Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
I'm preparing for Objective Management Group's Annual International Conference - the weekend where all of the Sales Development Experts that represent OMG around the world converge, this year in Boston. Think of it this way - it would be the equivalent of you having the opportunity to assemble nearly all of your customers in one room for parts of three days. What would you do?
Our primary reasons for conducting this annual event are 1) efficiency - it's much more efficient to deliver nearly 3 days of information to 150 people one time over a single weekend as opposed to 150 times spread out over what would likely take a year; 2) appreciation - we get a chance to thank them and recognize them for their contributions in 2007, by way of having them join us for two dinner banquets and being able to interact with them over three days.
Their primary reasons for coming are probably:
1. comeraderie
2. product knowledge
3. networking
4. training
5. advice
We both get our needs met.
There is also a sub plot taking place during an event like this. We would like them to increase their sales of our entire suite of tools and the information we choose to present is positioned to accomplish that goal too. So the underlying message to the entire group - a marketing message - is that doing more business with OMG is good for their business. The more specific messages, those that are product specific, goal specific, expectations specific, business specific, and sales specific, are sales messages. At any moment during the conference we may be selling the group on a specific concept, like, why it's important to provide this particular tool to this kind of client and the mutual benefits for both.
Marketing and Sales actually converge and overlap for this event. Think about your business and consider the opportunities that you have to both market and sell to your best customers. Is there an efficient way for you to do a better job of that? Is there a way for you to be efficient? Is there a way to attract a group of many to a single place? Trade Shows serve that purpose for many companies but most companies fail to take advantage of the fact that their best customers are all in one city at the same time. What could you do differently to leverage an event like that?
