Author name: Mollie Ring

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Steps to Ensuring High-quality Conversation at Trade Shows

High-quality conversations at trade shows and in-person events are like buried treasure. It’s rare that you stumble upon them. It is worth every investment of time and resources to evolve a map to ensure that you find them. First, let’s define high-quality. High-quality conversations deliver value—whether in potential customers, partnerships or referrals. They represent the unique and unparalleled benefit to trade shows and in-person events in that by nature they deliver greater returns than other marketing strategies. As your event selection improves the pool of possible people to meet improves. They also require work. Devising an annual trade show strategy plan (which includes careful show selection and marketing practices) serves as a map. The next step is to uncover the best route. For more on how to build an annual trade show strategy plan, check out our Special Report: How to Maximize ROI with a Trade Show Strategy Plan, or reach out to us today. Key steps to seeking out high-quality conversations Trade shows are finite opportunities. Just like fruit at the market, they are perishable opportunities. You’ll never get this same mix of people with the same mix of needs in one room again. Taking the steps to ensure that your time and resources are used efficiently to maximize ROI is critical. Here’s what we recommend: 1. Stay focused  Know your targets before walking into an event. Having specific targets in mind—companies or people, industries or types of professionals, helps to ensure that you are making the most of the time and resources you have committed to being there. Know who you want to meet by name or discipline. 2. Be prepared While some events use nametags, the vast majority do not. We recommend doing your pre-event homework by researching attendee lists. If you’ve participated in this event in the past, take the time to review your database for insights. We also recommend scheduling meet-ups with your highest priority targets before the event. Once you have those meetings in place, fill the rest of your schedule with key opportunities (e.g. speaking and networking events) where you anticipate similar personas will be in attendance. 3. Leverage all available resources With 75+ years of trade show and in-person event experience, we’ve learned that one of the least utilized resources are the hosts themselves. Not only are hosts well aware of attendee demographics, but they also have a vested interest in your satisfaction and success at the event. Whether you contact your hosts ahead of time or as soon as you arrive, it’s helpful to inform them of whom you’re aiming to meet at the event (whether it’s by industry, geography, or name) and request introductions. Having a trusted third-party help you facilitate introductions can help to immediately break the ice and build rapport with target prospects and partners. Don’t be afraid to leave the booth. Devising a divide and conquer staffing approach will help to ensure that you are maximizing all your available resources so that everyone on your event team is fully leveraged. Unlocking the greatest value You’ve managed to find the treasure, which is great! Now how do you make sure you’ve got the right set of keys to unlock it? The key to unlocking high-value conversations at trade shows and in-person events is having a list of good, thoughtful questions. While a scripted self-introduction is important, it’s not what you say but what you learn that drives strong connections. For more on the value of good conversation skills and specific questions to ask potential prospects and partners, check out this post. The beauty of using an inquiry-based approach is that it puts you in a position of power to determine whether someone is truly a resource or prospect. By uncovering someone’s top three priorities, you will easily be able to identify whether or not they are a good partner or prospect, as opposed to relying on their own self-assessment and potentially misinformed impression of your services. Treasure abounds at trade shows and in-person events. It’s why we’ve chosen to make them the focus of our work. But showing up is only half the battle. Taking the steps to uncover and unlock these rewards requires planning and preparation. Fortunately, help is out there. For more on this topic of strategic engagement at trade shows, check out our recent webinar: How to Start Conversations and Identify Opportunities at Events. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no-obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

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Getting in the Mindset for Trade Show Success

