Post Inspired by The Thank You Economy
Photo Credit: FastCompany.com
In the hospitality world, we strive to stay current with trends and if possible, be the trend-setter. There are several ways to predict trends – through reading the news, engaging in social media where you’re exposed to others and reading books. Currently, I’m reading The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk, the first page opens with a scenario about how our society is changing and businesses should cater to their customers’ needs, no matter the size of the purchase. In just the first few paragraphs it’s evident businesses in today’s society that want to survive long term must:
- Either be the trend-setter or conform to the trends – scenarios include Yelp and Zagat, Amazon or Borders, Barnes ‘N Noble – think about who is currently winning in those situations.
- Don’t be reluctant to join social media, companies like Zagat and Borders were reluctant to build on new platforms and we know what happened there…
- Give the customer what they want (and Vaynerchuk isn’t referring to freebies).
- According to Vaynerchuk, in the past companies weighed the options of possibly losing money, yet keeping a customer happy. Today, losing a customer has the potential of losing 1,000′s of customers with social media if they go vocal.
- Every customer should be valued the same – no matter if it’s $1 or $1 million spent
Thus far in the book, we can see everything has made a full cycle. You may have heard the phrase from your grandparents, “When I was growing up, everyone in the grocery store knew our family and the butcher knew my mother’s order too.” According to the book, the process has made a full circle but in new instances. In the 80′s, companies adopted automated customer service call centers and now it’s made it’s way back to really knowing your client as well as their wants, needs and values. Much to your grandmother’s surprise, there is a community where everyone knows your name – it’s known as social media. Today, companies must spend time [often on social media] with their customers to earn their trust and loyalty.
So what’s the future of tradeshows?
The value of face-to-face is increasing and it’s our human nature to network so although tradeshow companies are looking into virtual components, networking face-to-face will remain valuable. However, we’ll see more reverse tradeshows where planners can make appointments with buyers. It’s a one-on-one session that allows a buyer and supplier get to know each other and in some instances, they may have already wanted to meet this person (outside of their online community).
Who is providing reverse tradeshows?
- The first set of reverse tradeshows we attended was Collinson and Media Event’s Connect show held in August and the Rejuvenate show held in November. We blogged about it – Reverse Tradeshows: The Value of One-on-One.
- Formally known as HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings tradeshow held in Washington, D.C. is now called HSMAI’s MEET National. TEEM-Up provides a reverse tradeshow component but read about all the other changes to HSMAI’s tradeshow including a university with workshops.
- We commend HSMAI for their proactive approach in changing the design of their tradeshow, listening to their customers wants and meeting those needs; networking is one of the most common reasons someone attends a conference, meeting or tradeshow but often forgotten by trainers, event companies and more who are focused on “succeeding” at their current job.
What other tradeshows have you attended with the “reverse tradeshow” concept? What other factors make up the future of tradeshows?