Be yourself, be relaxed, and break down the barriers with staff. Display the behaviours that you want your staff to demonstrate, at the same time be adaptable, and show that you can be flexible when needed 

Build trust by being sincere and open with staff. Be firm but fair, treat everyone equally and on merit; always do what you say you will do.  

Always give your people the credit for your successes and take responsibility for your people’s mistakes. 

Treat people how you expect/want to be treated; lead by example, work along side your staff, don’t expect them to do something you wouldn’t do yourself, a good leader wears his authority lightly. 

Be a good listener, really get to know and understand your staff, show that you understand them.

Share This

Sue’s put together some tips on getting more information out of people when you’re marketing products in store.

Here’s the video:

And as ever, here are the notes in case you can’t view the video:

Hi, I’m Sue Abbiss from Beyond The Box, I’m a Field Marketing Manager. I’ve spoken about top tips for sales, and we mentioned open questions, so I’m going to talk a little bit about that.

Open questions require an answer, not just yes or no, so who, what, where, why, when.

If you were to ask a closed question for example “did you go to the pictures last night?” you would get a short yes/no answer. If you were to say “where did you go last night?”, they might give you more information.

So just remember, a good sales tip - use open questions - who, what, where, why, when - to gain information.

Share This

Sue’s got some tips to help selling in retail stores:

Here are the notes, in case you can’t view the video:

Hi I’m Sue Abbiss from Beyond The Box, I’m the field marketing manager.

Today I’d just like to go through top tips on selling.

1. Make sure you that you approach every customer in store, say good morning, etc.
2. Build rapport, it’s important to ask friendly questions, be open with them.
3. Identify a customers’ needs by asking who, what, where, why, when.
4. You can then match those needs to a product that you think is right for them.
5. Once you’ve done that, overcome any objections and answer any questions that they have.
6. Then ask for the sale. don’t be afraid to ask for the sale.
7. Once you’ve asked for the sale, close the sale.

It’s as simple as that!

Share This

We’ve done a couple of articles on marketing at exhibitions, and they’ve been very popular, so Christine’s made a video about marketing and getting more people to your exhibition stand.

In case you can’t see the video, the notes are here:

Hi I’m Christine from Beyond the box, and I’m going to talk to you today about how you can get people onto your exhibition stand.

Once you’ve invested the money into booking a stand at an exhibition, you really want to make sure you get a return on investment, and talking to people is the key.

Don’t stand in the actual shell scheme or inside your area; really do something to get people to come in and talk to you.

You could have something on the stand to attract customers, for example a cartoonist, a magician, or someone handing out prizes, sweets, gifts, anything to attract people.

And once people come to your stand area, go and talk to them. I’m amazed how many people book space at an exhibition, and then wait for people t come and talk to them. That’s not likely to happen.

You might have to venture off your stand, into the exhibition area and actually talk to people, and invite them to come in.

Don’t be afraid of doing it, they expect it to happen. They want you to come and approach them and talk to them.

You need to see as many people as you can, and start to sort through who are the good leads and who are the bad leads.

My top tips are :

1. First of all, make sure your stand looks inviting, friendly and open.
2. Secondly, have something that’s going to be of interest to them to perhaps get them on [your stand] if you don’t feel overly confident about making that initial approach. So the cartoonist, the magician, anything at all that could attract people to your stand.
3. Once they are in the vicinity of your stand, invite them into your stand.
4. Talk to them, show them samples, explain fully what you do.
5. And the important thing, don’t forget to get the details; make sure you record their telephone number, website so you can get further information and the nature of what they are enquiring about, so you’ve got plenty of information there to call them back.

Good luck!

And here are the other features on the topic of exhibitions that should help you prepare:

• Being Effective At An Exhibition Part 1 - How to Get People To Your Stand
• Being Effective At An Exhibition Part 2 - How to Engage
• Being Effective At An Exhibition Part 3 - How To Follow Up
• What do we need for an Exhibition Stand?

Share This

Motivate - understand ‘what make your staff tick’, get to know the person, what drives/motivates them, understand what de-motivates staff (working conditions, unfair treatment, poor policies) so you can avoid these. 

Opportunity - give your staff opportunities for advancement and the chance to develop themselves, as well as develop their role. Set goals and challenging targets to help staff advance 

Team building - arrange regular team meetings, communicate with all staff, keep them informed of any changes, or update 

Involvement - get staff involved; seek their opinions on the ongoing development and progress of their company 

Valued - believe in your people, make sure you let staff know that they are valued; focus on recognising excellent performance, send a letter or email thanking them for a job well done. Remember to send staff a birthday card.  

