You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Adelie, and I'll be your host for today's lesson on doing business at a trade show.
If you can connect with the right people at a large event like a trade show, you can get a lot of great sales leads and maybe even close some deals.
Making these connections is all about your attitude and the way you communicate.
But trade shows come with challenges.
One of these difficulties is focusing your time on those good prospects.
This means that you need to be able to identify a bad prospect and to make your conversation with him brief.
Doing this requires a combination of common sense, a focus on business, and some tact.
Today, we will learn how to disengage from a bad prospect.
But first we'll hear how to engage in small talk, show interest and get people to talk, as these are all essential steps in determining if a prospect is worth pursuing.
We'll rejoin Kevin, who works for a packaging company called DPAC.
He is talking with Mick, who represents Electrohome Cleaning.
Kevin is going to both begin and end a conversation with Mick, who turns out to be not such a great prospect.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
Why does Kevin ask Mick about product demos?
What does Mick say about cleaning products?
How does Kevin bring the conversation to a close?
Finding everything you need?
Yeah, no problem.
Great.
Uh, Mick with Electro Home Cleaning.
Thank goodness for name tags.
So how's the event going for you folks?
Oh, not too shabby, I guess.
I'm just on a bit of a break.
We've got a booth here, too.
I see.
Are you guys doing product demos?
Getting a lot of interest?
Can't complain.
You probably get a lot of interest yourselves with these slick catalogs.
Thanks very much.
You can take one if you like.
We do all sorts of packaging as you can see in there.
So, I don't imagine you gift wrap your actual cleaning machines, but you probably sell vacuum bags.
Maybe cleaning products too?
Yeah.
Machines, bags, parts, and some cleaning products.
I think they want to do more of that kind of thing.
You know, you can get someone to buy a machine, which is great, but people hang on to it for years.
Or at least they expect to.
Cleaning products, though.
That's a pretty regular purchase.
You know what I mean?
Yes, I do.
Cleaning products are a regular purchase, that's for sure.
Yeah.
So hey, these pyramid containers are pretty cool.
You can do all sorts of different shapes for boxes, huh?
Could you do cars or animal shapes?
Yes, pretty much anything at all.
Feel free to take a couple of the brochures.
Right.
Okay, thanks.
Sure, and thank you for stopping by.
I hope you guys have a great show.
Now, let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and techniques Kevin used.
Finding everything you need?
Yeah, no problem.
Great.
Uh, Mick with Electro Home Cleaning.
Thank goodness for name tags.
So how's the event going for you folks?
Kevin begins the conversation by asking Mick if he's finding everything he needs.
He then calls Mick by name and company, reading Mick's name tag, and asks how the event is going.
Kevin is making small talk or casual conversation.
Small talk is a very important skill in business and at a trade show it's important for connecting with potential customers.
Let's practice a few more examples of small talk at a trade show.
Pretty amazing setup you've got here.
Looks like you have a pretty good spot here.
I heard you guys just hired a new marketing manager.
How's that going?
Is it still raining out there, or has the sun finally come out?
Okay, let's get back to the dialogue.
Oh, not too shabby, I guess.
I'm just on a bit of a break.
We've got a booth here, too.
I see.
Are you guys doing product demos?
Getting a lot of interest?
Mick says the event is not too shabby or just okay for him and his company.
He explains that he also has a booth and is just taking a break or a rest.
This fact might immediately reduce Mick's importance.
If he's just taking a break from his own booth, he may not really be there to find a packaging company.
But Kevin continues the conversation to find out.
He shows interest in what Mick has just mentioned, asking whether they are doing product demos, which is a short way of talking about demonstrations.
What are some other ways we can show interest during conversation with potential customers?
Notice how the speaker takes something that has just been said and then asks a question about it, just as Kevin did.
Ah, yes, customs hold-ups.
Have you tried pre-printing shipping labels?
Expanding is never easy.
Why did you guys choose Asia over Europe?
Problems with quality, huh?
Exactly what kind of problems?
So, are your clients more interested in processing speed or cost?
Kevin's last question was whether Mick and his company are getting a lot of interest.
Let's hear how they continue.
Can't complain.
You probably get a lot of interest yourselves with these slick catalogs.
Thanks very much.
You can take one if you like.
We do all sorts of packaging, as you can see in there.
So I don't imagine you gift wrap your actual cleaning machines, but you probably sell vacuum bags, maybe cleaning products too.
Mick's expression, can't complain, is another way of saying that something is not bad or just okay.
It's not great, but it's not bad.
Mick then compliments Kevin on Deepak's catalogs, calling them slick or really nice-looking.
