Reflection 14 of 52: Are you reaching high enough?
April 07, 2014
I had the good fortune to
attend an event and get upgraded to VIP status. The special status came with a
slight hitch; the sponsor was hosting a lunch and was making a pitch for their
business. Totally legitimate as far as I’m concerned.
They were great hosts and I
expect their promotional budget was fairly high. People greeted us at the door;
they hosted coffee breaks, a lunch, wine reception and had a few other
worthwhile perks such as front row seating. Their people were super friendly
and not hard sell. They were interested in getting business but did not go the
“timeshare” over zealous, intimidation route.
It was all good, until the
lunchtime presentation. I am not going to name the organization as I did
appreciate the 99% of their approach. Suffice to say they were a fortune 500
business that would be expected to showcase the latest in technology and have
an exceptional presenter.
To my surprise the presenter
read his notes from his screen and had “where were you in 62?” type of slides.
So unfortunate given the select crowd of VIP’s, and the stellar line up of
speakers at the conference.
His performance was stilted
and dry. You could see the hundred set of eyes glaze over around the room. I
felt for him. It appeared as though his presentation was the result of a
committee meeting and some risk adverse higher-ups.
I got the sense he could have
given a great speech if given some latitude and free rein.
Based on the number of
corporate reps at this event (I
guestimate at least 25) and the headliner billing, this was not an inexpensive
sponsorship. So, why when they had all the potential key customers in a private
room, did they not dazzle us?
It was like going to a five
star hotel, where every step of the experience is amazing and the bed ends up
being lumpy.
They missed out on the key
ingredient. The sizzle without the steak, the icing without the cake, the
paddle without a boat, this sponsor diluted all the other good promotional
stuff with this one key element.
They even followed up by
email with a video case study and complimentary e-book. Both dry as dust.
This was such a good reminder
to resist the norm and reach higher. Marketing guru, Seth Godin does a little
gimmick in his speeches where he asks the audience to raise their hands as high
as possible… then while you are all sitting with arms in the air he asks you to
raise them a little higher and we all do.
Point made.
Something to ponder next time
you have an opportunity to talk directly to your clients or customers.
Are you reaching as high as
you can?
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