At MEET, we focus on helping B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. By using time-tested strategies to identify prospects, select shows, align marketing techniques and measure outcomes, MEET works to de-risk the scaling process by ensuring a steady stream of high-quality prospects for our clients. Why do we focus on trade shows? For B2B companies, most marketing dollars are spent with the hopes of someday getting face-to-face with target prospects. When optimized, trade shows deliver the most efficient way of achieving this goal. They provide the venue and the audience for these transactions. They also provide a number of other unique opportunities to improve your position in the market and connect with key stakeholders. For companies looking to scale to the U.S. market, trade shows represent a vital opportunity to meet target customers, test value propositions and offers. The beauty of this approach for scaling firms is that they can begin before investing major resources in infrastructure and staffing in the new market. Trade shows are also exhausting and represent a huge commitment of time and resources, which is why we recommend taking every step possible to guarantee your ROI. Even steps that may seem a bit less tangible. Mindset matters Psychologists have spent years studying the impact of one’s self-beliefs on their success or failure, and have proven that mindset does, in fact, play a significant role in determining achievement. At MEET, we believe that taking the steps to get in the right mindset before and during an event helps to ensure that every other investment in that opportunity is fully leveraged. And having participated in close to 5,000 events in our collective 75 years of experience, we’re pretty familiar with what it takes to achieve that trade show mindset. Here are the steps we recommend to help get you in the mindset for success. Take a pause Whether you’re coming off of a busy morning, a crazy travel schedule or a full day in the office, take a moment to refocus and re-energize before walking through those doors. We all have different rituals for shifting gears. Here’s what works for us: Find a quiet spot where you can be alone. This might be your car, a park bench, or a nearby café. Use this time to remind yourself why you’re attending the event and what your explicit goals are. Make sure to remove other activities and responsibilities that may be a distraction or inhibit you from reaching those goals. For example, if your goal is to find resources for your company and existing customers, put aside your sales pitch. Similar to fishing (where using the wrong bait will scare away the fish you’re aiming to catch) a misapplied sales pitch can easily scare away target contacts. Take steps to ensure that your strategy matches your audience and your goals, and remove all other barriers. Channel your role models We all have someone we admire for his or her networking skills. Having a clear picture of a person whose skills you’d like to emulate in a networking situation is a great way to gain and maintain focus throughout an event. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, events can be taxing, particularly those that last for several days. We all have behaviors that we revert to when we’re tired or feeling overwhelmed. Looking at technology, sitting down, or socializing with friends should all be avoided. Having a role model in mind can help you in those moments. Instead of reverting to these behaviors, think about how your role model would behave in the booth or while engaging with trade show participants. Whether it’s encouraging people out of the aisle to have a conversation, or simply not sitting down, it’s helpful to have specific qualities in mind that you’re aiming to replicate during an event. There’s a lot that goes into maximizing ROI from a trade show event. If pre, during and post-event strategy weren’t enough, there are the steps you must take to ensure that your mindset (and the way it causes you to behave) is aligned with the success you worked so hard to achieve. That said, there is no comparison to the connections, relationships, and targeted exposure gained from trade shows and in-person events. So get on your game face. It’s worth it. For more on this topic of strategic engagement at trade shows, check out our recent webinar: How to Start Conversations and Identify Opportunities at Events. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market, subscribe to our YouTube Channel.   About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.  

