10 top tips to effective speed-networking

Speed-networking is fun, energetic and dynamic and a very effective way of meeting a lot of new business contacts in a short space of time

How it works is simple – two business people each have 90 seconds to tell the other about their business and what they can offer them. 

You are seated opposite each other and when time is up one of them moves on.

Think of it as a mini interview, make notes and ensure you follow up afterwards.

1.   Ideally be in the group of people not moving

2.  Be natural don’t sound as if you are following a script

3.  Try to go second, then you can tailor your pitch based on what you have heard, they will be more focused on listening to you and not what they are about to say

4.   Exchange cards at the beginning of the session

5. Either have a brief leaflet on what you do or lots of business cards

6.  Have a pen and write down notes on the back of their card to make it easy for you to follow up afterwards

7. Lean slightly forward when listening to show you are interested and focussed on what they are saying

8. Remember their name and use it for the biggest impact

9. Practice does make perfect so the more sessions you attend the better you will become

10. Make sure you follow up afterwards

Former Porsche & BMW MD announced as keynote speaker of the Kent B2B, Ashford

Kent's longest running business-to-business exhibition and conference, the Kent B2B, run by Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce welcomes a giant of the business world to its Ashford event on 7 July at the Ashford International Hotel. Kevin Gaskell has worked with leading luxury car marques Porsche and BMW and is recognised as one of the most capable leaders of his generation.

As a well-respected keynote speaker Kevin has experience of speaking at a variety of business environments including Google UK. Richard Trinder, Director, comments on one of Kevin’s recent keynotes; “Thank you for the inspirational speech you delivered to open our Google Think event last week. Your on-stage presence and natural charisma shone through. This coupled with the strength of your content and the clarity of your messages raised the quality of our event from the outset. You injected gravitas, humour and credibility.”

Bringing his open and involving style to the audience Kevin will help delegates to better understand how they can define and implement change in their own organisations.

Brand experience

Speaking about his scheduled appearance Kevin commented: “Great companies and amazing brands are not seen or heard, rather they are experienced. Using practical tools and real examples I help leaders to transform their organisations, achieve results – and have fun!”

Full conference programme and 100 exhibitors

Warren Knight will also be appearing at the Kent B2B in a conference programme that is designed to meet the needs of businesses from Ashford and across the county.  The Kent B2B which is sponsored by Caxtons, will have more than 100 exhibitors showcasing existing and new products and services – many with special offers and competitions on the day. The day kicks off with a business breakfast, sponsored by Jelf, featuring Clive Lewis talking about Edward De Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats” and will finish with the Chamber’s Annual Dinner, sponsored by Furley Page with Guy Browning.

Jo James Chief Executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber says “We’re looking forward to our 29^th year of the Kent B2B and a productive day that will offer businesses of all sizes and from all sectors a place to meet, network and do business.”

The 24 deadly sins of exhibiting

Common mistakes of exhibiting 

1  Planning is key
One of the biggest reasons that businesses are unsuccessful at exhibitions is that they haven’t promoted and marketed their presence in the weeks and months leading up to it. Not planning or promoting your presence is fatal to your success.Use signature blocks on your emails, develop a social media campaign to highlight your presence, and personally invite clients & suppliers to meet with you.  

2  Not reading the exhibitor manual 

Ensure you read through whatever information that the event organisers send you. Don’t just assume everything will be provided.

3  Not thinking about your objectives 

How can you know if your exhibition stand has been a success or not and the return of your investment without some pre- stand planning beforehand? What are your reasons for exhibiting?  How many leads are you looking to achieve?

4  Being shy

Choose confident friendly staff that are more than happy talking to strangers and are comfortable ‘interrupting’ people passing by in a cheerful, friendly manner. These staff are representing your business so excellent people skills are essential to make sure a lasting impression. 

5  No training

Not training your staff to run the show behind-the-scenes could be detrimental to your conversion rate!

