News August 2008
The media has dedicated many thousands of column inches and hours of airtime to discussion, debate and the dilemmas of the current ‘credit crunch’– and indeed, rightly so.
It is a fact that businesses across the country are finding it difficult and having to making tough decisions on financing, staffing levels and marketing – with many making redundancies and drastically cutting all non-essential spend.
However, this can be a good time to carefully consider what really works when making a sale and perhaps it’s time salespeople became ‘personal’ again, believes Technology Sales and Marketing Coach, Terry Forsey.
“It’s during tough times that many organisations pressurise their sales teams to ‘create’ business leads yet also restrict their opportunities,” said Terry. “The directors want improved sales figures but tend to reign back on expenditure, including attending trade fairs and exhibitions – this could be a mistake!
“I think that perhaps we have become ‘too electronic’ when it comes to creating and maintaining business relationships – relying too heavily on email and neglecting the face-to-face contact that we, as humans, value and enjoy.
“Exhibitions offer a great chance for customers to meet sales staff and as it’s only natural to buy from someone you have met, like and feel you can trust. Most people, particularly business executives, are extremely busy and unlikely to waste time - if a decision-maker is out of the office visiting an exhibition there is a compelling reason to be there.”
Terry recommends that businesses should rise to the challenge of this challenging economic climate and maximise the opportunities an exhibition has to offer.
“It’s great to meet new customers and valuable to catch-up with existing ones, meeting for a coffee or lunch at an exhibition can reap rewards – take some time and become ‘human’ again.”
For more information call 
01536 771440
or email, terry@forsey.info.
ENDS
