Gap – the gap between the:

Current Perceptions – How your company, products, services and people are currently perceived; and
Desired Perceptions – How you want and need to be perceived to accomplish your marketing and sales objectives.

Participation in shows and events provides companies with an excellent opportunity to close the Perception Gap and ensure that marketplace perceptions are updated and accurate. Updated and accurate perceptions often lead to: (1) the acquisition of new customers; (2) improved customer retention; (3) the creation of cross-selling opportunities; and (4) incremental revenues and profits.

Another way to see if there’s a gap between current and desired perceptions is to ask your sales representatives if they have recently had the following conversation with one of their best customers:

Customer: “I just bought X from (one of your competitors).”
Salesperson: “Why didn’t you order it from me?”
Customer: “I didn’t know you sold those. I’d have preferred to order from you.”

The longer the relationship between buyer and seller – the more comfortable buyer and seller are with each other – the higher the probability that: (1) the customer’s perception is dated; and (2) they are buying products and services from your competitors that they could be buying from your company. Customers can’t buy, rent, recommend or spec your products and services if they don’t have updated and accurate information about what you offer.

Key Messages and Brands

Every verbal and visual interaction with your target audience(s) – prior to, at, and after a show or event – is an excellent opportunity to update marketplace perceptions. Studies have found that it is often a buyer’s interpretation (perception) of a brand and its value that guides their decision to purchase one brand over another.

Key messages support, help define, and are integral to a company’s brand. Retention of your company’s key messages will improve if they are:

Simple (as few words as possible) and timeless;
Clearly defined and easily remembered;
Reinforced through repetition and experience; and
Consistent with how you want your company, products, services, and solutions to be perceived and remembered.

Promoting your company (and conveying your key messages) prior to, at, and after a show increases the probability that your target audience will: (1) visit your exhibit; (2) remember your company, brand, and key messages; (3) perceive your company as you want and need to be perceived; and (4) consider your company the next time they make a purchase recommendation or decision.

The people staffing your exhibit need to understand the importance of conveying your key messages and be skilled enough to weave them into each attendee conversation as appropriate. If your exhibit workers can’t (or for whatever reason don’t) articulate your messages, chances are good your target audience and marketplace won’t be able to either.

Some companies have a different message for each product or service they sell. Existing and potential customers can get confused when a company sends too many messages, or the messages are not aligned with one another. A single message, or a ‘family’ of a few messages, is more easily remembered than diverse messages that don’t tie together in one way or another. A corporate brand can serve as an ‘umbrella’ for all of the various products, services, and solutions a company offers. The more consistent the message, the more it is repeated, the greater the probability that:

Marketplace perceptions will be updated and accurate;
Your company will be remembered as you want and need to be remembered; and
You will accomplish more of your marketing and sales objectives.

When your exhibit workers consistently convey your key messages and the attendees with whom they interact leave your exhibit with updated and accurate information about your company and brand, you will improve the return on your efforts and investments in shows and events.

Keith Reznick is a sales trainer and president of Creative Training Solutions. He may be reached at 856-784-3466 or keith@creativetraining.com. Visit www.creativetraining.com to learn more about helping your internal and external customers succeed and visit www.tradeshowadvantage.com to learn more about how to help your exhibit staff differentiate your company through superior service at your next show or event.

Keith and Ed Jones recently created two important training modules titled "The Trade Show Advantage™ Online Exhibit Staff Orientation" and "The Trade Show Advantage™ Pre-Show Meeting Kit" which were reviewed by Jose Sancen in an article titled Should On-line Training Completely Replace a Pre-Show Briefing? in AboutFace, Vol 1, No 10.