When Opportunity Knocks…..Don’t Let Red Tape Get in The Way
We like to think of ourselves as ‘opportunity makers’, bringing people together where the opportunity matches interest. We know that people are busy, time is tight and getting the right people in the same place isn’t easy, and we take this all into consideration when planning to ‘make opportunities happen’.
Successful business development involves building relationships, creating opportunities and adapting your approach to meet the needs of your target customers. Strategies and tactics may have evolved over the last decade but we still believe the best things happen when you bring people and products together at the right place and the right time.
Industry tradeshows are still a great way to showcase your brand and make connections but we think it’s vital to take the experience a step further if you really want to ‘seal the deal’. Picture the scene – you’ve introduced your service or product and talked to some key people at the show, but then they move on to the next exhibit and your sales pitch – as strong as it may have been – becomes nothing more than vague recollection in their minds amongst a backdrop of hundreds of others.
Now imagine being able to follow up those conversations by taking your very own exhibition truck, kitted out with the technology, product or experience you’re selling, right to the front door of your key target’s headquarters. It’s a tried and tested tactic that really makes an impact and can elevate you above the competition.
We’ve done this many times for brands all over the world. A client of ours followed up a conversation at the Frankfurt Motor Show with a visit to a company’s offices just three weeks later, taking their truck kitted out with a range of products the target customer could see, feel, experiment with and even let their engineers test.
In order to beat their competition another client took a truck fitted with their latest product release right to the front doors of a company in the very centre of Brussels, in order to present their pitch. The truck travelled through the city’s narrow, cobbled streets (complete with a Police escort!) so they could get the products in front of all the key people involved in the buying decision, helping them win a high-value contract, and all because we created an exclusive opportunity for the decision makers to see the equipment up close and personal.
There really aren’t many better ways to shorten the sales cycle and land those all-important new business contracts. We all know that major deals need to go through testing; be approved by planners; be agreed to by the CEO; actioned by procurement and sales teams – the list goes on. More often than not, it’s a very lengthy process to get all these people to see, understand, agree to and action something new. If you take a truck right to their door though, you can bring complicated or technical solutions right to the people who need to see them.
A mobile exhibition truck is also perfect for those items that are often difficult to manoeuvre, need a lot of space or would require a long time to set up. Another one of our current campaigns is for a supplier of medical solutions for hospitals, laboratories and blood centers, required us to fit out trucks as blood-testing laboratories, functioning exactly as they would in a real laboratory, so the systems could be seen, used and rigorously tested by the potential buyers. We took this on and created a suite of mobile laboratories that are so true to life that, if needed in an emergency situation, they could even be put to use in a real-life crisis.
As you can probably tell, we pride ourselves on creating real experiences, showcasing real products and transporting whatever you want your potential clients to see right to their doorstep, cutting through much of the red tape, and indeed overcoming potential objections to the sale that can delay that all-important decision making at the C-suite level.
We understand that people are stretched, time is precious and sales cycles are lengthy and complicated. But we have learnt from experience that connecting the right people, creating opportunities to work together and exploring solutions together is the most effective way to fuel your success and business growth.