Category: Learn

Being active in your trade involves quite a lot these days. Pursuits such as continuing education and constant networking can really take a toll on the average professional, and conferencing may seem like one of these time-consuming activities. However, when done the right way, participating in regular conferences offers a return on your investment that makes it ultimately worthwhile.

A conference – also known as a trade show, seminar, or convention – often seems like a waste of time and resources. This is especially true if you spend a few days out of the office and shell out revenue for plane tickets, hotel reservations, and meals. Sponsors of conferences also set aside budgets for marketing materials. But you should know that if you have attended conferences in the past and have seen little to no results, you might be attending the wrong types of conferences. Read below to learn how you can purposefully choose a trade show to reach your business goals.

Choosing the Right Type of Professional Conference

There are many different types of events out there, and millions are planned on an international level every year. Workshops, for instance, are focused on educating professionals, while a consumer show is open to the general public. Not every event will be beneficial for your company, however. Here’s a list to guide you through the decision-making process.

• Business goals – Before you begin searching for events this year, ask yourself these questions: “What do we want to get out of this conference? What are our goals?” For instance, you might be looking to generate new leads or meet new vendors. By keeping your ultimate goal in mind, it is easier to pick which will be best for you.
• Cost – Add up the total cost of attending the event, and then consider your potential return on investment. If gaining just one or two new customers covers your cost, then it might be worth your time to go.
• Attendees – Who is your target audience, and will they be in attendance at the event? For instance, if you are only looking to meet C-level executives, then an academic networking event is not necessarily the best fit.
• Speakers and topics – Make sure that any topics covered are relevant to your field. It won’t do you much good to attend an accounting seminar if you’re in the auto industry.
• Networking opportunities – Some conferences will have events specifically for down time and social activities. You need to decide whether or not these can be used as time for connecting with other professionals.

How to Prepare for a Professional Conference

Even if a conference lasts through a long weekend, it can still fly by pretty quickly. This is why planning everything ahead of time is absolutely essential.

This includes making the right travel arrangements. Consider reservations for hotel rooms, rental cars, and transportation. Sometimes conferences will give you a discount on specific vendors, so it doesn’t hurt to give them a call and ask. Because there will be hundreds of other attendees, you want to make sure you have all the accommodations in place beforehand. Otherwise, you will waste valuable time.

Right before you travel, gather all of the necessary travel documents and confirmation numbers. These should all be in one place for easy access. This is especially true when traveling with a team of other people.

Pack accordingly. Since you will be on your feet for most of the events, bring a pair of comfortable shoes for walking in. If the weather is cold, bring a few layers of clothing. Extra phone chargers and small snacks also come in handy. Just be sure to make a list of everything that needs to travel with you so you won’t run into surprises if something necessary is forgotten.

When it comes to the actual seminars, are you prepared to promote your business? This is a very common mistake for conference attendees. When a potential customer is interested in your products or services, and you don’t have anything to show them, this can cost you revenue in the long run. Instead, print out additional business cards and marketing materials like brochures (if relevant). Most companies order promotional items like keychains and pens ahead of time. Keep business cards with you at all times, because you never know when you will run into a new opportunity.

By the way, don’t forget to follow up with new connections as soon as the conference is over! Gather their workplace email, phone number, and website if possible. There are many opportunities to sell to a potential lead by offering a special discount simply because you met in person at a seminar.

How to Make the Most Out of a Professional Conference

Gain visibility with active participation. Become a presenter, facilitator, or volunteer for just a few hours. Organizers are always looking for an extra set of hands to help. This is a proven way to strengthen professional relationships and get in front of your target audience.

Our next tip is to make sure to choose the sessions that will benefit your business the most. There are many different types of sessions, ranging from skill-building to simple meet and greets. Each type of event will have a host of different attendees, so plan your time wisely. Ideally, your agenda should be fairly full. However, if you need to take a quick break away from the crowds, plan a time for rest during the “less busy” hours of the conference.

Finally, participate in the conference through popular social media channels. Major attendees and speakers will already have Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts, so you can follow and connect with these accounts before the conference even begins. Have your social media coordinator write about the event and make several announcements about your attendance. This helps build excitement for the event.

Additionally, conferences should have a designated hashtag that everyone can use. For example, this year’s popular Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has the official hashtag #CES2018. Be sure to take plenty of photos and use this hashtag when you post them. Hundreds (or even thousands) of people will potentially view the hashtag, so your account will most likely get noticed!