Return on Investment

Why Good Conversation Delivers ROI

The art of making good conversation has been studied for centuries. And while everyone seems to have their own twist, there is clearly some agreement around the makings of a master conversationalist. According to common wisdom, those with good conversation skills show interest and curiosity in their counterparts. They ensure balance and give and take, and have something interesting to say. Finally, they demonstrate knowledge without proselytizing or being too pedantic. So much of successful networking comes down to mastering good conversation skills. And yet, one of the biggest mistakes we witness at networking events such as trade shows is that people seem to break all the rules of good conversation. Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, maximizing your investment in trade shows and in-person events with a finely tuned networking strategy is worth the effort. Here are our tips for ensuring that good conversation translates to good ROI. The value of a good question Trade shows represent a large investment of time and resources. As a result, the pressure to ensure ROI can feel overwhelming. Sadly, it can also manifest into a bad strategy. At MEET, 75 years of experience in trade shows and in-person events have taught us that it’s not what you say as much as what you learn at events that allows you to connect and build relationships. It’s not what you say but what you learn that drives customer relationships. Having a list of good, thoughtful questions to ask those you hope to meet at an event is an important place to start. Simple ones like: Tell me about your company? What’s your role? What are the biggest challenges you’re facing? What are you hoping to accomplish at this event? Are there certain people that you’re hoping to meet? Answers to these questions will help you build relationships with potential prospects and make resource referrals for existing customers. Asking these questions will also help to ensure that you are practicing good conversation skills and strengthening your networking capacity. For more on the value of matchmaking at trade shows, check out this post. Moving toward the center of the room Similar to those high school dances we’d all care to forget, you don’t want to find yourself along the periphery of an event if your goal is to make good connections. Again, whether you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert, it’s important to recognize that quality connections are made when we push ourselves to engage with folks in the center of the room in tangible ways. Understanding the need for this level of investment in relationship building requires a staffing strategy that empowers your salespeople to leave the booth and flex their talents. Ensuring they are equipped with good conversation skills will help to guarantee their results and maximize ROI. Setting goals to conserve your resources All businesses and most households start the year with a budget. Budgets tell you how to manage your effort and what resources you need to apply. Goal-setting your trade show strategy acts in a very similar way. It helps you manage your effort, and know when you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve. Setting clear goals helps you measure ROI There are many occasions when, one to two hours after finishing up an event, we see people chatting away, trying to make connections. While in some instances these conversations are productive, in most situations these individuals are simply having a hard time knowing when they’re done. People have a hard time leaving an event if they fear they’re leaving money on the table. The more work you do to prepare for an event by setting measurable outcomes, the better you will be at conserving your resources and applying them where they will deliver the greatest return. For more on this topic of strategic engagement at trade shows, check out our recent webinar: How to Start Conversations and Identify Opportunities at Events. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

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Build your Bullpen to Maximize Trade Show ROI

When sales leaders are asked where they get their referrals, close to 100% will answer from past or existing customers. When asked why they attend trade shows and in-person events, these same individuals will say that they expect to build new relationships that will drive referrals. What is the best way to secure a strong referral pipeline? How can trade shows and in-person events bolster these efforts? At MEET, we support our clients in all aspects of trade show strategy, from prospect identification to marketing and messaging, to building a cadre of resources that build credibility with future and existing customers. We’ve found that one of the most effective ways to drive referrals is to focus your attention on building a strong bullpen of customer resources. Securing a strong network of resources and activating on these relationships to support the full scope of needs your customers face sends the message you are fully committed to finding new and better ways to serve them. In other words, strengthening the bullpen equals more runs scored. How is this done? The value of trade shows The first step to building your resource bullpen is to understand the primary purpose of attending trade shows. At MEET, our goal in working with B2B companies is to ensure that trade show investments are targeted toward high-quality prospects. What do we mean by high quality? In contrast to high volume, high quality is determined by the degree to which a prospect meets three criteria: they possess a NEED, the RESOURCES to fulfill that need, and URGENCY for a solution. For simplicity, we refer to them as NEED, MONEY, NOW. Understanding the unique value of trade shows compared with social networking events comes down to distinguishing quality from quantity. A well-designed trade show strategy identifies assumptions around who these high-quality prospects are and where to find them and sets concrete goals for the number you are aiming to meet. Putting a number on your goal will not only help to measure the utility of a particular event, but it will also help your team in setting their own performance targets.  For more tips on how and why to set measurable targets for your trade show team, check out this post. Building your network at trade shows Executing on your trade show strategy requires close attention to staffing. At MEET, this is something we refer to as the divide and conquer approach. It’s critical that every member of your trade show team has a clear mission, measurable goals, and feels prepared to execute on these responsibilities. That means that your booth team (a.k.a. transaction professionals) is focused on separating prospects from the general audience and inviting them to enroll in your marketing funnel with a strong call to action. Meanwhile, your sales team is working the trade show floor, nurturing relationships with existing customers, and prospects, gaining exposure to new industry knowledge and resources, and forging new partnerships. Questions on how to implement a divide and conquer approach? Contact us today. Similar to that memory game you played as a kid, going to events is very much about making matches on a crowded game board. Beyond identifying new customers, trade shows are an exceptional way to strengthen that referral pipeline by improving your value as a networking partner. Finding ways to help your clients become stronger advocates for you is always a good investment. Own your self-introduction Finally, ensure your team is well scripted. Whether they’re in the booth performing transactions or walking the floor securing intel and resources, it’s important that every member of your trade show team is well-trained in how to deliver your call to action and goal for being in attendance. Part and parcel to a good introduction is also knowing your audience. That means having a clear picture of who you are aiming to meet by researching the attendee list and arriving at the event with a clear understanding of the needs you are aiming to fill from your existing customer base. A well-scripted self-introduction makes it easier to build initial connection and credibility, which in turn will help to foster more valuable relationships. Trade shows are no minor investment. Taking the steps to maximize ROI however, can deliver exponential results, particularly when it comes to building that referral pipeline. For more on this topic of strategic engagement at trade shows, check out our recent webinar: How to Start Conversations and Identify Opportunities at Events. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no-obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Return on Investment

