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A failed tactic. Is there still opportunity?

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Apr 8, 2008 1:36 am

Tonight I was at a monthly meeting for a service organization I am very involved with in a small town. There is time at the end where people can introduce outside business, and often people get up and say a few words about their business. I got up, it is a fairly young organization, and offered to do a seminar exclusively for the members of the group regarding 529 plans, which is obviously not a big money maker, but I thought it would be valuable to this group. I left a sign up sheet and literally NO ONE signed up. I realize now this is a huge mistake, but how can I recover? Is there still opportunity or should I just drop it? Thank you for your feedback. 

Apr 8, 2008 2:46 am

Drop it.  Say you will be sick on that date.

    Seriously though, drop it.
Apr 8, 2008 2:59 am

I figured. What a bust. Good thing I wasn’t hedging my bets that it would get me past my next hurdle…I feel (now) like I shouldn’t have done that. A person who I really trusted gave me that suggestion, out of industry. Hindsight is still 20/20. 

Apr 8, 2008 3:11 am

It's not that it was a bad idea, it just wasn't what the audience wanted to hear.  If it interested them, they would attend.

You'd be better off talking to people one on one, then when you found out what one person would like to learn about ask him who else here he might know that would like to hear about it too.  Do it enough times and you'll find enough people.  Also remember, people are more likely to do things when acting as an individual and less likely to do things in a group.

Apr 8, 2008 1:50 pm

What are you getting so worked up about?  You made a pitch and it didn’t produce results.  Big deal.  That’s part of the business.  Learn from it, adapt and move forward but don’t stop fighting to get your message out to prospects.  THAT would be a disaster.  THIS is just a learning experience.  So learn from it.


Apr 9, 2008 12:44 am
Morphius:

What are you getting so worked up about?  You made a pitch and it didn’t produce results.  Big deal.  That’s part of the business.  Learn from it, adapt and move forward but don’t stop fighting to get your message out to prospects.  THAT would be a disaster.  THIS is just a learning experience.  So learn from it.


    Good points.   Look in your fishing tackle box. How many lures do you have? More than one, I bet. If the fish aren't biting one, you use another. Same for this business.
Apr 9, 2008 2:15 am

Sign-up sheets can sometimes deter people from going to an event.  Nobody wants to be the first to sign up for something like that.  If they see a blank sign-up sheet, they don't want to be the one audience member of a seminar - that'd be embarassing for the both of you.   If you were talking to a large audience, it's likely that atleast one person was interested.  This might sound cheesy, but if some "John Doe"s were already on the list, I think people would be less hesitant to sign up.

Also, consider the location of the list.  If it was sitting in an area that was away from the crowd, walking across the room could be enough to deter somebody from signing up....   just some thoughts about why it didn't work.  keep trying
Apr 9, 2008 3:17 am

Good points Morph and Trap.  I had a similar situation where one client showed up.  I was so embarrassed.  With my assistant and guest speaker, we outnumbered the audience 3 to 1.  It’s turned me off to seminars, and lately I have gone to more “power dinners” with 6-12 people and usually a vendor (to help pay for it).  I have had minimal success with it so far.

  In hindsight, I did a very poor job marketing it, and the subject was really boring.
Apr 9, 2008 4:07 am

I’ve used dinners only to thank and deepen client relationships. No business agenda at all. My wife has enjoyed meeting my clients & it’s been good for both the client & spouse to meet us in a non-threatening setting. We haven’t a ‘bad’ experience at it yet.