Prospecting Methods: Seminars and Sales People

One of my pet peeves with sales people is that they do not use seminars effectively. I recall asking a few sales persons how a seminar was and there were two variations of the same response I received:

• The food was great!

• The food was lousy!

Imagine spending all that money, time and effort to provide a prospecting opportunity and have it squandered on people who only attend for the food.

The effective sales people will not only use the seminar to learn new things, they will meet new people, use the opportunity to network, create contacts, share stories, make connections and possibly come back with leads that result in future business.

Use the opportunity to take notes. Sometimes you will not understand the relevance at the time however sometime in the future something you noted will click and it is useful to have notes to refer back to it. Yes, taking notes is hard work, however studies show that when you write something down you are more likely to remember it (writing it in blue ink seems to help memorize things better than any other color.)

When you return from the seminar your responses on how the seminar went should include:

• What new things did you learn?

• How could you apply those to your business?

• Did you meet any prospects?

• Did you make new contacts?

• What would you do to improve your experience in the future?

Above all make sure you are richer in content and not in cholesterol by the end of the seminar.