6  Your exhibition stand doesn't clearly communicate your business

Think carefully about your stand design and graphics.  Always assume that people have no prior knowledge of your business. Pictures really do tell ‘a thousand words and so ensure your graphics clearly illustrate your offering.

7  Give people a reason to come to your stand

The power of a compelling incentive. Not creating a great, innovative reason for people to visit you on the day can have enormous consequences on getting the leads.  Display the benefits of choosing you over competitors and the value they will receive from signing up with you. 

8  Not making an effort or giving enough thought to your presence 

Make your stand exciting and stand out! Think about what you could bring on the day to intice potential customers over to your stand, and maybe consider a competition you could run or something equally interesting! 

9  Acting Disinterested

No matter how long your day has been, try to keep up a friendly smiley face and make eye-contact with potential customers at all times. Make sure staff are standing on their feet in an approachable manner and engage with as many people as possible… 

10  Having Too Few Staff

It is important to have plenty of staff to cover breaks and make sure that people are always seen to as soon as possible.

11  Having Too Many Staff

On the other hand, you don’t want your stand to be over filled with too many staff wanting potential customer’s attention… 

12    Staff Who Know Nothing about Your Product or Company

Ensure all staff working on your stand are completely knowledgeable of the whole company and its key information. Even if they are long term staff make sure that they are briefed with a coherent message and approach. Your staff need to be confident and be able to deal with any enquiries in a professional manner. 

13  Compel your audience to visit your stand

 Work on ways to compel your audience to visit your stand, it will dramatically increase your capture rate on the day. Being proactive never lost anybody a sale. You can’t remain at the edge of your stand and expect your leads to flock over. You can afford to leave your stand for 5 or 10 minute missions.

Get out and about, listen to the speakers, go to a workshop, engage with people at the café, when you are getting lunch, visit other stands and see how they are getting on – it’s not just on the stand that you can make contacts, be open and easy to approach. This approach will gain you leads.

14  Not Perfecting your Elevator Pitch

You will need to explain your business and its products/services countless times during the exhibition, so make sure you and your staff can explain the succinctly and effectively.

15  Not Listening

Make sure to really listen to any potential customers to answer as best you can any questions asked, and engage in a conversation with them.    

16  Not having information to take away

A lot of people will not want to be overloaded with bits of paper, but if asked you should have some simple/detailed information that people can take home with them if they wish!

17  Being Cagey about Pricing

Be prepared to answer any questions about price and be upfront! Even if you offer a bespoke service, be sure you can offer them a rough idea on price.

18  Taking Forever to Record Leads

Contact customers that have left their details as soon as possible- Don’t leave them hanging around!

19  Spamming 

If you are to send customers information, make it useful and exciting! Don’t end up sending the same content time and time again. Create interesting, innovative content that people will enjoy reading.

20  Exhibitors commandeering the time of other exhibitors

Respect that exhibitions are for strictly time for business, not to be used to socialise with industry colleagues and suppliers.

21  Uninspiring Tweets

Continually telling people during the exhibition to come to your stand, doesn't necessarily mean they will unfortunately. Give your social media messages some thought! Upload pictures and videos to maximise engagement.

22  Badmouthing Competitors

Be professional at all times- Focus on selling your brand to potential customers!

23  Packing Up Early

Packing up early at an exhibition is prohibited and you will be looked down on. You should be making the most of every last minute at your stand, networking and meeting. Packing up isn't just a potential health and safety issue but it reflects terribly on your organisation.

24  Not Following Up Leads Post Event

The final pitfall between you and gaining business from an exhibition is the way you approach leads after the event. Convert your hard work into strong sales and stop yourself from squandering the great work you did to capture new business prospects.  

Top Tips For Choosing The Right Travel Management Company (TMC)

In today’s economic climate keeping an eye on corporate travel spend and maximising travel budgets is critical (regardless of the size of your business and scale of travel requirements).