Market Entry and the Art of Staying Nimble

The famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky was once asked by a reporter: “What makes you better than other players on the ice?” “Other hockey players go where the puck is,” he answered. “I go where the puck is going.” Every CEO is trying to stay ahead of the game, to anticipate market trends and pivot points, and remain nimble enough to respond rather than chase the competition. How can firms endeavoring market entry think (and perform) like hockey players? Better yet, one of the greatest hockey players of all time? For advice on this topic, we spoke with Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research. We interviewed Michael in a webinar on June 25th, 2019 titled: What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Business: Nailing Market Research for U.S. Market Entry. What is the first market entry task for a scaling firm? All scaling firms, whether they are startups or well-established global companies, need to start by understanding the audience they will be servicing in the new market. As a market researcher, Michael’s first step is to understand from his client’s perspective who the firm will be servicing and what is their strategy for reaching them. “What types of channels do they use in their existing market, how do they advertise and communicate their brand, and does it resonate with that audience.” For startups, where an audience needs to be identified from scratch, Michael assists in this process by using a number of market research methodologies such as phone and digital to identify the personas they are targeting. For an explanation of the full range of data collection methodologies that Michael uses and why check out this post.  The importance of testing We all operate on a set of assumptions based on our own personal knowledge of the world. What made hockey players like Gretzky so great isn’t that he operated on fewer assumptions or that he was naturally more intuitive. Rather, he built a strategy during each game based on knowledge gained from testing those assumptions. At MEET, we believe strongly in maximizing every opportunity for our clients to test their assumptions. We then work with them to collect and use that data to constantly refine and inform their strategy for reaching their target market. At Greatblue Research, Michael employs a similar approach. Once he understands who his clients believe they are targeting in the new market, Michael develops a testing strategy that will validate (or invalidate) these assumptions. From a market research perspective, the key lies in how one frames the question. “If you ask the right questions in the right way and you build them in an independent, objective fashion, they’re not going to lead you to the answer that you hope for. They’re going to lead you to the answer that is accurate.” Staying ahead of the puck Great CEOs have vision—but strong vision can be a double-edged sword. For some CEOs, those same qualities that keep them firmly committed to surmounting the persistent challenges to market entry can blind them from recognizes shifting trends that require a change in strategy. Willingness to test one’s assumptions is often not enough. CEOs must have the foresight and the courage to remain nimble in the face of new knowledge about the market—even when it feels like a shift away from a previously desired endpoint. From Michael’s perspective, true leaders are looking at information, being humbled by it, and saying “the data is telling me it’s time to move.” A well-designed market research strategy will indicate which direction to head next. Maintaining your balance Striking the right balance between attained knowledge and new data is fundamental to the art of remaining nimble. In Michael’s experience, there’s a happy balance between getting too excited by new data and potentially making a wrong move, and keeping patient while not missing the boat completely. Maintaining your vision while remaining open to change is not easy. Everyone, even Gretzky, has to work at it. Fortunately, there are great coaches out there to help. Interested in learning how MEET can help you devise a validated market entry strategy? Contact us today. For more insights from Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research, check out our entire interview here. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Return on Investment, Uncategorized

