You’ve signed up for a trade show.  Now, what? Now we have some Inside Out trade show tips to share:

DO:

Announce to the entire company that you’re attending the show, and tell them why. Tell manufacturing, front desk, human resources… you get it. Everyone counts. Everyone talks. Everyone should feel part of it.

Research the list of companies that have signed to attend, including competitors, customers and prospects. Circulate the findings.

Let your customers and prospects know that you are attending.

Have your social media team circulate the news, and post the announcement on your website. While you are at it, clear the old news.

DON’T:

Underestimate the importance of incorporating your staff’s opinion as you develop the official list of goals and objectives for the show.

Forget to check out how you did the last time your company attended that same show.

Neglect having a professionally written press release ready to hand out to any press member, stating who you are, why are you at the show, whether you’re introducing a new product or service.

Take for granted that the show people will have everything you need; bring extra supplies of scotch-tape, staplers, electrical cords, lightbulbs, spot remover, static-free, magic markers, magic glue, magic drinks.

These are the top five; you can probably come up with a few more reasons of your own for why it’s a good idea to operate inside-out. Meaning, to let your own people know about your new product, before you tell the outside world. To tell the reception and phone staff the details about the upcoming promotion, ahead of its launch.

1) THEY ARE NOT BLINDED BY LOVE.

2) THEY COULD BE CLOSER TO THE END USER.

3) IT’S A GOOD DRESS REHEARSAL OF THE REAL LAUNCH.

4) THEY MAY HAVE SEEN SOMETHING SIMILAR IN A PREVIOUS LIFE.

5) THEY’LL FEEL OWNERSHIP.

 

“Inside out” is a concept that defies trends and works under different circumstances. I’m reading “Presence, ” the book by Amy Cuddy, exhorting us to watch our body language. She has an impressive amount of scientific evidence showing that how we move, how we sit and how we stand can positively or negatively affect our feelings and our attitude, and therefore, influence how others perceive us and how they relate to us. (An updated take on behaviorism, right?)

The good news is, we are not stuck with our current “inside,” neither as people nor as companies. If it’s not working for us, we can start to change it. And when we’re ready, we’ll show the outside world the new, real us.

EMBARRASSING.

So here I am pontificating about the importance of communicating with your #1 audience – your own employees. I write blog after blog regarding the do’s and don’ts; the reasons why; the five ways to make sure you have done it right. And then… I fail at it. Listen to this one and feel free to join the mocking.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to write a press release for a client of ours, a local Chamber or Commerce, that every year sponsors an event honoring the top graduates of the region’s high schools. So I did, quietly, in my own copywriter silo of self-sufficiency. Never shared or commented with anyone, even though it’s precisely the sort of news that I love sharing because it’s happy and solid, makes us all as parents and aunts and uncles feel good. Next day, our creative director told us he had been to a great Chamber event the night before, since one of his sons had received an award. Oops. He was unaware of our relationship with the chamber, and didn’t even know we had been writing releases for them.

Is there a touchstone?

Yes I am obsessed with the importance of sharing news with your own people, making sure they know what’s happening in the company and in the industry in general too. I think it discourages gossip, empowers them and makes them better at their jobs. And then of course I know sometimes you cannot do it.

Is there some magic way or at least a quick and easy way to decide whether a piece of news should be shared with your own people? I think this is it:

Share your news, for sure, if it’s going out anyway.

If the news is going to be shared “outside” via press releases, public announcements, press conference, ad campaign, sales promotion, etc., then it’s important enough to be shared “inside,” too. If not first, in cases where legal reasons or equally serious ones make it not advisable to do so, at least as soon as possible.

That goes for corporate news including hirings and firings, acquisitions and divestures, openings and closings, as well as for product or service launches, sales, special offers and discounts.

Want to make sure your next campaign is as robust as it can be? Make it an inside-out campaign.

Have your marketing communications or advertising guys ask your people what’s their own opinion about the new product you want to launch. (Make sure they explain to them first what you’re trying to do and why.)

Your staff should be told to punch as many holes as they can in the new product, and whenever possible, to put it to work as a customer would, with big expectations and no pity. Have them try your competitors’ equivalent product, and comment (freely) about the differences, both positive and negative. Don’t forget to find out from the people on the floor, not just from their managers, whether the new product can be developed, tested, manufactured, packaged and delivered on time to meet the campaign promises. And… keep the phone operators and receptionist in the loop so when a prospect calls, attracted by your awesome advertising campaign, and wants more info about the new product, she doesn’t utter the damning words – “Sorry, sir, I really cannot tell you about it, I have no information.”

A slight variation on the slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid.” And it came to my mind this morning as we interviewed customers at a well-known financial company in order to gain insight regarding the way they feel about one of our client’s products and service.

Every two words, both customers would go back to the same comment, “It’s all about relationships, ” and the “relationship” they were talking about was not between companies; it was between people. They’d tell us story after story of the many instances of personal dedication and attention to detail by different employees, ranging from engineers to maintenance technicians.

Quality was pretty much taken for granted, and the competitors were criticized not because their product was not as good as our client’s but because their service was not as impressive. A useful reminder that people are your best, most robust differentiator.