Kevin takes this opportunity to start talking about his company and to try to get Mick to talk more about what they do and might need.
He switches topics with the word, so... He needs to find out if Mick is really worth talking to.
Kevin assumes that Electra Home Cleaning doesn't wrap their machines, but he wonders about other products that Mick's company might need packaging for.
Kevin is trying to get Mick to talk, which will reveal whether he's a good prospect.
He does this with a rhetorical question, saying, You probably sell vacuum bags.
Maybe cleaning products, too?
Getting people to talk is best with questions or statements about what they do.
We need to introduce a topic that the person will want to explain.
Listen to how this is done in these examples.
I see.
So tell me about your new product line.
That's why we're in quality management.
Is it ISO 9001 that you want to put into place?
Tell me, is your website currently maintained in-house, or do you subcontract that out?
I hear you recently did an HR needs analysis.
Now, listen as Mick explains more about his company's products.
Yeah.
Machines, bags, parts, and some cleaning products.
I think they want to do more of that kind of thing.
You know, you can get someone to buy a machine, which is great, but people hang on to it for years.
Or at least they expect to.
Cleaning products, though.
That's a pretty regular purchase.
You know what I mean?
Yes, I do.
Cleaning products are a regular purchase, that's for sure.
Mick is talking more about the products his company sells.
Notice that he uses the word they to refer to the leaders of the company, as in.
I think they want to do more of that kind of thing.
This gives the impression that Mick is not a decision maker in the business.
He also explains that cleaning products are a regular purchase, whereas most people hang on to or keep a cleaning machine for a long time.
At no time does Mick mention packaging, which is really what Kevin wants to talk about.
At this point It seems fairly clear that Mick is not interested in actually doing business with Deepak.
He's really just looking around.
For this reason, Kevin now backs off, simply agreeing with Mick's statement but not trying to continue the conversation.
He says, Next, Mick asks about some product samples.
Yeah.
So hey, these pyramid containers are pretty cool.
You can do all sorts of different shapes for boxes, huh?
Could you do cars or animal shapes?
Yes, pretty much anything at all.
Feel free to take a couple of the brochures.
Right.
Okay, thanks.
Sure.
And thank you for stopping by.
I hope you guys have a great show.
Mick is curious about custom box designs and asks whether Deepak can do car or animal shapes.
Mick works for a cleaning company, so his question seems one of personal fascination rather than business interest.
Kevin tells Mick to feel free to take some brochures.
We use this expression, feel free, to make someone feel comfortable to do something.
Kevin is beginning to disengage, or disconnect, from Mick.
He is beginning to draw the conversation to a close.
After Mick thanks him, Kevin puts a clear end to the discussion by thanking Mick for stopping by and telling him to have a great show.
Once you've determined that someone is a poor prospect, you need to be able to disengage.
Let's run through some more examples of how you can do this.
Well, I hope you have a great day.
Thanks for stopping by.
See you around.
Great talking to you, and enjoy the event.
Notice how each of the previous examples indicates that the conversation has finished.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned for showing interest.
You'll hear a statement by a prospect.
Then you'll hear a prompt.
Use the words in the prompt to show interest in what the prospect has just said.
For example, if you hear, We're hoping to launch our new website soon.
You can say, That's interesting.
Did you outsource the design?
We'll play an example answer after each practice.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
We've enjoyed a huge increase in sales recently.
Answer Oh, really?
What is the reason for your recent success?
Difficult.
When.
Think.
Operating.
Answer.
That's difficult.
When do you think it'll be operating again?
Our new office manager, Tammy, is absolutely fabulous.
Fortunate.
How?
Find new staff.
Answer.
You're very fortunate.
How do you usually find new staff?
So.
Look.
Expand.
Future.
So, will you be looking to expand in the future?
Now, let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, saying the missing word.
For example, if you hear, Our sales team put on a pretty...
You can say, Our sales team put on a pretty slick presentation.
After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
Answer When I asked Lou how he was feeling, he said not too shabby.
Have a look around and feel to take a brochure.
Answer.
Have a look around and feel free to take a brochure.
We were really lucky to get a big right by the entrance.
Answer.
We were really lucky to get a big booth right by the entrance.
We're going to do a quick product every half hour.
Answer.
We're going to do a quick product demo every half hour.
We've reached the end of this episode, the second in our series about being successful at trade shows.
We've learned how to make small talk, show interest, and get people to talk.
We've also learned how to back off and disengage from a poor prospect.
We'll come back to this topic later to look at how the DPAC team follow up with a good prospect and try to close a deal.
Thanks for listening, and see you next time!
