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| 10 Tips to a Successful Trip |
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A properly executed marketing trip takes considerable planning, time, and resources. In previous columns, I addressed aspects of guaranteeing a return on investment in your marketing trip. This month's column focuses on how to arrive at making the initial decision to take the trip.
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| See the View from the States archive for Mark Dollinger's view on aspects of doing business in the United States.
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As we say in the States, "you need to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em" (with thanks and apologies to Kenny Rogers). Our advice to clients about taking marketing trips adheres to the "10 tips to a successful trip" philosophy.
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- Set achievable goals and have realistic expectations. Without clear goals you will not have benchmarks against which to evaluate the results of the trip. If you haven't given some thought as to what you expect from the trip, you might be disappointed.
- Begin the process well before the projected trip date. We recommend about five weeks lead time, but it could be more (or less), depending on the complexity of the trip.
- Identify the core meetings for the trip. Develop a sense of the marketplace by doing your homework.
- Qualify the companies that constitute the core meetings. Understand the companies through research, media information, news articles, industry journals, press releases, and from other information sources.
- Contact the core companies. Begin with those companies you have identified and qualified as most important.
At the same time, start working on your presentation, public relations materials, and other print material you might need (business plan, company profile, brochures, business cards, and so on). Make sure that your product samples and prototypes are in good working order and look ready for a presentation.
- Organize the trip around the core meetings. Be flexible in order to succeed in setting the most important meetings.
- Set a schedule that conforms to the key meetings. If you are arranging a multi-city trip (and you are flying between destinations), allow ample time for transportation to and from the airport, and build in extra time at the airport itself.
- Schedule as many additional meetings as feasible to maximize your investment. Utilize secondary meetings to sharpen your presentation and become comfortable with it.
- Prepare, prepare, prepare. Run through your presentation with colleagues until you have it down. You have one opportunity for a good first impression — be prepared to make it a positive one.
- Work from a realistic time frame. Whenever possible, schedule the marketing trip to coincide with an appropriate company milestone (initial prototype, positive results of feasibilty study, meeting with important supplier or industry leader).
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It's only after all the "tips have been taken" that we recommend that our clients move forward.
When our clients are prepared to "hold 'em," we want to make certain that the deck is stacked in their favor.
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If you have any marketing questions that you would like me to address in a future column, or have a comment about this column, drop me a line.
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Mark Dollinger
President
Trendlines America
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