Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Made in the UK for HR consultants worldwide. You're listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast.
[00:00:13] Hello, James here and welcome to this week's podcast episode. Should you exhibit at an event to grow your consultancy? Well, if you're going to go there and hope to have some nice chats with people, then probably not. But if you go there with the right strategy, they can be an awesome way to grow your consultancy. And that's what we're going to talk about in today's main event. And in today's thought of the week. I'm going to talk about the top five regrets of the dying and why they are, albeit a bit morbid, a timely reminder of what matters most in life. So let's jump straight in this week's main event.
[00:00:48] Is exhibiting at events a good way to grow your consultancy and get new clients? Well, lots of HR consultants I know have thought about exhibiting at an event before and they've asked me whether they think it's worth doing and done right. I think exhibiting at events can be a fantastic way to get in front of potential clients. But if you're thinking of just paying for a stand and going there hoping to have some nice chats with people, then stop. In my opinion, this is completely the wrong approach to have and it's the quickest way to waste your time and money. So, to help you in today's main event, we're going to have a good old chat about exhibiting at events. We're going to talk about the pros and cons of exhibiting events, how to qualify that the event is right for you and your business. Business, what your plan of action should be when you're at the event and what you should do after the event to follow up with all of your lovely new leads and turn them into clients. So let's jump straight into the pros and cons of exhibiting at events. The first pro of exhibiting is brand awareness. Simply by being there with your stand and logo, you're increasing your brand's awareness to the people that are attending the event. The second pro of exhibiting is lead generation. So done right, events can be a great way to generate leads. And doing it face to face helps you to build stronger connections with people. From day one. The third pro of exhibiting is market research and learnings. So events bring together businesses from different industries, which gives you a great opportunity to see what's happening outside of your usual space. You can chat with attendees to understand their biggest HR challenges, see what competitors are offering and spot trends that might help shape your services and the Fourth pro of exhibiting is networking opportunities. You're not just meeting potential clients, but also other business owners, industry experts and potential collaborators. These relationships can lead to partnerships, referrals and even unexpected opportunities that might help you grow your consultancy. So that's the pros covered. Let's move on to the cons. The first con of exhibiting is cost. So exhibiting isn't cheap. There's the stand itself, the branding, the marketing materials, and then travel and accommodation on top of that. And here's the problem. There's no guarantee of a return on investment. You could spend thousands and walk away with nothing but a few business cards and some polite conversations. The second con of exhibiting is time investment. So planning takes time, setting up takes time, standing at your booth all day takes time. And all of that is time you're not spending on biddable work, business strategy or scaling your consultancy. You have to ask yourself whether the time spent exhibiting is worth the potential return. The third con of exhibiting is competition. At large events, you're not the only consultant there. You're competing for attention with other exhibitors, many of whom have bigger budgets, flashier stands and more resources to attract people in. And the fourth con of exhibiting is that it can be hit or miss. Not every event is full of your ideal clients. Some attendees might not be decision makers. Others might just be there for a day out and a few freebies. So if you haven't researched the event properly, you could end up spending a lot of time and money talking to the wrong people.
[00:03:55] So that's the pros and cons covered. Whether or not an event is worth attending for you all boils down to what type of event it is and of course, the delegates who are attending. So when an opportunity comes up for you to attend an event, the first thing you need to do is your due diligence to make sure it's right for you and your business. So ask yourself, what kind of event is it? Do they have a delegate summary list? Is there a full delegate list available after the event? What sort of data capture are they providing at the event? Who else is exhibiting? And is there a floor plan? So paying for events is always a bit of a gamble. So you just need to make sure that the right type of people are attending, there aren't five other HR consultants there, and your not stuck in a dark corner where no one will be. Okay, so now you've done your research and you've booked your stand, you need to think about what your plan of action is going to be when you're there. Now remember what I said at the start. If you're just going to go there and hope to have some nice chats with people, then for me this is completely the wrong approach to have. And there's two reasons for this. The first is having long in depth chats with people at the event isn't the best use of your time. You don't want to be stuck talking to one person and ignoring everyone else that walks past because you're missing out on those opportunities. We've all been there. The other reason is that people are only ready to buy when they're ready to buy. And there will be a tiny percentage of people in that room that have an immediate HR needs that you can help with. That's why you need to think long term and go there with the attitude that it's a big data capture exercise. That for me is the best way to handle events. Go there, get all of the delicate contact details and market to them in the future.
