Company Culture
Get them
back
Simon Naudi, CEO
of Answers Training,
on winning back
disillusioned exhibitors
in three key phases
W
“It’s important that
you listen and
collect all feedback
without being
defensive”
e have all faced the situation where we
have lost a big sexy name off the floorplan,
a bellwether account who you know will impact
upon the decisions of others to exhibit.
We have also witnessed what can happen to an
event when a big name pulls out, especially when
that event has seen the big brands competing for
more and more space. A second pulling out and a
third can have a domino effect and result in the
collapse of a show. Clearly no show is (or should
be) entirely dependent upon one brand, but we
need to rethink how we can attract them back.
It helps, I think, if you treat them like a new
prospect rather than a lapsed exhibitor. I say this
because psychologically, you want to re-sell them
into your event, rather than be seen to be patching
up or compensating them for any bad experience.
While addressing an issue or fixing a bad
experience can, and does, work, often the
resultant negotiations are weighted too much
in favour of the client and the relationship is
only temporarily restored. It almost becomes a
conditional solution rather than the basis for a
long-term on-going relationship.
The first phase is to establish the ‘event hurt’ –
what went wrong or what affected their decision
to cease exhibiting. It’s important that you listen
and collect all their feedback without being
defensive or even trying to justify why it may
have occurred. The purpose of Phase One is to
establish why they made the decision to quit and
understand their rationale.
Phase Two then is to establish their ‘business
hurt’ – namely what they are trying to achieve
in their business, both with their brand
aspirations and their future plans. You need to
fully understand their business, their objectives,
challenges and future desires for their brand and
at this stage make no further recommendations
about how your solution may fit.
The rationale behind Phase Two is to let the
client feel that you are purely there for a fact find,
simply to understand their business almost in
an impartial, advisory capacity with no vested
interest in selling them at that meeting. This helps
the client feel less guarded and often they will
open up more and furnish you with the necessary
insight to work up a proposal.
You now should have a good picture of what
went wrong and what the client ideally would like
to see happen. The nice thing about this approach
is that it allows you pressure-free thinking time
and affords you the opportunity to be more
creative with your solutions.
This is also a good time for a team brainstorm
and to establish what you would or would not
consider offering as an incentive or inducement to
have that brand back in your event. It also allows
you to assess the potential impact this could have
both on other exhibitors as well as on your show
overall. Say a concession will cost you £10,000
initially, you may calculate that it will secure well
in excess of that figure in additional bookings.
Phase Three, then, is where you can display
your understanding of their business, as well as
their expectations, and hopefully deliver a ‘rescue’
package that will address the hurt or hurts that
have been established in Phases One and Two. If
your package is attractive enough, do remember
that it will not be price sensitive – they will find
or raise the budget in order to have a bespoke
solution to their special circumstances.
March — 65