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Report from Atlanta--Training 2004
by John Neely / President,
I went to Atlanta
for VNU's Training show with the same enthusiasm with which I approach
a funeral. First, Atlanta is a nice place to visit, but not necessarily
year after year in late winter. More important, it looked like it
might be a funeral. The conference appeared to be in a death spiral--a
vicious circle of declining attendees and exhibitors. The signs were
not good. We watched for months as the number of exhibitors listed
on the conference web site struggled toward triple digits. There
were only five official conference hotels, and the Westin was not
among them! The press list, normally released a month prior to the
show, was held back until barely a week before. First impressions
were not encouraging. The expo floor was tiny--123 listed exhibitors
(perhaps 30% fewer than in 2003) in small booths. Many of the usual
suspects were nowhere to be seen. In addition to some major vendors
that are no longer with us, Achieve Global, Franklin-Covey, DDI,
Pathlore, Saba, Docent, McGraw-Hill, and SkillSoft did not exhibit. But there was
something else in the first impression: it was hard to move through
the aisles. Now, one reason we at Hawthorne go to trade shows is
to talk to exhibitors--to learn what is new and to bring our valuable
services to the attention of training and software vendors. Many
readers will have noticed this practice. But, we don't approach
booth personnel if there are potential customers waiting to talk
with them. And that was the case for most booths most of Monday,
the first day of the expo. So, here is
what I saw:
- Floor traffic at least as strong as last year
- Happy exhibitors, as that traffic was forced to crowd around
fewer booths
- A return to the Mom-and-Pop feel that the training industry
had before it rode the technology boom-and bust
- Companies offering content and affordable, usable technology
- Customer-focused selling
And what I did
not see:
- Comdex-type booths, robots, booth bimbos, golf driving ranges,
magicians, celebrity look-alikes
- New and flashy venture-funded companies with end-to-end enterprise-wide
total learning solutions
- Lots of no-shows--companies that signed up to exhibit, but
did not
- Exhibitors starting to pack up well before closing time
The training
industry has seen a long, grinding correction since the glitzy glory
days of 2000. The national recession may have been mild, but training
has been in a profound depression. Maybe, just
maybe, we have bottomed and are starting back up. Four years ago
the training industry was overfunded, bloated, rapidly consolidating,
technology-focused and careless of quality. Today it is leaner,
more diverse, more customer-focused and quality driven. In any economic
cycle the best time to make money and build share is during the
early part of the recovery phase. To take full advantage, you have
to commit before everyone else realizes that the bottom has been
reached and the upturn has begun. If you exhibited at Training 2004,
you are among the early birds. Two final thoughts:
- VNU typically does a better job of driving traffic to the
expo floor than another major training industry conference producer.
This time, VNU did the best job ever.
- Training 2005 will be in the Big Easy, a change from recent
practice. Mardi Gras anyone?
Five
Questions for Crafting an Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is a clear and concise description of your business
delivered in a minute or less--a description designed to answer
the question "What do you do?" and the unspoken question
"Why should I care?" We heard this term used frequently
in the 1990's when it typically referred to how entrepreneurs could
most effectively describe their business concept in about the time
they might share an elevator ride with a potential investor. This
column discusses the "elevator pitch" more in terms of
its use as a sales and marketing tool. And since we all seem to
be pressed for time these days --the quicker you can help a prospect
understand your key value proposition, the better chance you have
of continuing the conversation and ultimately making the sale.
Elevator pitches are tough to do. They require rigorously thinking
through the business you are in and why your business is important
and unique to your customer. So we've obtained five questions from
Vern Blodgett of the Commonwealth Corporation--an organization providing
entrepreneurial training. These five questions are designed to help
you formulate your "elevator pitch". Try it, refine it,
and then give it the next time you meet a potential customer. You
will find that you generate much more interest. The questions:
1. Who is your prime prospect or customer? Look at who is buying
from you. Identify their key characteristics.
2. What is your prospect/customer's problem? Write a list of the
most important customer problems you help to solve. 3. What is
your product or service? Define your product or service clearly
and concisely and know how it benefits your buyer.
4. How does your product or service solve your prime prospect/customer's
problem? Tie the problem you solve with the service or product you
offer. Effective elevator pitches often lead with the problem and
the solution--making them much more engaging and compelling to the
customer. For instance if you were running a marketing company you
might say "we help our customers get great leads that turn
into sales--fast." The problem this business is solving is
that the customer needs to sell more products and they need to do
it more quickly. Rather than saying "we are a marketing company
that will help you increase market visibility…" this elevator
pitch goes directly to the heart of the customers needs.
5. What is your unique selling proposition (USP)? How do you differentiate
yourself from your competition? Given your product or service and
your ability to solve your customer's problem, what do you do that
is really unique? For some businesses it is a particular and unique
product and for other businesses it is a special form of expertise
or service. Finish your elevator pitch with a statement of why you
are unique and why customers should do business with you. Now, answer
the five questions and write your elevator pitch. Practice it in
the car, the shower, and use friends, family, and employees to listen
and critique. Soon you will be answering the question "Just
what is it you do?" with all the persuasive energy and conviction
needed to make your prospect or customer want to buy. back
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