How to Use Psychology to Generate Leads
Event engagement is a science and an art. While you may have the recipe, it can still end up being a total disaster. How do you minimize your statistical risk of failure?
Humility.
You have to know that no matter what you do, no matter what you bring, there will be some that completely disregard you and your product/experience.
The key to winning those individuals over is to be comfortable with the fact that they will put up a barrier to anything you decide to sell them. This has nothing to do with you at all whatsoever. They came to this event with a mindset and they will leave with that mindset.
What you can do then?
You can influence their future decisions and thoughts. THIS is all you have and while it may seem that it’s nothing at all, it might be the deciding factor when the next opportunity arises.
I truly love and thrive in the event/promotions arena so I am writing this to give you my blueprint for my first event with WeGreenlight.com. I hope you can takeaway from my blueprint and create an even better experience for your customers.
NOTE: We found out about the event a day prior. We spent 7 hours of prep and 2 actual hours of event engagement.
Where: LA Gadget Expo 2015
Time: 11 am — 1 pm (this is important)
Location: Santa Monica (ish)
Location at event: Right side, first row of event path (very important)
Things to consider:
- We did not choose where we were located (but the universe is on our side apparently).
- We weren’t directly invited to the event. We were a last minute fill-in for @Motormood.
- We had no materials made before we found out. (YIKES)
- We haven’t planned for events this year. (Next year, we are coming for ya!)
- We are working with the Director of Marketing for Motormood, . (She’s a badass)
Game Plan
- Attract (the brain)
- Engage (invite → start conversation)
- Give away (sign-up to win a FREE Motormood)
- Get lead (follow-through → signage)
- Make an impression
Materials Needed
- Table (Party City)
- Table cover (Party City)
- Complimentary product (Motormood)
- Idea roll set-up (Ikea)
- Box or Ball (Party City) to keep track of raffle entries
- Plastic sign holder with business card front slot (Staples)
- Laptop (brought our own)
- iPad (brought our own)
- Pens (brought our own)
- Permanent markers (brought our own)
- Scissors (brought our own)
- Multi-use business cards (made for events only)
- Paper (to put into placard)
Total spent = $100
Engagement
Marketing at events can be tricky and sometimes you can have the most amazing product and display only to experience people walking right by your table.
It’s not always about the professionalism of your display or your attire but the experience you are creating for your customers.
This experience includes: — you, your attitude, your non-verbals (most important), your mindset, and your confidence. Notice I haven’t mentioned the customer because ultimately this entire experience is up to you and if you do not have emotional intelligence, you will not be as successful in this blueprint.
Here are a few scenarios you will encounter:
1. You’ll get those kind but judging smiles while they walk on by. One way to combat this is to make eye contact, say “Hello!”, and smile. They might be intrigued because YOU actually were confident enough to approach them when they clearly weren’t interested in you or your product at all.
2. When you do stop someone, they have a mind full of doubt. It’s the brains barrier to protect itself from boring people like you. Sometimes you can get some emotion from them but do not expect rainbows and smiles. Be simple and straight to the point — charm them a bit, it goes a long way.
3. When you’ve finally caught someone and reeled them in just to find they really don’t give a S#%@ about your product or you. Or you are excruciatingly boring or too informational. (Brain = get me the F out of here) At this point you may have lost them, but you can influence some positive thoughts by asking them for their input on something (event itself, your product, “what do you do?”, etc.) Your goal is to distract the brain then make a better impression in a simple manner (like a summary with how it relates to what they just told you).
4. But just when you think this event was a complete waste of time, you encounter your ultimate fan. They nod, smile, ask questions, and are ACTUALLY engaged. Who would of thought this was a real thing? Don’t overthink it or overdo the information and always close the encounter with a CTA (Call-to-action).
5. Your young fan that wants to touch everything and participate in whatever you are doing. Because it looks fun and they usually come with at least one parental figure. Turn your charm on and have fun engaging with them. Be as simple as possible. (They are key.)
Nitty Gritty (Engagement Breakdown)
Each part of this experience is closely related to psychology and the way your brain responds/administers/categorizes information.
I will break down each step of one interaction at the table.
- Make eye contact with everyone you want to engage with. (This will maximize your foot traffic to get the right people coming to your table and making your interactions efficient. You can’t talk to everyone.)
- Once you make eye contact, instantly smile. (Do not fake this either. If you aren’t in the mood, listen to music before you engage, and dance a little. It will help immensely.)
- Say “Hello” and wave. People love when others notice them and when you make the effort to acknowledge one individual, you will attract everyone around them. People move in tribes, even at events.
- When they come to your table, say “hello” again and introduce yourself.
“Hi! **extends hand** My name is Salina, what’s your name?”
**waiting for response w/ a smile**
“Awesome, wonderful to meet you [name].”