On the surface, price would often appear to be the driver in choosing corporate travel arrangements. However, the cheapest flight online doesn’t always equal the cheapest option! In many cases, there are restrictions to certain fares and hidden charges which means you may not always be buying the most cost effective option.

We’re not just talking flights here, the TMC is the expert. They have the knowledge and the relationships with suppliers to get you the best possible solution for your needs at the best price. They can save you a lot of wasted time and help to get you out of difficulty.

Consider what you really need:

·    - More time to do your own job?

·    - Expert Advice?

·    - Policy Compliance?

·    - Reporting?

·    - 24 hour help?

·    - Centralised Payment Solutions?

·    - Flexibility?

Many TMCs will be able to offer what you are looking for but you need to ensure that it is offered in a way that works for you and your business. Cultural fit is critical to a lasting relationship – your TMC should feel like an extension of your own company. That’s where BBTM (Baldwins Business Travel Management) can help. Call us on 01892 515900 for details or visit our website www.bbtm.co.uk

5 top tips to make your speed networking session a success

Most businesses would agree — referrals and face-to-face contact are the best ways to build and nurture business relationships — however, contrary to this many businesses spend many thousands of pounds placing advertising and sending marketing via email or though the post. 

Why you should get involved with speed networking?

If meeting someone is the best way to judge whether you can do business with them why don’t more businesses get involved with networking? Well, for many people it seems to be a little bit of nerves that can keep them away from meetings — so, if a breakfast or lunch seems too daunting how about the best and quickest form of networking — speed networking?

Speed networking is not a new concept, however, in a time when we seem to be spending more and more of our working day communicating online and through email it makes a refreshing and interesting change to your business development strategy. Arguably, speed networking will give you access to more people in one hour than you might normally meet in a month. It’s quite normal to feel a little apprehensive but do a little prep work beforehand those nerves should be calmed.

As ever preparation is key

1. Make sure you have a great opener for each of your pitches — just 10 seconds will do, covering an introduction, what your business is about or what you are looking for.  

2. Try to think about the different types of people and businesses you are going to meet and how you could change your intro to meet their needs — you’ll have far more success if you can slightly tailor your pitch to each person. 

3. Be practical — remember your business cards and a pen to make notes (on the back of each card is a good idea) and remember people’s names!

4. Not everyone is going to seem suitable for you or perhaps be interested in your product or service right now, but, remember to “think outside the box” — the product or service may not be suitable today but what about next month or in year’s time when you have diversified or grown? Consider whether a contact could become a mentor or a partner or a franchisee? The people who gain the most from these sessions are those that are the most open minded. 

5. Although it may seem counter intuitive, do your best to help the people that you meet — try to offer solutions to them and their challenges. You’d be surprised at how this “pay it forward” mentality has helped many businesses — perhaps not immediately but at some point. You’ll impress your new contact and you never know they may well recommend or use you in the future. 

Networking for success

Many of the most successful entrepreneurs are those that have spent their time networking — building trustworthy, reliable contacts across their industry, in support services and a wide variety of geographical locations. Meeting people and developing positive relationships is surely the key to a successful business?

So, hopefully now you should feel a little more prepared for a speed networking session? Come along and try a session at the West Kent B2B, 27th March. And let us know how you get on ……

Networking in a digital age

As the digital world continues to develop and it seems that more and more of our communication takes place online, over email or via social media is the art of networking face-to-face becoming obsolete? The growth of social media and other networking applications such as crowdfunding sites has undoubtedly led to employees spending longer in front of their screen and less time out meeting contacts, peers and clients face-to-face. Unarguably, online has opened up many businesses to otherwise unreachable international markets and information that would have previously taken weeks to research is now available at your fingertips. The growth in this technology has opened up many alternative commercial channels for businesses, large and small; however, it has also meant that employees now spend time sifting through vast swathes of information – making decisions as to what is useful and what is not.