Empathy - show staff that you care about them and not just the job; take their feeling into consideration, understand that some times out side influence can affect their work.

Share This

In response to a question from Sarah of ContractStore, Christine has written up some tips to help her prepare for her exhibition.

Here’s Sarah’s question:

The thing I find really difficult is understanding about the electrics and lighting, the shell scheme extras like walls and ceilings, and shelving etc. How do we know whether to buy it (at sometimes seemingly exorbitant prices) from the show organisers or if we can get our own? How to understand all the terms and lingo they use, and how to know if you are ordering the right lighting etc.

Here’s Christine’s response:

Your email gave me a flash back to the planning stages of our first ever exhibition. There are so many things to think about and budget restrictions to adhere to.

My initial reaction was ‘if they are suggesting we buy it we must need it!’

Not the case at all - let’s consider each area step by step

1. First of all you will no doubt have a budget in mind - keep to it, it’s very easy to overspend with things you think you many need.
2. Work with the exhibition organisers to get the best space you can - one where there will be plenty of traffic flow in the direction of, or passing by your stand. Ask them for their suggestions and look at the floor plan which should be available to you.
3. Identify what you get for your money - what is included in the package. In many instances, carpeting, lighting and signage will be included. We made the mistake of ordering additional lighting for an exhibition - we could have saved the money because the lighting included in the price was ample. We were all very close to wearing sun glasses it was so bright! The lighting supplied in the pack price will probably be directional spot lights. I would only suggest that you purchase additional spots if this isn’t the case and you needed to really highlight something on your stand or illuminate dark areas created by the props you’d be taking.
4. Electric sockets/telephone connections - will you need them to operate equipment on your stand? Find out how many will be supplied within the pack price and work out how many you need. Be aware that health and safety plays a huge part at exhibitions and you will no doubt have to provide a risk assessment. Ask for sockets to be positioned so that you won’t have to rely on extension leads which could prove hazardous. Do you need internet access if so would a mobile facility suffice?
5. The name board on the front of your stand. Take advantage of this - make sure the exhibition company has the correct spelling of your company name so visitors can locate you.
6. Walls and ceilings and floors - it depends on your display design. If you don’t need to hang anything from a ceiling point don’t select one, visitors won’t be looking up. Shelving for walls could be an asset if you have small items to display or want to store stock or catalogues, samples etc. But make sure they offer enough support. Carpets may generally be supplied. When you are offered the opportunity to purchase alternative carpeting perhaps to match your brand, consider if it really is worth it. It could be an unnecessary cost. We very nearly opted for a carpet to match our branding and were pleased we didn’t when we got there, it would have looked odd against the rest of the flooring in the hall and made us stand out for the wrong reasons.
7. Leaflet dispensers - if you’ve got leaflets I’d suggest a leaflet dispenser, either borrow or buy. Make sure it is prominently displayed and easily accessible. Worst case scenario if you don’t get to speak to a visitor is that they can select your brochure/leaflets for themselves and contact you later if they need your services.
8. In respect of whether to buy or rent furniture and fixtures, it is dependent on your own circumstances. A huge consideration though to help you make that decision could be how you will transport the items to and from the exhibition, how will you store it afterwards and if you can offset the cost of purchasing items at future shows/exhibitions, or even in the office. At a recent exhibition we decided to buy. We already had the need to hire a van for display boards so we had the transport required. Secondly we have sufficient storage space here. Finally the cost to purchase (from Argos) was comparable to renting and we knew we would be able to use the items again and spread the cost. Just remember if its ‘flat pack’, to take your screw drivers and allow yourself plenty of time to assemble it! Also think about storing the packaging until the exhibition is over. You will need to repackage the items to prevent damage - can you keep it in the van perhaps?
9. Something many forget is storage of brochures, samples, branded free gifts, and simple things like handbags. If you can incorporate a lockable cupboard on your stand it will be invaluable to you. We managed to hide ours behind a display board. A cupboard is tidier and safer than boxes and piles of stock. If you are taking branded items think about ordering those which will be easier to transport and store on the stand. A box of 20 branded mugs will take the storage same space as about 1000 branded key rings, USB’s or pens!
10. During your planning stages I would suggest you find an open space where you can layout the floor space you have available. You can then map out to scale where everything will go. It’s a task well worth completing because believe me when you get there, the stand never seems as big as you thought it was going to be!
11. Oh and finally from experience ladies - take a change of shoes and some foot cooling spray, you’ll be glad you did! Good luck!