**waiting for social cue to start talking about product (usually looks at product or “what’s this?”**
5. Give them your quick pitch about the product. Always have something for them to look at or touch after you are talking to them. You don’t want them to touch anything until you’ve said your initial pitch. Notice their eye patterns, their breathing, non-verbals (hands, legs, body posture, head nodding), and their tone of voice. If they seem disengaged, you need to make your pitch shorter or more engaging/inviting. You could also switch up your pitch to introduce what they can engage/play with while you talk to them. (Sometimes people just don’t like you but they could like the product, it’s nothing personal.)
We are WeGreenlight.com
**points to new Beta site coming out 2016 on laptop then explains site**
6. If you have an opportunity to work with a partner company and it makes sense, work together to capture interests at events. One person may love your product but will never be interested in the other product and visa versa. You want to appeal to a selective audience in multiple ways. Think of learning styles and how vastly different we each learn/consume information.
We are working with [Motormood] today.
Notice how when you introduce something else that is new their facial expressions change.
- Explains Motormood
**Uses iPad in quick demonstration and physical hard product**
**Creates scenario where I put myself in a vulnerable position**
EX: We are driving in traffic. I am such a terrible planner when i’m driving. I decide I need to get off the freeway NOW and I put my blinker on. You see me putting my blinker on and immediately say, “Ah, come on! Really? Why now? Agh, well today is a good day so i’m going to let you in.” (Notice: I said this while smiling. I’ve put the customer in good spirits without them knowing.) Then I move over and frantically try to wave my hand to show my gratitude. Instead of doing that, I could simply…**moves my hand to press Motormood button and watches their eyes follow** →**Motormood faceplate lights up instantly** →**scrolls on iPad to show picture of Motormood on the back of the car** → **wait for their response which about 99% of the time was a smile.** Once they smile, I say, “See! That’s exactly what we want. You smile, I smile, everyone in the car smiles. Motormood wants to spread smiles on the road.”
- Explains how much a Motormood costs
**scrolls to pre-order section and points to price on iPad**
- Introduces how they could win a Motormood
**points to sign holder and follows their eyes**
**Picks up card and hands to the customer to fill out** (size matters)
Smiles, “Oh here’s a pen..”, hands to customer**
(they already have it, hard to say no — worst case scenario they say no and they keep the card = still a win)
**Cuts bottom half of card to put into raffle ball**
**Hands top half of card** → they put into their pocket
7. Make sure to always bring the focus back in full circle. While you do not want to hard sell anyone on your business at events, you can always plant tiny seeds throughout the experience to capture their attention in multiple ways. It’s about creating a lasting impression and memory of their experience with you and your brand. By simply acknowledging someone by their first name, you can breakdown the barriers of trust and instantly create a bond.
**Extends hand**
“Nice to meet you [name], hope to see you on WeGreenlight next year!”
Important Notes
- If you are not genuinely happy to be there, you need to put yourself in that happy mindset because your customers can read you like a book.
- If you are not prepared for the event, do not panic — go with the flow. We literally had 7 hours to prep and had one of the most engaging tables at the event. (We were also told there was a noticeable difference when we left the event.)
- Your non-verbals speak a lot louder than your words. If you are fidgeting while you are talking, you may be making your customer nervous or uncomfortable/uninterested.
- Never ever sit down while you are at your event setup. Events are made for live conversations not pitching across tables. Get up, move around, and if you need to sit down — take a break and sit away from your setup.
- What happens when you sit down? It takes extra energy to speak to people and to relate to them (or even them relating to you). You are physically telling your customers that you are not interested in them. If you were interested in them, you would be ready for them the moment they make eye contact.
- It is always okay to move around in your pitch but always remember to go back to the key point or emphasize what they truly are interested in to get the lead.
- Never forget the entire reason you are here is for [x]. (Only pick one focus — EX: get leads, brand awareness, partnerships, etc.) You can always switch up your focus at another event.
- K.I.S.S. — Keep It Simple Stupid. If someone is giving you social cues that they are not interested while you are explaining something, wrap it up and shut the F up. No one wants too much information to the point where they become overwhelmed and decide it’s not even worth thinking about anymore.
- Smiling does wonders so whenever you feel nervous, not as confident, or torn down — don’t forget that you have the power to change the energy in that moment.
- Everyone goes to events to meet people, learn new things, and most importantly to HAVE FUN. Make their time worth it and you will reap the benefits.
- Go to events with an open mind, always. You never know what may happen and maybe it might be a “dud” but at least you put yourself out there and saw real results. Every opportunity is a learning opportunity.
- If you do not believe in the product, do not get in front of the customer. Period.
End result:
7 hrs prep + 2 hrs engagement + $100 spent = 50 leads ($2 per lead)
Hope you can take at least one thing from this article and apply to your badass events. Feel free to drop me a line of feedback and would love to hear all your ideas. :)
Let’s connect!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salinamendoza
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/inababi
Products mentioned in this article:
Motormood: http://motormood.com/
WeGreenlight: http://wegreenlight.com/ (Major redesign launching Jan 2016)
Canva: https://www.canva.com/
