Ah, the ego.
Sometimes the ego gets in the way, and is a burden to deal with. Either your ego, or someone else’s.
But sometimes, the ego is your biggest ally when it comes to sales.
Why?
Because we all love to get our ego stroked.
It makes us feel important. It makes us feel confident. It makes us feel like our opinion matters, and that we are making a contribution to humanity.
So, am I saying that to achieve sales success, you merely have to kiss someone’s fanny?
No. Of course not. I personally couldn’t handle that. And wouldn’t do it myself.
But there is a way to stroke someone’s ego in a way that does yield fruit, and in a way that will move a business opportunity along very nicely.
Nowhere does this sales strategy perform better than on a trade show floor (or any type of User Conference or Association event).
How does it work?
Simple. I interview people.
Yeah. That’s all I am talking about here. Interviewing people.
Clients hire me to broadcast LIVE radio direct from their exhibit space. And over a three-day show, we can typically conduct between 60 to 70 interviews, broadcasted LIVE to the internet.
More importantly, my clients drive the recruitment and scheduling of the guests themselves, and our roster generally consists of my client’s current customers and business prospects.
So that’s the tactical side of this. But here’s where things get interesting:
When we put on an official trade show gig, we put on a big show, with a fancy set of radio equipment, soundboards, mixers, microphone stands, “ON AIR” signage, and often lighting systems.
It’s a scene. And people notice. It’s a production, with voice overs and loud music broadcast out to the trade show floor over a sound system.
It’s exciting to say the least!
Ok fine. So how does this help with sales exactly?
We treat our guests like a rock star, make them shine, ask them the insights on critical issues facing their industry, soliciting their “expert” opinion…
In other words, stroking their ego… Big time!
My client makes the interview happen by making the invitation. We make them feel like rock stars by giving them a more than memorable experience.
But here’s where the magic happens:
Most of our guests have never been on radio. Many were nervous. But by the end of the interview, they feel great. They had a great time, performed much better than they expected, and generally are buzzing about the experience.
We made them feel special. My client, who scheduled the interview, made it happen. Our guest knows and appreciates this.
They (my client and our guest) now have a deeper, more meaningful business relationship…
…one where now it is much easier to transition into a sales conversation.
I cannot emphasize this point broadly enough. To repeat: the relationship between my client – and the show guest – is not at an entirely different level. This, quite frankly, is WHAT MY CLIENT IS PAYING FOR.
All because a couple of radio show hosts stroked a few egos by conducting a simple radio interview…
P.S. In case you aren’t thinking: this answers the other important question: Why should we be podcasting? And since you are smart, you realize, of course, this doesn’t necessarily have to happen on a trade show floor…
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TRADE SHOW RADIO, and how it works!