Networking is an important skill

As the tide of social media has continued to grow there has also been a growth in the number of people discussing the need for face-to-face meetings and nurturing those so-called softer skills of networking and developing relationships. Interestingly, Julia Hobsbawm has long heralded the need for businesses to maintain more face-to-face contact and the need for employees to “come out from behind their screens “ and actually meet people. She has such weight within the business community that the Cass Business School based in the City, London have recently made her their inaugural, honorary Professor of Networking. Julia has long argued that the process of building networking skills is integral to the development of a solid, productive team, that networking is less of a soft, additional skill and that is should be brought to the forefront of business skills that firms should be demanding from their employees. Proving that an ability to network matters and can make a difference to the bottom line of a firm takes the skill swiftly away from its lightweight roots or comical images of standing alone in a conference room with a handful of business cards and takes it into the realms of relevant, contemporary business thinking. 

Larger firms recognise the need to network

Hobsbawm argues that, in fact, it is a disservice to think that employees don’t want to or aren’t capable of networking in this way. Large businesses such as BT and Regus have proven business techniques that show that in order for employees to work at their best, face-to-face contact is required. They ensure that new managers go out and meet all their teams – even though their corporate policies rail against “unnecessary travel”. To run a successful business is obviously a far more intricate operation than employing people to sit behind desks connecting through their PC’s. Employees should, and need to be encouraged to take the opportunity to network as and when they can. Hobsbawm comments that these opportunities may also come from the most unusual of places, but are necessary in order to push those employees onto the next stage of their career (and prevent them from becoming disillusioned). Businesses themselves need to aspire to be dynamic and forward thinking – they must remember to look beyond their own walls and engage with the wider world. 

Networking whether it is in your social circle, with peers at a curated external networking event (such as those run by the CIPD), or at a focussed business to business conference or exhibition should be a firm and regular fixture of any business. Starting a relationship online is great, but the cement that will hold and build that business relationship into a longstanding, mutually profitable one will be done face-to-face.

5 reasons to consider event sponsorship as part of your marketing plans

As marketing budgets begin to increase once more many organisations will begin reviewing their spend in terms of both finance and the channels that they use. Whilst the march of social media and online marketing continues apace many marketers are starting to look at some alternative means in order to get their brand out there and recognised. With the growing noise across many channels, an alternative strategy may be the way to be seen and heard by more of your audience. So, along with a return to the more traditional areas of print marketing, the arena of event sponsorship should also be considered as a great way to build your audience and grow exposure. 

Choosing the right event and what you sponsor is absolutely key to your sponsorship success. Consider should the event align itself with your business? Is it attracting the right audience for you? Could it open a new market for you? These are all questions that you need to be pretty sure of the answers before going ahead. One thing is for sure though many business directors agree that exhibitions offer a great way to meet new clients,  so surely extending that to sponsoring makes sense? And do you know what? Sponsorship needn’t cost the earth - it’s not always about sponsoring the whole event, or the event guide - there are generally lots of other smaller opportunities for business to get involved with. Take a look at five reasons why your company should look at event sponsorship.

1. Build credibility with a targeted  audience

Events like B2B exhibitions and conferences are a great way to get to meet your clients, develop relationships with new ones and build authority within your sector. Alongside taking a stand having your company branding elsewhere at the event will help to build recognition of your product or service. Sponsorship will enable you to stand out from the crowd to an audience that has been created for you. What does this mean? Well, a carefully managed exhibition or conference will have heaps of delegates that are ideally placed to be receptive to your product or service - thats’ the job of the event organiser. For them to make the event successful they need to have the right delegates meeting the right exhibitors … and sponsors! Be sure to do your homework and find out exactly who the target market is.

