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Winning customers with prospecting seminars
"It’s ten times more difficult to get customers as it was ten years ago," exclaimed the marketing director of a major corporation’s eastern region. "Our sales reps are working harder than ever and complaining more that our prices are too high." He’s not alone. The chorus is getting louder. Those waiting for conditions to change may be in for a surprise. The reconfiguration of the business environment may not be diminishing overall selling opportunities, but making the sale will not be getting easier. Hundreds of books have been written on how to overcome the basic protagonist-antagonist tension that exists between seller and buyer. Countless seminars have offered myriad techniques for overcoming the same problem. The salesperson as consultant, helping prospects achieve their objectives, is one attempt to break down the seller-buyer barrier and bring both parties to the same side of the table. Relationship selling is another method of trying to get closer to the customer before the buying issue arises. Although this approach of building on common ground with the customer seems to be surfacing again, it seems more appropriate for a day now past. In between these two approaches are numerous variations. But they all have the same goal: to make the sale. With their unavoidable transparency of purpose, they all fail. This is where the prospecting seminar can play an important role in the selling process. It can be a successful way for a salesperson to overcome the problem of the customer feeling manipulated, used and "sold." However, the prospecting seminar is not simply a variation of "seminar selling." The objective is not to bait the hook or to get the customer caught in some cleverly woven web. The goal of the prospecting seminar is to share knowledge and information with customers and prospects. Specifically, the task is to demonstrate that the salesperson and the company possess an understanding of the customer’s business and that they have the necessary expertise and experience to make a significant and lasting difference to the customer. In effect, the prospecting seminar overcomes the negative conditions of the selling situation by creating a meaningful opportunity for a salesperson to become a genuine consultant and to develop a valid relationship with prospects based on knowledge. In the seminar setting, prospects are given a chance to evaluate the company and the salesperson in a way that makes sound business sense. If, as a result of the seminar experience, prospects conclude that the ideas and concepts expressed will enhance their business, the environment has been established for making the sale. The prospecting seminar can also broaden the participant’s awareness. Astute accounting firms hold annual tax seminars for both customers and prospects to demonstrate that the accountants are current and have specific strategies for minimizing tax liabilities. For present clients, such a session confirms the wisdom of doing business with the firm, while the prospect may get the feeling that a new relationship might be appropriate. Following are 13 guidelines for developing, implementing and benefiting from prospecting seminars.1. Make the topic timely—for the customer. Don’t fall into the trap of creating seminar topics because they are of interest to you or your sales manager! They will fail. Get inside the heads of customers and figure out what they are interested in. For example, a vision systems company has developed an excellent seminar on "Avoiding Product Returns," a pertinent topic for both executives, production, and quality assurance people. 2. Never run more than two hours. Of course, no topic can be fully developed in such a short period. But a prospecting seminar is not a graduate-level course. Its purpose is to share important, vital information in a way that demonstrates a company’s competence, and to do it in a brief, concise period. Remember that the people you want to attend are busy. Respect their time by giving them top-quality information in the time they are willing to make available. 3. Keep it businesslike. Forget about food and liquor. Send the message that this is business. Serve coffee, juice, fruit and Danish in the morning. If it is later in the day, sodas and cookies are fine. The goal is to demonstrate that you have an important message. Make the subject the focus of the event. 4. Make the information entertaining. Businesslike does not mean dull. If anyone gets bored, you have lost the prospect as a potential customer and the present customer may have doubts about doing business with you. A prospecting seminar should be an upbeat, enjoyable experience. 5. Leave participants wanting more. If too much material is presented, participants feel overwhelmed. An effective prospecting seminar should stimulate questions and requests for additional information. When this happens, the participants are, in fact, announcing that they regard you as a valuable resource. 6. Give them something they can talk about. An organization specializing in the creation and implementation of safety programs sends prospects home with specific examples of businesses that were forced to pay large OSHA fines. This is particularly sobering for owners, managers, and safety personnel because those fines eat into profits. Prospecting seminar participants should leave with one or two important ideas that they can talk about later. When this happens, they feel that the seminar had value. 7. Keep sessions small. There should be enough participants so no one is uncomfortable, yet small enough so everyone feels important. Depending on the topic, anywhere from 10 to 20 people can be appropriate, although there may be occasions when 50 or more might attend, perhaps if you are having a noted speaker. 8. Be industry-specific. Perhaps you have expertise for servicing machine shops. A prospecting seminar is an unusual opportunity to demonstrate the specific issues related to this particular type of business. This also gives you a chance to craft an image as the expert in a special field 9. Tell them everything you know. The more you tell them, the better. Candor impresses prospects, and it lets the listener discover what you know. The listeners can spot fluff and puff when they hear them. If they think you are holding back in an effort to get them to take a next step before getting the whole story, you will never do business with them. 10. Avoid anything that sounds like a sales pitch. Yes, there is one sale that must be made at a prospecting seminar: the goal is for participants to come away believing that you know what you’re talking about and that the message has validity for them. But this is quite different from turning a prospecting seminar into a sales session. If you do a good job at a seminar, there will be opportunities for making a sale. 11. Allow no one to leave empty-handed. Handouts are always helpful as long as they are helpful. Brochures and sales materials should provide additional information. Prepare packets and have them ready at the end of the session. 12. Ask their opinions. Have an information form for everyone to fill out before leaving. The questions might include:
Be sure to collect the forms before your participants leave the room. 13. Work hard on the follow-up. Every participant should receive an appreciation letter within 40 hours of the session. This letter should refer to the individual’s specific comments on the information form. The letter should also set forth how you are going to work with the prospect in the weeks and months ahead. For example, you may want to point out that the prospect fits the profile of your company’s customers, and that you will be staying in close touch through newsletters, other seminars, and personal contact. You might want to suggest in the letter that your goal is to become a valuable resource for the prospect and that at an appropriate time, the prospect may want to do business with you. The post-seminar task is to let the prospects know that you will be working to create opportunities for you to enter their orbit. The prospecting seminar is an efficient way to demonstrate the salesperson’s ability to be a consultant and to create and build meaningful relationships. More than many other activities, it is an effective—even essential—technique for identifying prospects, building a prospect base and creating a positive selling environment. |
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