This past weekend, I went to a Franchise event at the International Exposition Center in Cleveland. The IX Center hosted about 50 businesses who are seeking to expand their company through franchising. Many of these businesses already have franchises around the United States, but a handful were also much smaller companies that are looking to expand into new cities and states. It was very interesting to go to this event and hear different companies use different sales techniques.
Instead of selling directly to customers at this event, companies at the Franchise Show were selling their business idea to people who would then start up the franchise as their own business. The first person I talked to at the show introduced himself and then started going on and on about the business, its history, financial opportunities, their vision for company growth, and more. Rather than asking me any questions about myself or why I was there, he was firing information at me that left me with a lot of questions. The second person I talked to was very similar to the first person. He gave lots of details about the product, the history, and the business. They both asked what questions I had after they talked for a while, but it was hard to remember everything they had said and what I wanted to ask about.
I can imagine that if I were to sit down one-on-one with one of the salespeople from the show, he or she would ask a lot more questions about me, my interests, what I am looking for, and why I am interested in their business. However, likely due to the nature of the show, the sales experiences were not like this very much. It was nice to go and hear about the different business models and hear from different people, but I think it would have been beneficial to have more time to talk where I wasn’t just hearing lots of information and retaining very little.
taylorjt23 
Bondre24 
wheelerne24
That is very interesting. This relates very closely to how we have talked in class about the usefulness of making a connection with the customer in selling. In this situation it seems like it would be difficult to single out one person and make a connection with them, but like you said, it would have been beneficial for the salespeople to ask about what connections you could have with the business instead of going straight to the information about the company.
That’s a very interesting story, I’m honestly surprised that the people you talked to were so lacking in their sales strategy. I wonder if it was due to the fast paced nature of such a convention, but even then I feel like its no excuse. It really goes to show how essential proper sales tactics are to ensure that the customer feels comfortable and empowered in the sales process. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm someone by shouting stats and figures without worrying about their needs and wants.