2. Remember the people that aren’t actually there

Now this may sound bizarre but when you are speaking with delegates, contacts or other exhibitors always remember that they most probably have a book full of other people with similar interests or who are in a similar sector, so, remember the people that aren’t at the exhibition and make an excellent impression on those that are. This still holds true for sponsorship - sponsor the event bag or some promotional items and the chances are they will be seen by far more than just the person who attend - gaining you and your business further exposure. 

3. Increase your media exposure

As part of the organisers role the event will undoubtably be well advertised both on and offline - as a sponsor you gain access to this. For businesses that look at becoming a headline or major sponsor the opportunities to spread your reach can be huge. Advertising tends to come as standard on all the events marketing including web sites, email marketing, advertising, but be clever and you can get more involved - creating social media campaigns or other content that align you to the event and build your exposure.  

4. Big or small 

Whatever the size of your business, there is likely to be a sponsorship  opportunity for you. Larger firms may be interested in becoming a headline sponsor - like Caxtons for the Kent B2B’s this year. Not only does it give them great coverage across the county - which is their main target market - it also goes to show that they are genuinely interested in the local area and businesses within it. 

David Gurton, Director at Caxtons comments. "As a professional firm, Caxtons looks for ways to magnify and enhance our corporate message, and we found a particularly valuable one in our partnership with Kent Invicta Chamber.

As headline sponsor for the Chamber’s B2B events, we have achieved face-to-face countywide exposure that has helped us to capitalise on our existing marketing and PR activities.  It has meant we can meet clients in an informal business environment, and can introduce them to knowledgeable members of our team. 

The wide ranging promotion of the exhibitions including emails, advertisements, press releases, blogs, workshops and speaker slots prior to, and at events has increased our brand exposure to both the business community and customers across the county, which has extended our business reach."

However, if you don’t have the resources for headline sponsorship what can you do? One of the best ideas is to pick up the phone and call the event to see what the other options are - there are usually opportunities to sponsor event bags, perhaps the coffee cups (what a great way to get your brand noticed as people stand, chat and network!) or, even get involved with a workshop or sponsor a networking session. 

5. Make more contacts

For some events, becoming a significant sponsor can also open up the events contacts lists for your business. If you have chosen well this list could be one of the premium benefits to your firm - offering you access to a list of delegates that potentially are interested in you.

Making sponsorship opportunities work is a two fold deal - firstly, you need to ensure that the event you are looking at is in the right sector and that the organisers are targeting your potential clients. Then it’s down to you - negotiate well and you could come out with a package that’s worth far more than the money you pay for it. 

Interested in finding out more about sponsorship of our events? Call Carole on 01732 758530.

Get the inside track from a former Dragon at the East Kent B2B

With the latest statistics from the British Chamber of Commerce’s 2nd Quarterly Survey showing the continuing stabilisation of the UK economy, many would-be entrepreneurs, who for the past few years have had to reign in their ambitions may now start to look at growing their businesses once more. The BCC recently upgraded its’ annual growth forecast for the economy - moving from 1.9% to 2.2%. The manufacturing sector is also recovering and for the most part, the figures are moving in the right direction. With such positivity now could be the time to grasp your entrepreneurial spirit and move your business forward.

Entrepreneurial South East region

Interestingly, almost half of the businesses listed in the Investec Hot 100 in 2013 were based in London and the South East. The list is compiled by looking at the compound annual growth rates of the fastest growing private companies in the UK. It is used as a gauge of entrepreneurial
business spirit and the South East featuring so highly would seem to point to a growing
entrepreneurial spirit within the region. Furthermore East Kent has been highlighted across many channels as the “go to” area in the South East for new tech start-ups and initiatives like “Grow for it East Kent” are successfully promoting the areas abundant resources and benefits to both the local markets and those from further afield.

Jo James, Chief Executive of the Chamber explains the focus of the next Kent B2B, “Fitting the needs of the region is one of the key points of the Chambers’ remit and so our next business to business event has a truly entrepreneurial slant across its’ programme, including Doug Richard booked as keynote speaker. We are looking forward to a great day of informative speeches,
practical workshops and abundant networking opportunities.”

