Results of the AACR Social Media Experiment

by Rusty Bishop

Prior to The AACR Meeting, we wrote about the use of twitter to attract scientists to your booth. We suggested using the #AACR hashtag to grab scientists at the meeting that were following along on twitter from their laptops or hand held device.

For those that don’t know the twitter hashtag (#) is a methodology to aggregate tweets about a certain topic or entity. If for example you wanted to see what other companies were tweeting about at AACR you would search in twitter for #AACR.

We saw several companies using twitter at the meeting. The most common tweet was “Come by booth XXX to learn about YYY…#AACR” or “Come by booth XXX for a free T-shirt..#AACR”. We suggest you also add a #Your Company Name in case scientists are following you directly and not the meeting.

During the meeting, Mark and I followed along and did as suggested when companies tweeted. We asked the staff running the booths whether they thought the twitter campaign was successful or not.

Positive Results

For the most part, results were positive. Staff reported that visitors were directly responding to the tweets. This suggests that using twitter is a successful method to bring traffic to the booth.

Several companies reported that tweeting about specific product lines brought scientists to the booth as well. For example – “Problems with cloning? come by booth XXX for the solution #AACR”.  A great way to pre-qualify visitors!

Negative Results

On the downside, staff in a few booths were unaware that their company was tweeting during the meeting. One fellow even asked me what ‘tweeting’ meant! In almost every case, this was caused by someone at the home office tweeting the messages and thereby not briefing the booth staff at the meeting.

Further, we saw staff of one company tweeting about how much fun their party was, but not responding to tweet replies for a location.  Social media can be damaging also.  Ask Dominoes.

Suggestions

1. Designate one or two staff at the booth to man the tweeting operation. When things are slow – Tweet!
2. Brief all staff of the plan and changes to the twitter operation.
3. Vary the message.  ”1 hr to the ipad give away” “IFA expert in booth 1-2 pm” etc.
4. RESPOND – Tweeting is after all social.

We’re not sure that Twitter is the best method to interface with scientists, but getting 100 more people by the booth can definitely increase the ROI on your investment of exhibiting at a large conference.

The jury is still out on Social Media for Scientists but we’ll keep digging for you. Find more by following us on Twitter here. Also, become a fan.

Answers to Your Questions about Red Funnel

By Rusty Bishop and Mark Walker

Last week, we visited the exhibit floor at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, DC. Our focus was to meet you all in person and introduce the blog to life science representatives that might benefit from what we do.

We really had a great time meeting up with old friends and getting to know some new ones (Rusty had a little too much fun at your parties). This was the first time we had a chance to introduce the blog in person and we were blown away by the response.

Thank you sincerely. We hope you enjoy it and actively participate by commenting and suggesting new topics for discussion. Your knowledge and experience are invaluable to your peers.

Some great questions came up about us and what we do. We tried to address them at the time but inevitably, we may not have had a chance to speak to all of them. Here are a few of the more common questions:

Are scientists upset that you are giving tips and hints to companies on how to sell to them?

Don’t think so. The fact is that scientists need your products to get their work/project done fast and right. If we can help sales and marketers better understand what scientists need in the way of information to help make decisions about products and services, everyone wins. Companies and their representatives need to think solutions, not products.

Is HowToSelltoScientists.com a formal training program?

No, its not a training program. It’s a free blog that touches on topics like how to sell to scientists. We had to chuckle a bit at that because in one sense, we can see how that someone could interpret the site name that way. However, since it came up more than once, the implication is that some see a real need for better training at the Sales and Applications Specialist Level, voiced even by former scientists now selling. Even though we don’t do formal training, we do offer webinars or seminars about our experiences and opinions about selling to the researcher customer.

If the blog is free, how do you guys make money?

No one actually ever said those exact words but we can read body language. We consult with companies that want their website to attract more scientists and convert more visitors into leads and sales. We talk to sales and marketing groups about our thoughts on how to successfully (you know the rest)… sell to scientists. We also create tools that enable companies to better understand and service their scientist customers (see the free search tools on the site here). We write the blogs and give away free ideas to give you an hint of how we think and what we bring to the table so that when you are thinking about getting some outside help, you think of us.

When did you start Red Funnel?

Early in 2010. Over the last 3 years, we worked on a few website projects together for other life science companies and got to know each other. Since we have different experiences and backgrounds (Rusty=scientist, Mark=business guy), we look at things from different perspectives. We don’t always agree on everything but the benefit to our clients is that we challenge each other to bring the best possible recommendations. We’ve got a passion for helping companies succeed in reaching scientists. It’s fun and it we are having a blast.

Why Red Funnel?

We wanted something memorable which reflected our focus. Everyone is familiar with the sales funnel and our effort is geared toward all the activities that increase the number of scientists that are in your funnel. Oh, and we like the color red.

Thanks again to everyone who was so encouraging at AACR. We want to hear from you and we will do our best to make this a valuable resource to you.

Your Website as Field Sales Tool – Sightings at the AACR Meeting

by Rusty Bishop

One great tactic I saw while walking the Exhibit Booths of AACR this week was the display of company’s websites in the booth.  Mark has written about training your sales staff to use the website as selling tool and I’ve written about your web site being your public face. So I was excited to see these two concepts in action.

