Alas, out of the 1,000′s of square footage packed with enticing camera equipment, I only found one super sales guy. I’m going to write about his very interesting product next week. He sold me.
Skilled sales people were lacking in record numbers. The worst offense? The lone table with no pamphlets or products with a sad-looking sales person sitting directly in the center of the table with a big sign hanging behind them. I always approach these tables because I’m a sucker for the lonely kid on the playground. All three times I approached, the salesperson looked terrified that they’d have to interact with someone…… mystery solved.
The next violation was a guy who was selling online video services. “Vincent Laforet” uses our services!” he exclaimed with big smile (my first thought was to wonder if Mr. Laforet knew they were using his name to sell their products.) I responded by taking the guy’s card and asking if he knew why it was so significant that Vincent used their services. “Do you know why he is known so well?” I asked ……. The rep replied that he did not and then realized that I was not going to stick around to share.
The Tunnel Vision Violation: Three people are standing at your booth looking for your attention, but you only notice and talk with one……. FOREVER. I can kind of forgive this one if you really have a juicy worm on the hook, but usually when I listen in on the conversation as I wait, that isn’t the case. Worst violator: Wacom.
Next violation: Two sales people talking about some drama topic together standing in front of the brochures (young women). When I excused myself to reach between them to grab a brochure they both shot me a dirty look. How dare I interrupt their conversation to grab the sales materials they were there to promote. Violator: Spyder. The other problem I saw at that booth in the short time I stopped by was a sale’s demonstration where the sale’s guy didn’t know how to use the program well enough and ended up searching within the program for a good three minutes. I gave the benefit of the doubt for a minute, but then just walked away like the other two people did. Their problem: I really wanted to see how their product worked. Their magazine advertisements and word of mouth had enticed me enough to stop for a few minutes and spend time interacting with their product.
Who brought their A Game? Nikon and Canon had packed seminars running all day. Nikon brought some bikes and models so people could actually pick up their cameras and use them. Loved it! And, of course, B&H dominated the floor. No one can touch their efficiency and you really have to admire their ability to rake it in. As a note, many of the sales people at other kiosks actually recommended that their product was always available at B&H.
Jim’s kiosk was way in the back, on a busy corner. I was not particularly interested in his product, archivable DVD’s, but I glanced over briefly. Jim made eye contact and was very friendly. He took my second of interest and offered me a little more. He never pushed, but shared the excellence of his product. As all good sales people often do, he really “believed” in his product. The kiosk was set up very nicely for being so little. They brought a good size screen with a great video of their product and an explanation of how their product was constructed and why it made it so much better than other archivable disks. He treated me as if he already knew how intelligent I was (which is so true, except on Tuesdays) and gave me the information I would have wanted to hear if I was, in fact, looking to purchase his produce. He created value from a glance. I will bring his info into my department and make people aware of it. Nice job Jim. His company name is Millenniata (Slogan: Write Once, Read Forever) www.millenniata.com .
Second prize goes to the woman selling the hot swappable raid units. Excellent sales person. Excellent product. Great kiosk demonstration and setup. However, no sales brochures or business cards (maybe she ran out). She did scan my badge though. So, eventually, I’ll be able to tell you who she is …. if I remember.
Third place and a very warm shout out is to the Maine Media Workshops. www.TheWorkshops.com I’ve taken classes with many of the instructors that teach for this workshop and they have ALL been top of the line. Check them out.
Fourth. Photoshop User Magazine. The guy at the kiosk saw my eyes glaze over when I read the words Photoshop and he immediately went back and grabbed me a free magazine. We simply gave eachother a knowing look, never spoke as I was in an Adobe Photoshop daze…..
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