Beating the Competition as a Scaling Firm

Understanding your competition and how to differentiate in a new market is critical for any scaling firm. Beating the competition, on the other hand, requires much more. As any swimmer will tell you, the key to winning a race is to keep your head down and focus on your strengths. While every scaling firm needs market knowledge, we were curious about the return on investment for competitive research? To what degree can (and should) it be used to beat the competition? For some expert insight on the topic of competitive research, we spoke with Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research. We interviewed Michael in a webinar on June 25th, 2019 titled What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Business: Nailing Market Research for U.S. Market Entry. We started by asking Michael how much emphasis scaling firms should place on competitive landscape analysis. Where and how to begin with competitive research Competitive research is a fundamental input to gaining a full view of the opportunity that a particular geographic location presents. Without it, scaling firms find it difficult to verify the benefits of selecting one region or city over another. For a full list of factors to consider when selecting a geographic region to scale your company, check out this post. Michael suggested approaching market analysis and competitive research, particularly for the U.S. market, from two perspectives. First, you want to use market analysis to better understand the opportunity in one market versus another. For example, purchasing practices, investment trends, startup costs, and infrastructure. Next, Michael suggests that you’ll want to understand who else is offering a competitive product or service in that market and what your competitive advantage is with target customers. These early investments are important for scaling firms. But how much should companies invest in competitive research beyond these initial phases? How much value should be placed on competitive research? As a market research expert, Michael believes that understanding your competition to a certain degree is important, but recommends not going overboard. Beyond using market research to help you determine where to look for target customers, how your pricing compares, and what your differentiators are, Michael recommends investing in learning how to better serve them. “At the end of the day, particularly in the B2B world, your measure of success will be whether you can stand in front of your target customer and say: this is what we do, here is our experience, and this is how we can solve your problem. At that point, they are either going to believe you or they’re not.” “I really believe that if you spend time focusing on understanding the needs of your target customers and how you can deliver an authentic solution, you can overpower any competition.” Is there such a thing as too much competitive research? Too much of anything is never a good thing. The same is true for competitive research. “There’s such a thing as paralysis by analysis,” Michael suggests. Over-investing in competitive research prompts many CEOs to pivot too much, in turn detracting from their authenticity. “The key to beating the competition is knowing what you do well and not being too generic about it.” Where is the greatest ROI in market research? We’ve established that market research is necessary at the early stages of entering a new market. The greatest ROI, however, lies in testing your solution, or your hypothesis, directly with your revenue source, i.e. your target customers. “You could spend tons and tons of money on market analysis, or you could invest those resources in the time and energy it takes to do your homework with your audience.” Getting in and getting to work in determining how you can deliver an authentic solution as a scaling firm will deliver the greatest return on investment. Michael suggests thinking of it as MVP versus end goal, in which case your investment in research is far more internal than external. Keeping your head above water to monitor the competition will not only slow you down, but it may also end the race completely. On the other hand, try remaining focused on cultivating your strengths, authenticity, and relevance with your target market. You may find yourself, leagues ahead of the competition. For more insights from Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research, check out our entire interview here. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no-obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

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How to Maximize ROI in Market Research

