Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2009-05-19 20:45:34 - Graham Ellis
I congratulate Trowbridge Chamber of Commerce on their Business to Business event ... which I attended this morning. The Trowbridge Civic Centre packed with booths - a chance to re-make old acquaintances, network, and meet some new faces. And also a chance to look at how others present themselves, to learn what to do from some of them ... and (regrettably) what NOT to do from many of the others.
The exhibition had been open less than an hour ... and the marketing had been 'front loaded' to encourage people to come at the beginning - and yet these two stands had no customers on them. Why not? Probably because there was no-one representing the company on the stand either! If I was a manager at Travail, I don't think I would have been pleased that my staff had left the booth unmanned ... as an outsider, I see a supreme irony in a Recruitment Agency who's own staff walk off (or appeared to have walked off) the job ... but then with some 40 branches, the managers can't be everywhere.
As ever, there were the well staffed booths where the staff were more intent on talking with each other than to visitors walking by and looking at what they had on their stands. There were the booths where a single salesman was standing to defend the entrance to his space, fearful that someone would board and ask a question. And there were the booths where the sale team went into their routine, or allowed themselves to be lead, without even asking their visitor who he / she was, or what he / she was interested in ... I see such things, and they're common to many shows, and I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
But in fact I'm going to celebrate; scattered amongst the stands were some which were staffed by people who listened, who engaged in a dialogue, and who I look forward ... perhaps ... to meeting in the future. As a business to business event, I now know something of what they offer ... I have some cards, some names, some possible contacts; nothing earth-shattering but good background. And the listeners also know of training course and a hotel just up the way in Melksham, even if "we always use the Harington's in Bath because ...". And there were / are a handful of particularly impressive people who really put the contact / customer first.
A final thought - isn't it notable that I've talked about the staff and the interaction, and not mentioned their products? There were a number of stands which to some extent competed with one another. Guess which ones I would be inclined to do business with!
The exhibition had been open less than an hour ... and the marketing had been 'front loaded' to encourage people to come at the beginning - and yet these two stands had no customers on them. Why not? Probably because there was no-one representing the company on the stand either! If I was a manager at Travail, I don't think I would have been pleased that my staff had left the booth unmanned ... as an outsider, I see a supreme irony in a Recruitment Agency who's own staff walk off (or appeared to have walked off) the job ... but then with some 40 branches, the managers can't be everywhere.