Share This

Sean describes how to increase sales at point of purchase:

Here are the notes to go with the video:

5 tips on how to produce successful point of purchase solutions

1. The first thing you need to do is check the compliance issues of the stores that you’re citing your displays within, check the criteria because they vary form one outlet to the next. Secondly, undertand the target audience. Understand and research them thoroughly.
2. Secondly, understand the target audience. Understand and research them thoroughly.
3. Thirdly, make sure you that you portray a clear brand message with the display that you design. Make sure you put over the essence of the brand correctly and that it’s clear and to the point.
4. Forth, simplicity of design. Make sure the design of the unit or point of sale display is simple, they are by far the most successful units in store. Don’t make it too complicated because it won’t work. Keep the wording to the point. Make it simple and clear. Use pictures because people won’t always read it.
5. Finally, allow time for mishaps. Because when you’re developing something bespoke, even though you may have prototypes signed off, there’ will always be something that could crop up during manufacture.

Share This

Christine gives some tips to help improve your confidence when selling:

Here are the notes to go with this video in case you are unable to watch it:

How can ensure a sales person is confident to sell your brand instore

1. The first thing you need to do, is make sure they fully understand your brand values - This might be
   • key selling points
   • target market
   • ethical values
2. Next, make sure they fully understand your product. In order to do that, demonstrate it to them, let them use it so they understand good demonstration techniques that they can pass on to the customer.
3. Next, make sure they fully understand your key selling points. Whatever these selling points are, you’ve got to link them to benefits. There’s no point in talking to a customer about a feature - they need to know what will it do for me.
4. Finally - show them how easy it is to sell. Demonstrate how you would sell it, and go through a sales process so they feel totally comfortable, and can sell the product with confidence.

Share This

I went to a womens networking group last week. They had a guest speaker from Alter Ego who gave a presentation on colour and style.

Sounds like an art class but in this instance colour and style referred to the colours and style of the clothes we should wear that enhance our skin tones and body shape.

Alter Ego explained that we have one of two skin tones, warm or cool. Your skin tone determines which shade of colour enhances your appearance. Wearing the correct shade can enhance someones appearance by making their skin glow and their eyes sparkle. I swear it takes shadows away from certain areas of the face which in turn reduces the appearance of wrinkles too! Can’t be a bad thing!

It was interesting to note that when a survey of the room was taken the majority had an extensive range of black outfits in their wardrobe. Black is a safe colour for most people - it certainly was for me until I had my colours done and I could clearly see that it made me look drawn and dull!

The style section focussed on fabrics and outfits that can give the illusion of height increase or weight loss! Now that I like! I had a colour and style consultation completed by Alter Ego about 2 years ago. Since that time shopping for clothes has been more enjoyable because I know what suits me best - I’ve saved money too and actually wear all the clothes I buy. I can’t begin to tell you how many items I have bought over the years and never worn!

It was a real turning point for me because in addition to enjoying my clothes more, it has raised my confidence. My work means I frequently stand in front of groups to deliver presentations or seminars, wearing colours and outfits that make me look my best has made me feel better about myself allowing me to concentrate on the job in hand.

You may have heard the phrase - ‘You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression’. If you make presentations or meet people you need to influence as part of your work, you might want to consider having a colour and style consultation to help you make that first impression be a lasting one.

Find out more about Alter Ego http://www.myalterego.co.uk/

Share This

I read an excellent example of how good customer service training can change the outcome of a bad customer experience. The example was written on the Marketing Beyond Blog, under ‘retail training’.

He describes situation 1 where the customer service assistant goes through the motions of returning a phone and cancelling his contract with limited conversation; and situation 2 where the assistant delves deeper, to understand the reasons behind the return and suggest possible solutions.

The good service described is hypothetical, but if you were faced with the second situation, I’m sure you would agree that he’s right in saying you would give the network another try.

It is becoming more common, particularly in telecoms to be transferred to the ‘retention department’ when you call to cancel a service. It demonstrates how important it is to train staff well, and ensure they are aware of service improvements, and product benefits.

Share This