We’ve all been the target of market research. Whether it’s a prompt requesting you to remain on the line for a brief survey, a feedback card you receive upon exiting an airplane, or that pop-up web survey you just can’t seem to minimize. How do companies decide on a market research strategy for their company? What steps do CEOs take to maximize ROI? For answers to our questions, we spoke with Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research. We interviewed Michael in a webinar on June 25th, 2019 titled What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Business: Nailing Market Research for U.S. Market Entry. As someone who has been in the industry for close to 25 years, we asked Michael for some perspective on how market research strategies have evolved over time. How have market research techniques changed over the last 25 years? “Twenty years ago there was really two methodologies for quantitative market research: phone surveys and mail surveys. On the qualitative side, there were in-person interviews. That was really it.” All that was changed with the introduction of digital tools. “It gave us some big and much needed cost reductions for the industry to be able to go out and capture information. It also allowed us to do it much faster.” What are the primary considerations when selecting a market research strategy? “There are really three variables that come into play when making the decision about which market research methodology to use. It’s helpful to think of them as a three-legged stool,” shared Michael. The first leg is the audience that you’re targeting with your research. For example, are they CEOs or end-user consumers? Your target audience will immediately determine the language you are going to use and the most effective way to reach them. The second that Michael described is, based on that audience, which methodology will be the most effective for reaching them and be most effective at soliciting the type of information you’re looking for. The third variable has to do with your sample size, which will be determined by the relative reliability of the data. “Speaking to eight CEOs can be much more valuable than speaking to 800 end-user consumers or vice-versa,” depending on the data you’re looking for. Which market research methodologies do firms have to choose from? Michael provided this full scope list of market research methodologies, along with some insights into when certain strategies can be most effective: 1. Email and digital-based surveys Most used to capture feedback from end-user consumers. 2. Phone surveys Still very popular despite the fact that it is harder to capture folks by phone. 3. Mail surveys Recommended for consumers located in hard-to-reach areas with poor reception or Internet access 4. Focus groups Offer the unique opportunity to witness first-hand an audience’s reaction to a visual or prompt. Also allow for follow-up when you’re aiming to dive deeper into a particular area. 5. Home-use testing Used by many overseas manufacturers that are scaling to the U.S. market and want to be able to see how their products or technologies are being used and experienced. Determining the best market research plan for your firm depends on your goals. Just as important is determining which questions to ask. How to maximize ROI “Historically, we’ve seen folks think they need to ask as many questions as they can while they have a captive audience.” This, as Michael suggests, is not the most strategic approach. “In reality, you should be building your market research questions around the precise answers you need to address your most urgent business problem—for example, a specific market need, or how you are going to increase sales in a particular sector, etc.” Get the answers you need to help you make your most pressing business decisions, and move on. When you are strategic with your methodology and audience-selection and take time to select questions that will help you address your most pressing problems, “you compress the time that you engage with your audience and they’ll be more likely to communicate with you in the future.” We’ve all been the target of market research—but the field has evolved. Surveys have gotten shorter and more to the point. “Did we do did well in this specific area?” “How could we improve?” In the long run, this level of precision helps to maximize ROI while keeping consumers happy. In other words, it’s a win-win. For more insights from Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research, check out our entire interview here. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market and maximize ROI through trade shows and in-person events, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

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Six KPIs for Measuring Success of a Scaling Business

While every company chooses to measure success differently depending on their scope of service and product features, certain KPIs unite all successful companies. For firms scaling to the U.S. on a tight budget and timeline, keeping close tabs on metrics of success can make a world of difference. What are these common KPIs that all scaling firms should be tracking? For the best answers we could find, we checked in with Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research. We interviewed Michael in a webinar on June 25th, 2019 titled What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Business: Nailing Market Research for U.S. Market Entry. How should companies begin to determine which KPIs to measure? Michael was the first to raise the issue of shared KPIs that every successful business has achieved. “Successful companies understand their audience and they’ve taken steps to make sure they’re servicing them well—through competitive pricing, superior service, and/or simply making it easy to do business with them.” “When you start to think about how to determine KPIs, whether you’re a scaling firm or one that has been established in the U.S. for a long time, it’s helpful to understand those characteristics that made your business successful in the first place.” For example, Michael pinpointed satisfied and engaged internal and external customers as a key determinant of success that should be measured and tracked closely. Six KPIs critical for measuring success Michael recommended six KPIs that scaling companies should use to measure success, in relative order of importance. Number of attempts or contacts to solve a problem
. The fewer times it takes to reach a customer and convince them you are capable of solving their problem, the better. Customer and employee satisfaction. 
This boils down to how well you treat your employees. High satisfaction rates among employees and strongly correlates to strong satisfaction amongst customers. Cost of products and services in terms of value. This can be as simple as asking the question: “Do you feel like you are getting value for the price?” At the end of the day, your goal is to determine whether your customer feels that every service you offer is worth the investment—no matter the price point. For more on the importance of value to the U.S. market and general expectations, check out this post. The speed and reliability of your service. 
High levels of competition and innovation in the U.S. market have made speed of service and reliability increasingly important. Role as a community partner. 
Customers want to understand that you’re a good community partner and corporate citizen and that you’re committed to minimizing your impact on the environment. They also want to see that you’re engaged in the local community and that you’re giving back, whether philanthropically, through volunteering, or by sponsoring events. Awareness versus perception
. These are actually two KPIs grouped together to measure their correlation. They reflect how much people know about your product or service in relation to how they evaluate it. If your company is able to offer the right solution to a customer’s problem but they aren’t aware of you, that’s a lost opportunity. Understanding how much your customers know and how they relate that knowledge to feelings about the quality of your offering are two important variables. What kind of approach delivers the best KPI results? For Michael, the best results come from companies that are authentic, open and honest about how they conduct business. “If I know who I’m serving, whether it’s a B2B or B2C scenario, and I know what they expect of me, I can have an honest conversation with them about the value we deliver and our unique solution.” These qualities (honesty, authenticity, and openness) go a long way according to Michael. They also cut down on the time and the energy it takes from having an initial conversation to closing a deal in that they accelerate the speed of trust. And for scaling businesses on a tight timeline in a foreign market, accelerating the speed of trust is vital. By the way, if you haven’t read it, The Speed of Trust is an amazing book. Every human should read it. For access to our entire interview Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research, check out this link. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market through trade shows and in-person events, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Return on Investment, Uncategorized