We may not realize it, but our lives are ruled by the companies that surround us. Whether we’re job seeking from our iPhones, sporting the latest sneakers from our favorite running shoe company, or rolling out our Lululemon yoga mat to get in some exercise for the day, we’re surrounded by brands. And when these brands don’t meet our needs or fulfill their promise, we turn to their corporate number for help resolving the issue. Often, our only point of contact with these companies is with their customer service representatives.

A strong, positive customer service experience often leads to repeat business, referrals, and loyal customers. Dealing with a cranky customer service representative can tarnish a company’s reputation, customer by customer, regardless of how good their product is. Here are some surprising statistics about customer service and its effect on customers:

• 78% of consumers have, at some point, bailed on a purchase because of poor service.
• After one negative experience, a customer needs to experience an average of 12 positive experiences to reverse their negative impression of a company.
• People share negative customer service experiences 2.3 times more often than they share positive customer service experiences.
• It is 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep existing ones.
• Consumers reported that 50% of the time, their questions were not answered by customer service agents.
• 75% of consumers think it takes too long to get to a real agent on the phone, and 67% of customers last year hung up the phone out of frustration on this specific issue.
• 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer is feeling.
• 81% of companies considered to have excellent customer service are outperforming their competitors.

What all of this means is that companies who put the effort into developing an excellent customer service team reap the rewards. They outperform competitors, save on customer acquisition, keep their names out of the negative reviews, and get more repeat business.

Even if your company has a reputation for having awful customer service, it’s never too late to turn it around. Here is a list of the five most important customer service rules to instill in your customer service team-members, and frankly in employees throughout your organization:

1. Every Single Interaction Matters – No Exceptions. If you’re tired or having an off day, when the phone rings or an email pops up, you have to be able to turn it on. As a customer service representative, it’s important to remember that YOU are the face of the company to this customer.
2. You represent the entire organization. You alone are responsible for how they feel when they walk away from the conversation. You have the power to make or break this person’s day.
3. No Such Thing as “Not my Job” – Most companies known for their strong customer service instill an organization-wide mandate that no person is too good for a particular job. If help is needed, employees pitch in for the greater good of the company. Creating this sense of community and mutual reliance makes each team member feel supported and able to effect change.
4. Autonomy and Empowerment– When customer service representatives are trusted to make decisions on their own regarding customer requests (refunds, compensations, giveaways, etc.), this sense of autonomy makes them feel able and excited to help. Rather than putting a customer on hold to “check with their manager,” an agent can decide if, when, and how much to give to keep a customer happy. Allowing employees the chance to get creative can also result in huge benefits. Empower your people to do good work, and they will!
5. Incentive – As much as we hope to find a job we enjoy so much that we would do it for free, this isn’t the reality of work for most of us. So,
6. Incentivize your employees! Offer customer service representatives a bonus or reward for positive customer feedback. When incentives are combined with a good company culture, employees show greater workplace satisfaction.
7. Listen – One of the most frustrating things when you’re on the phone with a customer service representative is repeating yourself over and over again, and getting the same response. Good customer service representatives know how to listen, and actually hear what you are saying, and then respond accordingly and appropriately. Feeling heard is often the only thing we really need when we feel a company has fallen short or taken advantage of us. To feel heard can often validate a disgruntled customer, and soften their feelings of anger.

These five rules of customer service will help you build customer loyalty, avoid losing sales and build a good reputation for your product and company name. These aren’t hacks or tactics, they are consistent behaviors that the company and individual employee have to live by each and every day. There isn’t a shortcut for excellent work, but by putting in the effort to train your staff to listen, make decisions, and be empathetic, you will see the reward in your profits.

There are countless instances where companies go above and beyond for their customers and made lasting positive customers for life. One customer service representative ordered a pizza to the office of the man she was on the phone with because she overheard employees in the back say that they were hungry. An airline passed out free tickets to over a dozen passengers for answering trivia questions correctly. A representative from a shoe company sent flowers to a woman after hearing that she was undergoing health issues – AND she upgraded the woman to VIP customer status for life, for free.

There are dozens of stories like these online – proof that a little bit of kindness and extra care go a long way with customers. Answering the phone and being ready to handle anything on the other end with grace and understanding is something that can never be replaced. When it comes to customer service, maintaining this understanding of your customer can be enormous in not only acquiring customers but retaining them as for years to come.