How to engage and connect with scientists at trade shows

Can Someone Sell Me a Fluorometer Please?

sell me a fluorometer?

I’m a little frustrated this morning. My PI is very upset with me because I have not been able to get a new Fluorometer into our lab. We’ve been borrowing a plate reader since our’s crapped out and everyone is tired of walking upstairs etc. I assured him that quotes were coming from several major manufacturers any day now, but he decided to take matters into his own hands costing someone out there a large commission and me some respect. Bummer.

Here’s the sad story….

Two weeks ago, I went to the Experimental Biology/FASEB Meeting in Anaheim with a mission to find the best fluorometer possible for my lab. I was pretty confident since I’ve spent the last 2 yrs learning about life science product manufacturers and had made a list of nine companies with booths at the meeting that all sold fluorometers. My budget was $30,000.

After introducing myself at the booths, I told the reps I was in the market for a fluorometer with immediate need for my lab, my budget, where my lab was, etc. For the most part, the reps were reasonably good at explaining in heavy detail what their fluorometer/plate readers could accomplish. Several had floor models I could test drive and some had product brochures and or catalogs to point me in the right direction. So far so good.

I asked all nine companies to send me a quote or more information and to have my local rep contact me. Each one got my business card. After that I spent the rest of the day visiting with companies to tell them about How to Sell to Scientists and left with confidence.

The Follow-Up?

After getting back to the office, I spent some time looking over the web pages for the fluorometers and decided on two models to bring into the lab. But I wanted to wait until the reps contacted me to be certain, perhaps I could see a machine on campus to test drive etc.

2 days went by – No calls……. No emails…….

Then 1 week. No calls……. No emails……. my boss starts giving me the “I thought you were an expert at sourcing products Rusty?” kind of talk. Other post-docs were razzing me every time they had to go upstairs.

Finally 4 days ago an Invitrogen rep got back to me by email with links to their product website and promise to call me asap. Nice! Now Im getting somewhere.

But I haven’t gotten a call……

The fall out…

Today its over. Out of my hands. How can that happen? At 20% commission a $20,000 fluorometer would have made one of those reps $4000! Is there really so much business that not one person wanted ours?

Looking back I guess I should have been more aggressive and proactive with calling the reps myself and following up. But there has got to be a better way! Why were those companies even having a booth at EB if they didn’t want a hot lead? I’m confused about the purpose of the booths if its not sell products to hot leads what is it?

Mark Walker’s (the Sales Guy) Response…

Right now,  managers are pulling their hair out in bunches. How much did it cost the company to buy booth space, ship it and staff it?

Many times, leads from a national tradeshow get collected and then sent off to the responsible field reps.  There they sit–in excel spreadsheets, emails, and scraps of paper. They sit, not necessarily because the reps aren’t effective, but largely because they don’t know the value of the lead.

In a previous post on Lead Management, I mentioned the importance of having a process of rating the leads that both marketing and sales can agree on and implement.  With no priority or a unreliable assignment (no guidelines), reps believe they will need to further qualify these leads. If provided leads in the past have been losers, the assumption is that these will be too and will fall down to the bottom of the “to do” list.

Here are some suggestions to reduce the chance of lost leads from Trade Shows.

1.  Have a dedicated team follow up on information requests.  This could be an inside sales team that absorbs this task or an administrative team given direction on what is needed. Ensure that the basic request for information is fulfilled and then pass it to the rep responsible for closing. The lead scanner that outputs paper  or an electronic file (compiled after the show) is not that conducive to fast follow-up. Consider hiring someone to input the paper leads into your CRM right there at the show so the follow-up process is not held hostage to clunky systems.

2. Follow up immediately. By immediately, I mean send a follow-up email from the show or at the end of that day. The excuse that most researchers are out for a few days anyway and won’t access email is gone. With the use of mobile devices, researchers get the information immediately. Working in collaboration with others, lab mates may be waiting for the recommendation from your booth visitor. They forward the emailed information and you are closer to a sale

3.  Plug the leads into your CRM system.  You have to be able to track these leads and the follow up activities associated with them.  Someone has responsibility. How do you track leads in your organization? And more important, do you track the outcome?

4. Train your booth staff. What is a high priority lead and what needs to happen?  If a scientist comes up to you and says, “I need to buy one of your products”, that is a no-brainer. But do they know what to do?  Is there an established process or do you let Reps in the booth handle them they way they think makes sense?  Try an incentive system that will provide some compensation for a booth leads that ends up in a sale, even if in the field a month down the road. Word will get around quickly and you will have reps tuned to be more effective in helping interested customers and closing the loop.

Going Social at Trade Shows

By Mark Walker

So you get assigned to represent your company at the next Scientific Trade Show. What a treat, right!  Well, maybe that’s not how you look at your responsibility, but you should.

Rusty has a post with tips on how to interact with scientists at trade shows that is worthwhile reading (click here). My post focuses on being social at these meetings. Social media is very much in the news these days, encouraging online connections and interactions.  It’s increasingly important for many businesses, but don’t forget the face-to-face opportunities you can take advantage of. Trade shows are one of those events.

What’s a Rep to Do?

Sales representatives have lots of opportunities at these meetings beyond duties at the booth. Go to some of the scientific sessions in which you either have an interest or one of your customers is speaking. It is a terrific way to break the ice with a PI that you can’t access in the lab and show your support for their research. After all, your products are involved in their project or… you would like them to be.  

Even if one of your customers is not speaking or even at the meeting, find a topic that relates to the research of a key customer of yours.  Learn more about the subject in future discussions and find out what products other researchers are using for their project. If it’s your product, you have a powerful third-party reference. If it’s not, you can do some research on how your product stacks up against a potential competitor. 

Research the poster sessions and create a schedule that enables you to visit your customer’s session and discuss their project.  It’s in a non-threatening environment and, believe me, you will be remembered for making the effort.

Marketing Plans

In addition to the above, marketing gets a chance to see other companies and products, and potentially make contacts for interesting new technologies. Do your research before to see which companies are at the show. Not only on your well-known competitors, but is there a new company out there you should get to know? Either meet the people or find out who the key people are in the company for follow-up.

We created a very simple spreadsheet with all the companies and booths along with a priority letter in case we cant get to everything. It doesn’t have to be coordinated with your CRM.  Make it simple.  With all the information online, there is no reason you should be without a plan before you arrive.

Break Bread with your Colleagues

For both marketing and sales, take the opportunity to get to know each other better. There is a divide between sales and marketing in many organizations. Most of it is a natural consequence of different roles but sometimes it extends beyond that. This is a chance to “break bread” with others from your own company.  Make an effort to invite others outside your own department for an after-show adult beverage or dinner.  Get outside your comfort zone and make those connections.

Whether your company has a small or large presence at a show, there can be many people trying to coordinate schedules and not everything goes perfect.  I can’t tell you how many times we had to deal with both sales and marketing people that grabbed extra long breaks or behaved like they were more important than others. Don’t be a jerk. Accept that schedules may change or that you may need to make adjustments. For those of you looking to move up in the organization, here’s an opportunity to be a team player. For field sales, you dont have a lot of opportunities to work in an onsite team project with management watching.  

Networking for the Future

Another career-type opportunity is to connect with others outside your current company.  You may be very satisfied with your situation and have every desire to remain with your company. These days some of those decisions are made for you. Network, network, network.  With platforms such as LinkedIn, you have an easy, ready-made place to keep all your network connections and keep in touch.  

So make a plan to be social at upcoming events.  Goal yourself to get 10 new contacts or see 75% of your customers attending the meeting. It’s more fun than standing in the booth all day.