Meeting Customer Expectations: Lessons from Market Research

Understanding and successfully meeting customer expectations in your target market is the number one challenge for any business. Scaling to a foreign market acts as a multiplier for that challenge. That’s where investments in market research and rapid testing can make a big difference. On June 25th we spoke with Michael Vigeant, CEO of GreatBlue Research in a webinar titled What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Business: Nailing Market Research for U.S. Market Entry, where we explored best practices for meeting expectations in the U.S. market. Understanding customer expectations in the U.S. market Before worrying too much about small, regional differences within the U.S., it’s important that you meet a set of overarching expectations that Americans have as consumers—whether it’s B2B or B2C. Michael shared that when it comes to general expectations within the U.S., “we see the desire to feel valued and to know that a company is part of their community and giving back philanthropically.” Michael also shared the importance of cultural sensitivity—whether it’s U.S. companies going overseas or vice versa. “We need to be mindful of the cultures we are servicing. It should be clear to customers that you respect their culture by how well you treat them, service their needs, and solve their problems.” The last feature of the U.S. market that Michael highlighted was the importance of value. Regardless of whether you have a high or low-cost product or service, U.S. consumers want to know they are getting value for their purchase. “If I’m spending more, I have higher expectations. And I’m willing to pay more if I know you understand my expectations as your customer and are able to deliver on them.” How well does messaging translate overseas? As a company that helps international B2B growth companies soft land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events, messaging is something we’re particularly focused on. At MEET, we believe that a well-crafted call to action, set within a broader strategy, translates directly into ROI for scaling firms. As an expert in market research, we asked Michael what he sees as the key features of a well-adapted message for firms entering a foreign market like the U.S., and what are the best practices for getting there. Michael started by identifying two variables to successful message transfer. The first is how well your company is able to effectively relate the features and benefits you deliver to your customers, and how well you fulfill their expectations based on expressed needs. The second has to do with the frequency of communication and how that message is delivered. “We see cases where international messaging is particularly effective because it’s different enough to catch attention. We also see cases, even internal to the U.S. market, where messaging that used to work for one market suddenly stops working.” As far as a best practice, Michael suggested testing with small groups of your target audience to get the best possible data. Being fans of rapid A/B testing as a way to ensure successful market entry, we liked this answer. “The beauty of A/B testing is that it’s low cost—it doesn’t have to be a huge budget item. Try bringing together small groups of your target audience to ask them how your messaging makes them feel, whether it gives them a positive impression about your organization and the confidence to make a commitment.” The costs of making a mistake are significantly higher than investing in the research to get it right the first time. Keeping it short, sweet and on demand With 75+ years of trade show and event experience, we’ve been blown away by the number of people who attempt to connect with their target market by overwhelming them with information. At MEET, we refer to the billboard rule of thumb when designing messaging for our clients. Michael agreed. “Think back to the first text-heavy websites—they were basically books on screen! There was no dynamic visualization.” “With so much competition today, people are constantly bombarded with communication. They don’t have time for long marketing messages. The goal is to capture your audience with a trigger of some sort that prompts them to opt in—to say: “yes, I want to learn more.” Particularly in trade show scenarios, folks are walking down the aisle looking for answers to their problems. If they can’t find it quickly, they’re moving on to the next booth. Clean banners, simple messaging for fast and easy digestion, these tips apply to written, visual and audio messaging. From a content standpoint, letting folks know who you are, what you do and how you can help in a manner that’s short and sweet will deliver your best results. Consistently meeting customer expectations down the line requires some investment. For access to our entire interview Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research, check out this link. To check out all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market through trade shows and in-person events, subscribe to our YouTube Channel.   About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821