[00:05:36] So what's the best way to capture delegates information? Well, there's lots of ways that you can do it, but the main ways are either via a lead magnet or some sort of competition. So let's look at lead magnets first. As people walk past your stand, a great way to start a conversation is, hey, are you a business owner or manager? And if they say yes, then you could say, would you like a free copy of my HR compliance checklist? Or something else that they'll find useful. This is a great way to start a conversation with delegates, qualify that they're a business owner, give them something of value and capture their details. And then competition wise, there's loads of things that you can do too. The last event I went to, they had a mini putting green like golf, which was really fun actually. And there was a big prize for anyone that gave it a try. So anything like that would be a really great idea in terms of capturing people's data. You've got to make this quick and easy too. Some of the big events have badge zappers which make your life super easy. So if they say said yes to your lead magnet or competition, then you just SAP their badge and their contact details get emailed to you after the event. But if that isn't available, then you have to do things manually. You can either hand them a tablet and ask them to complete a short web form, you can ask them to scan a QR code to complete a form, or you can ask them to write their contact details down manually on a piece of paper. Whatever you do, it Just needs to be easy and quick, both for you and the delegate. Okay, so now that the event is over and you've got loads of new contacts, the biggest mistake you can make is collecting all of those details and then doing nothing with them. So once someone has received your free download or entered your competition, you need to start nurturing that relationship. The first way to do this is by following up with your new leads, either via a multi touchpoint campaign or telephone call. So let's say you gave away a free compliance checklist at the event. Your follow up would be to see if they need help with their compliance and get them onto a discovery call and then try and sell them some sort of mini HR audit or your big HR audit. You should then be keeping in touch with everyone on your list, whether they're old contacts or new, via a weekly email. And that's the best way to keep in touch with these people. And that brings us to the end of this week's main event. Exhibiting at local events and conferences can be a great way to grow your consultancy, but if you don't do your due diligence and go there with a plan, it can be an expensive mistake. The biggest piece of advice that I can give you is to think long term. So if the event is right for you, go there to capture everyone's details and market to them on a regular basis. Within the HR Marketing box, there are loads of lead magnets you can use to help you, such as the Employment Law Compliance Checklists and the HR Buyers Guide. I think there's over 50 educational guides that can be used as lead magnets in there now. And if you do need any other help, I'm always here for a chat. Just get in touch and let's book in a call. James thought of the week I made Nikki our head of Client delete her work emails and Basecamp, which is our project management system, from her phone. Yesterday we were talking about work stress and work life balance and how easy it is for work to become your life. Constantly checking emails throughout the day and constantly feeling like you have to be on which is the easiest way to burn yourself out on top of everything else that you have to do as a functioning human. Nikki was a little reluctant at first. I think we're all somehow addicted to stress or things that cause us stress in one way or another. And when I was speaking to Nikki about this, I said that you're not going to look back at your life and wish you had spent more time worrying about emails or work. Instead, you're going to wish that you were more present and had more fun with your family and friends. And saying this reminded me about the book the Top five Regrets of the Dying. Okay, I know it sounds a bit morbid, but hear me out. So this book was written by a palliative care nurse called Bronnie Ware. She worked in end of life care, spending time with terminally ill patients in their final weeks and listening to their biggest regrets. And here are the top five she put in her book. So Regret one is I wish I'd lived a life true to myself, not what others expected.
[00:09:42] Regret 2 is I wish I hadn't worked so hard. Regret 3 is I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.
[00:09:51] Regret 4 is I wish I'd stayed in touch with my friends. And regret 5 is I wish I'd let myself be happier.
[00:10:01] So I wanted to share this book with you in the Top five Regrets of the Dying as a loving wake up call and as a timely reminder of what really matters in life. In life, I think it's so easy to get caught up in the day to day and it's very, very easy to just completely lose sight of the bigger picture. And worse still, you're at risk of losing yourself. I think we've all been there. So while we have to work incredibly hard as business owners, we also need to work hard to ensure that we have balance and that all of our hard work pays off by having a rewarding life. That for me is the true measure of business success.
[00:10:36] So maybe you need to delete your work emails from your phone because let's face it, we're on our laptops for most of the day anyway. Maybe you need to spend a couple of hours reconnecting with friends you haven't spoken to in a while. Or maybe you need to tick something off your bucket list or do something that will make you happy. We only have one shot at life, so let's make it a good one. If you need help growing your consultancy so you have more personal and financial freedom, I'm here to help. You've been listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast, helping you to get new clients and create a life you love.
