Begging For Benefits

If someone asks why he should buy your product, can you provide a concise reason? Not everyone can.

At a green building conference, I stopped by a booth featuring organic roofs. Essentially, the vendor was selling plastic bins to hold soil. Put the bins on the roof and voila, it’s a “green” roof.

I thought it was interesting because it created a way to get some use out of unused space. For one of our company team building activities we participate in a local community garden. At lunch, we walk over and tend the garden, which yields tomatoes, squash, peppers, spices, etc. It would be more convenient if the garden was on our roof, though I doubt the hundred year old roof could handle the weight.

I listened as the exhibitor explained the product to a prospect. The prospect asked why he would want a green roof.

“You just gotta want it,” explained the exhibitor.

“Does it cut my utility costs?” asked the prospect.

“Not really.”

“Does it save me money?”

“Well, no.”

“Why would I want a green roof?”

“You just gotta want it.”

The prospect was practically begging the exhibitor for a benefit. I was surprised a green roof didn’t cut utility expense, but maybe it’s better to simply paint the roof white. Nevertheless, I thought of several benefits on the spot. The exhibitor might have talked about the value of a roof garden for making a property more attractive for tenants or employees, asked how much it costs to buy open space near his building, and if he believed that created a roof garden might not make the property more valuable. I bet ten minutes effort with Google would turn up dozens of other benefits that are better than, “You just gotta want it.”

How about you? Do you have a concise reason why someone should do business with your company? How about a second and third reason? How about the products and services you sell?

Booth Babes Are Distractions

Whenever I attend a trade show, there's guaranteed to be one or more booths with "booth babes," who are local models or actresses hired to dress provocatively and stand in an exhibitor's booth. Why are they there?

Presumably, booth babes attract prospects to the booth. In reality, they attract suspects... people suspected of being buyers, but who come to the booth to look at the booth babes, not to buy.

As a rule, booth babes hurt exhibitors. Real prospects are looking for information. Booth babes and the people they attract simply get in the way, driving prospects to go away.

Some prospects will avoid the booth simply because they don't want anyone to even think they are attracted by the booth babes. This is especially true if the prospect is male and attending the show with a spouse.

Visiting a booth with booth babes conflicts with the value system of others. Seriously, I've heard plumbers complain openly about a woman "on display" at a plumbing show. And the plumbers who were complaining ran large companies. They were the heavy hitters every exhibitor wanted.

Another issue with booth babes is the effect on an exhibitor's staff. I've seen the staff focused on the booth babe rather than the prospects.

Face it. Booth babes are a distraction. They may attract a crowd, but not the right crowd. Ditto for celebrities or a hot sports car, which is the mechanical equivalent of a booth babe (unless the car is being given away at the show).

There are exceptions. The exceptions are when the booth babe is part of a live marketing program that reinforces the message of the booth. An example is the cave woman hired by Juan Cardona (JC Heating and Cooling in Crossroads, WV) who pops out of a cave he creates to reinforce the Jurassic air conditioner theme, encouraging homeowners to register for his oldest air conditioner contest. Click here to download a free turnkey oldest appliance kit from the Service Roundtable.

Probably the worst  aspect of using a booth babe as eye candy is the messages the exhibitor sends without realizing it...

• "I have nothing interesting to offer so I'm using a booth babe to drive traffic."
  
  
• "I think so little of my prospects' intelligence, character, and motivation that I believe a booth babe will drive sales."

Whether at a trade show or a home show, booth babes are distractions.

Ignoring Prospects at Trade Shows

Photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyeliam/ / CC BY 2.0

It's expensive to attend a trade show or home show.  The costs ratchet up with each increase in the size of the booth and the number of employees attending the show.  So why do so many exhibitors ignore prospects?

Yesterday, a team from the Service Roundtable spent nearly seven hours at the AHR Show in Orlando.  We were focused.  We had an agenda and a mission.  We were very conscious of time. 

Yet, time after time, we walked into booths and were totally ignored by exhibitor employees who were engaged in conversation with each other!  The most irritating instance was the employee who was actively engaged in deep conversation with the rented "booth babe" while ignoring us (more on "booth babes" later).

To get the attention of employees at some booths required us to interrupt the employees' conversations.  As a rule, these tended to be the biggest booths with the most employees.  I can remember two instances of actually thanking people for taking the time to talk with us.

Why exhibit at all if you're going to ignore (and irritate) prospects?

The Oldest Appliance Contest - FREE

As you get ready for the fall home shows, it's a great time to consider running an Oldest Furnace Contest or Oldest Water Heater Contest.

In the early 1990s, I came up with the idea of giving away a furnace at a home show to the homeowner with the oldest furnace, provided the winner paid for the installation. When a contractor ran the oldest furnace contest, it was determined to be one of the most, if not the most successful home show promotions in the history of the HVAC industry.

The simple beauty of the contest was that every lead was a qualified lead. Everyone who registered knew he had an old furnace. Everyone who registered was willing to pay something (i.e., the installation cost) if he won. So, what do you call someone who knows he's got an old furnace (possibly the oldest in the area) and is willing to spend money to get a new one installed? I call him a qualified prospect.

I've presented the oldest furnace concept as part of Comanche Marketing presentations for more than a decade. HVAC contractors have run the contest for furnaces and air conditioners. Plumbing contractors have run oldest water heater contests.

I packaged the necessary elements from the Service Roundtable's content library, made them available in one, easy to implement program, and decided to GIVE IT AWAY. There are no strings. There is no catch. You can download everything you need for "The Greatest Home Show Marketing Idea Ever" for free. Run you own oldest furnace contest, oldest water heater contest, oldest air conditioner contest, oldest boiler contest, or oldest thing-a-ma-bob contest.

Click here to go to The Oldest Appliance Contest page on the Free Stuff section of the Service Roundtable. If you think this, you might also browse some of the other Free Stuff available from the Service Roundtable.

Here's the commercial pitch... Browse around the Service Roundtable's Free Stuff section and compare the what the Service Roundtable gives away to what other groups freely give away. Think how much more must be reserved for members (hint: it's been valued at more than $3 million).

If you like it, try the Service Roundtable for a month. It only costs $50 and there's no long term contract. If you don't like it, quit.