Return on Investment

The Importance of Market Research for Scaling Firms

On June 25th we spoke with Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research in a webinar we titled: What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Business: Nailing Market Research for U.S. Market Entry. With over 20 years of experience in market research, we thought we’d begin by getting Michael’s perspective on how the industry has changed over the years. How has the market research industry changed? Back in the ‘90s, market research was big budgets and long timelines. “What we did in 8 to 12 weeks in the late 90s we do in 8 to 12 days today,” explains Michael. “It’s all about getting good information—the right information—quickly to help solve problems and answer business questions.” Providing high-quality market research at a pace and price point that the client demands requires a team with a wide variety of skill sets and business acumen. That’s what Michael strives for at Greatblue Research. It also requires that companies embrace data analytics as a methodology. But while the field has evolved in terms of how market research is conducted, it many ways it has stayed the same. “Today it’s still about asking the right questions to allow you to make business decisions, understand your audience, and meet or exceed their expectations.” For companies considering U.S. market entry, what type of market research should they consider investing in? According to Michael, the most important thing that companies looking to scale to the U.S. market need to learn is their audience—how their product or service is going to meet their needs while maintaining the agility and flexibility to respond to changes in the market. “Understanding your audience requires understanding expectations, specifically where they’re being met and where they’re being unmet. This allows you the ability to put together a strategic plan.” One of the biggest mistakes Michael sees is when CEOs try to take the same strategic plan they used to scale in their country of origin and simply replicate it in the U.S. “Sometimes the simplest business questions can answer some of the most complex problems. Doing a little bit of homework upfront and being humble enough to change your angle of approach based on what you learn about the U.S. market is key.” We followed up by asking Michael what happens when an executive or CEO disregards market knowledge, whether it’s for an entirely new market (like the U.S.), or simply a new product in their existing market. What happens when companies ignore market research? There’s a common misconception among scaling firms that everything is transferable—whether it’s a product, service, or decision. And they’re not wrong 100% of the time. As Michael points out, many CEOs refer to a “playbook” they use for making decisions that they hold in high regard. “If there’s anything that I’ve learned from audience measurement however, it’s that the playbook is changing because audiences are changing. Their expectations are changing.” In essence, the ‘I know my customer’ mantra is no longer enough. Customers are constantly evolving, making it necessary to repeatedly break down and refine your definition of satisfaction.” “For example, too many CEOs look only at the cumulative total of the top two tiers in a customer satisfaction index. From this, they’ll say, “90% of our customers are happy!” “In reality, the number of customers who are “very satisfied” may have changed over time from 70% to 60% to 50% to 40%.  The cumulative total is still there but people are moving in the wrong direction.” “Typically there are two reasons for this change: a) customers’ expectations have changed but the services they’re receiving have remained the same, or b) the customer does not understand how the organization has changed.” In both cases, the customer has lost touch with how your product or service is solving their problem. Diving deep into the data, staying in touch with your audience and the trends that are impacting their decisions, these are just a few of the things that market research has to offer. For more on this topic of market research and its unique value for scaling firms, check out our full conversation with Michael Vigeant here. For access to all of MEET’s webinar content on how to successfully scale your company in the U.S. market through trade shows and in-person events, subscribe to our YouTube Channel. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps international B2B growth companies soft land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward.  Contact Bill Kenney for a no obligation conversation: bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

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