5 Better Than The Rest
Im not a good face to face salesman. Im not the bubbly everybodys mate sort of outgoing personality that makes a natural salesman.I have a friend who spent a few years at one of those Motorway services stands for the RAC and his personality would allow him to walk up to complete strangers and begin a conversation about almost anything just to get their attention and get them to listen to his motoring offer.
So a few years back when I decided to offer some of my products at a trade show I was full of fear and worry about whether I could offer my products directly to the public live as it were.However I need not have worried because I found that displaying your goods at trade shows involves no selling at all. You basically just stand there and people come to your stand look and buy.
In fact when I first did this I spent several days going to other trade shows seminars workshops bootcamps in fact anywhere that Entrepreneurs were displaying their wares just to see what skills the people on the stands had to see how they attracted attention of passersby.And in fact what I saw amazed me…
I had expected to see some very slick sales people grabbing people off the isles and taking them through a structured sales presentation rather like the stereotypical timeshare salesman.But instead what I saw were badly presented people mostly sat in chairs reading their own literature or standing around chatting to colleagues over a cup of coffee in plastic cups actually trying their best to ignore anyone who glanced in their general direction.
Others with very small stalls would stand right in the middle stopping anyone getting onto the stand to look around and with folded arms and other aggressive body language would make me simply want to walk on by to the next stand.
In other words nearly ALL exhibitors at ALL the trade shows I checked out were simply clueless and they definitely had ZERO IDEA or concept about how to run their stand. They lacked the fundamental mindset of an Entrepreneur.In an instant all my fears and worries evaporated and instead I was heartened by what I saw…
I knew that if I could just look friendly and relaxed and presented my products in a professional way and did little else I could do far better than everyone else Id seen.In fact I spent some time experimenting to see what would work and what would not. For example I found that simply by standing off to the side of the stand and smiling to the people as they walked past greeting them with a simple Hello was enough for them to stop look and ask Whats this all about? in reference to my display.
It reminded me of something someone once told me:To be the best you ONLY have to be 5 better than the rest
That is SO true. If a lot of your fellow exhibitors are sitting on patio chairs on their stands or ignoring people walking past their stands then if you just display some common sense manners look interested and alert and react in a more businesslike fashion youll get the sales rather than your competitors.And Ive found it to be true in almost all of my Entrepreneurial ventures. If you can just be 5 better than the rest youre headed for success!
About the writer: Andrew Reynolds is a Multi Millionaire Entrepreneur living in the UK. He has been responsible for making a number of Millionaires from ordinary people who used his Cash On Demand techniques to start a Home Based Business. His annual Entrepreneur Bootcamp events held to raise money for Childrens Charities draw crowds of thousands and feature speakers and Entrepreneurs from all over the world who fly in share their secrets. See www.Bootcamp09.com for details
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