RCG-6.
- The Roomberg Consulting Group's Six-Paragraph Newsletter
at www.Roomberg.com.
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RCG-6.
- The Roomberg Consulting Group's Six-Paragraph Newsletter Volume 1. Issue 8. - April 11, 2003
(Prior issues always available at www.Roomberg.com.)
In this issue: Using seminars to promote a product or service.
RCG-6.1: Using seminars to promote a product or service.
Gathering experts to share information is a time-honored way to communicate complex and important subjects. The "seminar approach" is one I have been using since holding my first computer software seminar for Dun & Bradstreet in 1982. Holding seminars involve costs and risks. On the cost side of the equation, seminars require lots of up front costs and time investments. These costs often include the purchase and refinement of a prospect database, development, printing, and postage for invitations, investments in time on the telephone to solicit attendance, development of quality seminar materials, and the contributions by the presenters. It is not unusual for a seminar to require contributions by a dozen or more people in the planning and execution phases.
RCG-6.2: Schedule it and they will come?
There are multiple risks in the seminar approach. The biggest is that people don't come. In the early 1990's, I attended a seminar in Arizona attended by three people. Bill Korn, former Chairman of Marketing Communication Systems, shared with me a story where years ago, he was one of four panelists at a marketing conference. In that case, there were only two people in his audience. Another risk is that the presenters or the subject matter do not "connect" with the audience. The biggest risk is that the time and costs spent in developing and holding a seminar would have been better used on a combination of direct mail, telephone calls, and in-person sales calls. After all, even if the attendees like what they hear, there is no guaranty the seminar will result in increased sales of your product or service.
RCG-6.3: Today's Seminar. In the last newsletter, I shared that we (RCG) are marketing a high-resolution portable ultrasound technology. This technology can enable nursing homes to reduce the occurrence of pressure ulcers (also known as bedsores), by 50% to 80%, saving more than a billion dollars a year in costs, pain, and suffering. Scheduled for today (April 8th,) one of the three speakers came from England, one from Virginia, and one from New Jersey. These people are all leaders in their industry, and failure to produce and audience for them would surely be a personal failure. While response to the mailings and telephone calls had been positive, I drove to the hospital where the seminar was being held with more than a little apprehension. While April is typically a warm and sunny experience in Southern New Jersey, we were experiencing our second day in a row of sleet and freezing rain. A good attendance was especially important today because we were videotaping the meeting in order to distribute the information nationwide. Was Murphy's Law going to present itself today?
RCG-6.4: Schedule it and they just may come.
In a room where fifty people is about the normal capacity and in a seminar where we would have been grateful for the attendance by thirty people, we wound up bringing in an extra row of chairs and there were still people standing across the back of the room! And this was not just any audience. A scan of the registration sheets showed that we had many people with titles like, "Director of Nursing," "Facility Executive," and "Compliance Officer." These were top-notch, highly educated and successful people, and in return for their time, we owed them information that they judged to be important to their facilities. RCG 6.5: The Presenters, The Materials, And Don't Forget About The Equipment.
The presenters were not only the leaders in their field, they were well spoken, and based on the audience attentiveness, survey feedback, and quality-of-questions, their presentations seemed to connect with the audience. Chuck Juice was there to professionally capture the affair on video. There was one brief period of concern when, between speakers, the projector refused to turn back on. While the problem was remedied in minutes, it was a reminder that anything can actually go wrong at any time. Even so, if gathering and connecting with an audience was our goal, we appeared to have accomplished our mission.
RCG 6.6: Always The Next Step.
As noted before, a successful seminar in no way guarantees the success of a product. We now need to spend the next few months contacting every attendee and then making as many sales calls as possible to get as many as possible to introduce our technology to their facilities. But if you need to connect with an audience, a seminar such as this can part of a successful marketing effort.
Also…..
Standard Paragraph of Shameless Self-Promotion
The Roomberg Consulting Group is always looking for partners to invest their time or financial resources in the success of their ventures. If you are interested, don’t delay the call.
Please feel free to call or email and please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Please address all email to: Director
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Copyright 2002 The Roomberg Consulting Group, Inc.