Website on chocolate = love!

For example, in Sigma’s booth the marketing, literature, in booth mini-talks and conference swag all prominently featured their new “Where Bio Begins” web portal. That’s branding and traffic pushing in one fell swoop!

And the kind ladies in the Affymetrix booth walked me through their new Gene Atlas desk top array on their website and used it to invite me to an awesome party!  In order to get the invite, I had to sign up on their website, so they captured my information and qualified me as a lead (albeit a poor one).

Here’s two ideas to that may help you decide if your website display in the booth is a good idea

In Person Feedback

One of the most difficult things about web design is getting a real read on your customer’s reactions. Let’s face it most feedback online is banal and friendly, because scientists are non-combative and shy and people don’t really have time to give you feedback.  However, making your website available in your booth with a mouse and keyboard is the perfect chance to watch them interact with it and great time to ask them questions about it.

For example,

• Are they easily finding products?
• Do they fret about the long lead registration form?
• Are you lacking key images that drive conversions?
• Did your Call to Action button get their attention or was it ignored?

Staff training in the Real World

Your website really is your face, but it can also be powerful sales tool in the field. Its not often that Sales Staff, Product Managers, Technical Support and Marketers get the chance to work together in front of customers.Why not use the meeting to perfect your sales pitch with the use of your website.

Try this at the next meeting,

• Train staff on the website features in a non-threatening environment
• Watch, listen, and give feedback on how your team uses the site tools and features in front of customers
• Try different entry points such as the search engine or catalog browsing to test effectiveness in sales

Sales tips for selling to scientists can be hard to find. Find more by following us on Twitter here. Also, become a fan of Red Funnel Consulting on Facebook today!

The iPad as a Sales Tool – Sightings at the AACR Meeting

Update: We have spent the last 6 months working in the field and observing Sales Reps using the iPad as a Sale Tool.

Our clients come from a variety of industries including Life Science, Medical, Food and Beverage, and Insurance. What have we learned? A lot!

To read about our observations check out these articles:

The iPad as a Sales Tool – Sightings at the AACR Meeting

by Mark Walker

Walking around AACR this past week, I saw a couple of companies using iPads to share product information and results with visitors. In one respect, the iPad is just another tool available, and right now, it’s a novelty. But the potential is there to be a game-changer. I am betting that at next year’s meeting, it will be significantly more  common than not.

An instrument company was showing the fruits of their cool imaging machine on the high-resolution iPad screen. The reps held the iPad in a cover that fit in their hand nicely for display to their audience. They quickly located an image example and easily zoomed in to point out their high resolution Western blot bands.

A reagent company was using it to share the educational tools they currently have on their website. With interactive PDF’s created for other channels loaded onto the iPad, they were able to drill down and jump to linked pages when appropriate for the discussion. Taking existing sales tools and adapting them to a different platform is a pretty common way to test new technology.

Ok, so nothing revolutionary yet, but the potential is there. Here are some reasons why I think it will be a key selling tool in this industry:

Multi-Media

Complex subjects become more understandable when you can demonstrate the products or services. The life science tools marketplace launches more technically complex products every month. Helping prospects understand what your product does and how that will solve their problems is critical. With high-resolution color screens, images can be sized without loss of clarity, which is great for images. Video can be very helpful in explaining different aspects of new technology, even if when the rep is not an expert.

Portability

All those nice customer resources and product decision tools you spent time and money on in your website can be in your sales force’s hands. If customers don’t know what kit to buy, then walk them through buyer funnel on the iPad screen. It’s on your website, but it’s really powerful when a rep can incorporate that resource in a product discussion. Hunting for an open computer in a customer lab to use the site is a hurdle that most reps won’t jump. When you have the power of multimedia in your hands in the size of a notebook , it’s going to get used with customers more often.

Ease of Use

Computer tablets have been around for a while, and they haven’t caught on. I think it’s because they ARE computers. With the iPad, moving around the screen is much easier. Zooming in and out are simple finger swips, not pressing a special key combination.

Another writer observed that it’s a single hand device, unlike other tablets. That frees up your other hand for directing a prospect’s attention to the content they are emphasizing. A small detail but critical for effective sales presentations.

Simplicity

Pundits have complained that it is somehow an inferior device because its you can’t run excel or similar programs on it. How about trading off that capability for a simpler product with a lot more reliability. Ever try to get someone to help fix a problem with your laptop when you are working after hours or early in the morning? Maybe less complexity is a good thing.

Interactive

Effective sales presentations involve more than one sense. If you only talk about a product, it’s less effective than showing prospects the product and having them try it. Having interactive materials at your fingertips that can get prospects engaged will multiply the impact of the presentation.

Can companies in this marketplace be successful without using the iPad? Of course!

The visual element is underrated and underutilized in this marketplace with text-heavy websites and product information. The organizations that can figure out how to best illustrate their technically complex products and that captures researcher’s attention and interest are going to be winners. The iPad can be the companion tool helping your sales and technical support groups communicate more effectively.

Sales tips for selling to scientists can be hard to find. Find more by following us on Twitter here. Also, become a fan of Red Funnel Consulting on Facebook today!