To Sell or Not to Sell

Anyone who attends conferences has been through this.

A speaker billed as delivering a thought-leading talk on the state of the widget industry instead stands up and lays into a 30-minute sales pitch for widget X, the product they represent, with no apparent shame.

A common tension for event organizers is how to prepare speakers so that they don't do this. The objective is to have the speaker deliver real value to the audience rather than just pitch their product. The speaker, on the other hand, might have only one selling gear. And that is the hard gear.

Yet people attend conferences to learn and network. No one buys tickets to sit through overt sales pitches.

The best speakers entertain while they teach. But at minimum, there has to be an exchange of attention for education. Audiences check out or simply leave the meeting hall if this expectation isn’t being fulfilled.

Yet many individuals accept speaking invitations and see them only as selling opportunities.

The truth is, speaking at a conference is a fantastic selling opportunity. Just not in the way you might think.

The best conference speakers sell like crazy. But you have no idea that this is what they are doing. They do this by demonstrating mastery of whatever field they operate in.

Two Paths, Two Outcomes

Let’s say Roger is a speaker representing a digital payments company. Roger has two choices on how to approach an invitation to speak on “The State of Play in Digital Payments” or something in this vein.

Both choices of course involve accepting the invitation.

Sell Hard, Hear the Silence

In option one, Roger ignores the topic and gives a 20-minute product demo. “My product does this. My product does that. Here’s one more thing I want to show you before I finish.”

A few people in the crowd might hear something that intrigues them. These folks might send Roger a LinkedIn connection request. And if one of these leads to a sale, that’s probably enough for Roger to justify the trip.

A much more likely outcome is that the audience is bored and inattentive and when he is finally finished, Roger sulks off stage with no audience Q&A.

Display Mastery for the Win

In option two, Roger puts in the time to deliver an actual “state of play” presentation that lays out how the digital payments space has evolved to this point and then explains why what will happen in the next 18 to 24 months will fundamentally transform the businesses of everyone in the room.

This approach is much more likely to have the audience leaning in, taking notes, and raising their hands to ask questions. Roger has so many questions that the moderator has to cut off Q&A to stay on time.

If you were Roger, which outcome would you prefer?

It’s important to note that in the second approach, Roger only mentions his company once or twice. And he never talks about his product. And he is a hit with the audience.

Following option one (Roger 1), the hard sell option, Roger 1 embarrasses himself, annoys his audience, and makes it highly unlikely that he or anyone from his organization will ever be invited to speak at this conference again.

Option two (Roger 2) elevates his personal brand as an authority in digital payments. And elevating Roger 2’s brand also elevates his employer’s brand. Roger’s network expands and he is inundated with requests for follow-up discussions. Now it’s up to Roger 2 to convert these new warm contacts into deals. He has created conditions that make it much easier to sell.

If you're ever asked to speak at a conference, do yourself a favor and be like Roger 2.