Leading entrepreneur booked for business conference

Doug Richard is one of the original members of the BBC television programme, Dragons Den and has an incredibly successful career. He initially worked in Silicon Valley, building and selling two successful businesses before coming to Britain where he has, amongst other things, developed Cambridge Angels - an investment society looking to “pay it forward” offering advice, guidance along with financial help to new entrepreneurs. He now also dedicates time to “School for Startups”, a social enterprise dedicated to training and supporting entrepreneurs and helping small businesses around the world thrive. 

Appearing at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerces’ East Kent B2B on the 11th September at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury, Doug will be offering tips and candid, jargon free advice on the day. A must for any business person, whether you are an established business that’s looking to grow or a start-up firm.

Alongside Doug is Andrew Priestley as breakfast speaker who will share with you the 8 questions to make your business more profitable and QJ speaking about his Rockstar Approach. Add in the great exhibitors with workshops planned throughout the day, speed networking and lots of other opportunities to connect with new businesses and the event looks set to be a great day for businesses across East Kent.

Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce urges the Government to not be hasty with interest rate rises as he takes to the stage at Kent B2B

The annual Kent B2B took place on Tuesday 8th July at the Ashford International Hotel hosted by the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce. Amongst the keynote speakers was John Longworth, the current Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce. Following the release of the 2nd Quarterly Economic Survey by Mr Longworth to the press in London he travelled to the Ashford event to discuss the results with the business audience from across Kent.

Survey results show stabilisation in growth

The survey is the result of 7,000 businesses across the UK and amongst the key headlines of the latest report were what the Director General called an “unsurprising” decline or stabilisation of the growth of the economy after it had “jolted forward” in the first quarterly survey results. However, these figures should be taken in context as many of them are actually still higher than their pre-recession 2007 levels and should therefore be viewed in a positive way.

Mr Longworth commented “these are strong results that show the recovery is moving forward.” As the first survey of the quarter to be released the BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey is keenly anticipated by both the Treasury and the Bank of England. As such Mr Longworth argued that the Bank of England should consider carefully whether now was the right time to raise interest rates in the “very short term” or whether this would serve to limit the growth ambitions of many businesses.  At the Kent B2B Mr Longworth’s speech was wide ranging touching on key current political issues such as the Scottish referendum and the upcoming General Election along with key business issues such as infrastructure and exporting.

Alongside Mr Longworth’s key note the Kent Invicta Chamber’s business to business exhibition and conference saw 2 marketing experts take to the stage offering invaluable advice to businesses across the county. Daniel Priestley spoke of the Key Person of Influence concept, outlining how any business person can begin to build their influence to become a key player within their niche. Warren Cass spoke of the recent trend of disruptive marketing and its impact on they way firms do business.

High quality content and networking opportunities

With 90 exhibitors and nearly 1,000 people attending the Kent B2B successfully mixes the needs of businesses to keep up-to -date with the latest innovations within business alongside offering fantastic networking opportunities for exhibitors and delegates alike.

Jo James, Chief Executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce commented “The Kent B2B is the longest running of our B2B events, as such it offers a broad range of businesses the opportunity to learn, network and do business. Today has been a fantastic success with many people commenting on the high quality contacts that they have made. Our keynote speakers and workshops are firmly focussed on offering delegates the very best advice and leaving them with real life actions that they can immediately implement in their business - whatever sector they operate in and at whatever level.”

Jo continued “All in all I think it was great day for businesses in Kent - finished off with a brilliant evening with our Annual Dinner hosted by the inimitable Gordon Banks. We will now focus our attention on our next B2B which will be in East Kent, in Canterbury on the 11th September. With ex Dragons Den star Doug Richards, Andrew Priestley and QJ confirmed as keynote speaker it’s shaping up to be another great event for businesses in Kent, and from further afield.”