PROGRAM JUSTIFICATION
 To demonstrate the value of my exhibit program, I’m required to give monthly
presentations to various internal stakeholders. However, I’m not sure how to tailor my marketing presentations to each audience. Can you give me some advice about who wants to know what and in what amount of detail?
 Just like your exhibit’s target audience, internal stakeholders have varying levels of time, communication styles, and interest in your messages. So you can’t throw the kitchen sink at everyone; you need to tailor your internal exhibit-marketing messages to each group.
While each company and its management teams are different, here are some general guidelines to help craft your content and delivery for the three most common groups of internal stakeholders.
 Executives/Board Members — The killer whales of your company’s food chain, executives and board members want big-picture financial information, not plankton-size details. They want to know how your marketing strategies impact the company’s financial stability and shareholder values. They want to know about your long-term plans for exhibiting success and how they will deliver ROI. They’re concerned with company-wide strategic goals and how your exhibit aids in meeting them.
So when you present to the big guns, skip over your program’s implementation strategy and everyday details, and instead explain how your exhibit strategy impacts the company’s bottom line. Talk about big-picture concepts, such as total costs, benefits, ROI, etc., and be ready to back up any claims with research. Also, cut to the chase, aiming for a five- to 10-minute presentation featuring five PowerPoint slides or fewer.
Vice Presidents/Directors — These tuna-size fish require a little more detail than the executives, but you still shouldn’t smother them in the day to day. They’re interested in how your program affects the organization in general and their department or branch in particular. Include many of the key points you relay to executives, but go into more detail, discussing what your plan requires of various parts of the company.
For example, does your strategy use messaging consistent with an existing campaign, or have new brand statements been developed? Do your messages feature corporate-level branding, or are they more focused on a particular product segment? What value or benefit does your program deliver to the company and to each segment in particular? Try to trot out a few key details, such as specific sales or lead goals and results, competitive or historical comparisons, and even budget numbers or messaging details.
Compared to executives, these mid-size fish will give you more time and attention before they mentally swim off into the deep blue sea, so your presentation can be roughly 30 minutes or less. However, when providing these extra details, be ready for counter arguments or suggestions which often pop up with this particular group, as they need some data of their own in case they need to answer to executive management.
Managers/Supervisors — The guppies of your internal sea, managers and supervisors are interested in how your strategy will affect their day-to-day operations. Do your future plans mean you’ll need to borrow their staff and leave them shorthanded? What measurable results have you returned to their team — and what can you promise for the future? What do you need from them personally and as a group?
Usually, you can take as much time as necessary with this group as long as your meeting is prearranged rather than sprung on them. Then again, don’t waste their time, or you could find yourself presenting to an empty room the next time around. Also come prepared with as much detail as possible, including budget numbers, goals, predicted results, timelines, etc. And if possible, present to this group first, as they’re likely to have myriad questions, all of which can help you identify any areas of concern before you talk to the big guns.
While these groups present their unique challenges and parameters, knowing how best to approach each one will help you deliver a successful presentation — and help earn your program the respect it deserves.
— Matt Hill, president, The Hill Group, San Jose, CA
NET-PROMOTER SCORE
I keep hearing the term “net-promoter score.” What does this term mean, and how does it apply to my exhibit program?
Coined by Fred Reichheld in his book “The Ultimate Question,” the term “net-promoter score” (NPS) is a way to measure and track customers’ perceptions of a particular company.
NPS is based on the idea that every company’s customers can be divided into three categories: promoters, passives, and detractors. Promoters are your company’s most loyal followers who keep buying from you and urge their friends to do the same. Passives are satisfied customers, but they don’t promote your company and they’re easily wooed by the competition. Detractors are dissatisfied customers, those who feel trapped in a bad relationship.
To determine what percentage of each type of customer your company has, and thus the percentage of loyal customers you’ve accumulated, ask your customers “the ultimate question:” On a scale of one to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague? Companies usually ask this question via a survey and then repeat the survey at various points in time to assess the company’s growth or decline.
Reichheld asserts that customers whose answers range between one and six are detractors, those who answer a seven or eight are passives, and those who answer with a nine or 10 are promoters. After completing the survey and determining what percentage of your customers are detractors (D), passives, and promoters (P), you determine your company’s net promoter score with this simple equation: P – D = NPS. Thus, you subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters (ignoring the passives) to determine your net-promoter score.
The average company sputters along with an NPS of only 5 to 10 percent, according to the Web site www.theultimatequestion.com, which means promoters barely outnumber detractors. Plus, many firms actually have a negative NPS, i.e. they are creating more detractors than promoters. However, the key is not only to identify the NPS but to track it over time — and work to improve it.
You can apply the NPS philosophy to your exhibit program with careful pre- and post-show surveys, for example, which might allow you to prove the effects your exhibit-marketing program has on the perceptions of your customer base. For instance, by asking “the ultimate question” in a pre-show survey and asking the same question in a post-show survey, you might be able to prove that your exhibit program raised your company’s NPS.
As is true with any marketing concept, NPS has its own promoters and detractors — and a closer look at Reichheld’s book will help you decide for yourself. However, should you chose to apply this concept to your exhibit program, you could add another measurement tool to your arsenal — one that just might come in handy the next time you need to prove the contribution your program makes to the company’s bottom line.
— EXHIBITOR Staff
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