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www.HartfordBusiness.com April 24, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 21 BIZ BOOKS How to incorporate creativity, innovation in your daily work routines "T he Dance of the Possible: The Mostly Honest, Completely Irreverent Guide to Creativity" by Scott Berkun (Melete Press, $11.99). What's stopping people from becoming creative? Berkun believes it's our quest for efficiency. In trying to get more done in the least time, we develop start-to-finish routines for various tasks. These routines put "think time" in neutral. Creativity, on the other hand, isn't rou- tine or efficient because it takes time to deal with "new." It expands to consider ideas, evaluate alternatives and nar- row choices; when it comes to execution, methods must be tweaked to establish routines. To take your thinking out of neutral every day, write down "your ideas, thoughts, questions, observations or inspirations" before they fade away. Keeping a journal gives ideas "a place to live." Review - ing journal entries on a timely basis helps you connect what appeared to be random- at-the-time entries into patterns. By jour- nalizing, you're continually engaging the creative part of your brain. It doesn't have to be a paper journal; I use the Evernote app, which not only allows me to categorize my input, but also allows me to share notes with others. Even when web surfing, I can save info to my cat- egorized notes. Berkun sees pattern identifi- cation as a key to creative ideas. Why? Because new ideas are very rarely really new. Rather, they're the result of combin- ing at least two other ideas. Example: Apple's iPod uti- lized, combined and refined existing products — Sony's Walkman, the jukebox and headphones. Each of those products can trace their development to other products. Steve Jobs, and others like him, are viewed as "cre- ative geniuses." Yet all they did was connect what appeared to be ideas into identified pat- terns, which evolved into "new" products and services. Key takeaway: As you introduce ideas, possibilities grow as others think about them. When you add their collaborative input, possibilities expand further. The collaborators then help winnow the what-if possibilities into make-it-happen projects. • • • "How to Say It to Sell It: Key Words, Phrases, and Strategies to Build Rela- tionships, Boost Revenue, and Beat the Competition" by Sue Hershkowitz- Coore (Prentiss Hall Press, $13). Whether you're selling products and ser- vices to a customer, or pitching an idea to your boss, knowing when to listen, when to talk and what to say are the keys to hearing "Yes." The best advice I got when I was in sales was: "You have two ears and one mouth. That means you should listen twice as much as you talk." With that in mind, the author lists five steps to effective, active listening: 1. "Look for points of agreement." You have to find common ground and weave them in when the time is right. 2. "If your customer disagrees with you, don't be quick to prove him wrong." Ask questions about the real reason behind the objection. Once you know it, 3. "Respond by talking about how much you agree." Starting with "You're right" or "Yes, and … " estab- lishes common ground. 4. "If you can't agree, think about what the prospect wants to know." Their negative responses may mean that they don't know what they don't know. Focus your response on solving their problems by asking: "What does your successful project look like?" The answer will provide clues that should take you back to No. 3's common ground. 5. "Determine the next step." Once you have a prospect thinking you can provide solutions, you need to ask about their next step in the process. Do it from the stand- point of an ally with a question like, "What information do you need from me to help oth- ers in your decision-making process understand how my product completes your 'suc- cessful project' picture?" Hershkowitz-Coore puts the five in context with the various prospect personalities you'll encounter. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak THE RAINMAKER How to optimize your trade-show investment By Ken Cook T rade shows are an integral part of the marketing strategy for some industries and companies. Frequently though, I hear unhappy comments about the return on the investment for exhibiting in a trade show. Let me offer some guidelines to improve your show investment. First, have clear goals and measure them. Don't go to the show to merely make some con- tacts. Rather, be specific on what you want your results to be. These can be sales leads, closed pieces of busi- ness, new partners, or re-established rela- tionships with exist- ing customers. Build a metric or measurement spread- sheet for the show and track how you do. Second, think of the show as a con- centrated opportunity to connect with existing customers and prospective new relationships. Smart exhibitors benefit the most from trade shows by thinking of them as 1:1 selling oppor- tunities, in a very intense and compressed time frame. Part of each day should be a series of get- togethers with pre-selected target customers, prospects, other exhibitors and influencers, all in an environment where the focus is, by the nature of the show, on business and doing deals. Think about setting up a meeting room, often available in large halls, or set up your booth so there's a relatively quiet space with chairs. Visitors love to sit and rest. Third, entice people to stop at your booth. Think of booth visitors as a form of speed dating. This means putting your best foot forward. Here are four easy things to do to help with that first impression. • It's worth the extra money to get carpet- ing and padding. Visitors feel the difference as soon as they step into your booth, and they hate to move back onto the concrete. • Have an attraction that generates inter- est. This could be demos or interactions with your products, either real-time or online. Hold a raffle with an attractive prize. Offer massages, food or some other item that pro- vides a moment of respite for visitors. • Develop and staff your booth with ambas- sadors, not placeholders. Take the time to go over with show personnel what you expect them to cover with visitors. It's not necessary for staff to memorize a script and repeat it back to you. Rather, have them paraphrase, in their own words the central message you want to communicate. This message should focus on your unique value or benefit to the customer. In other words, it should be about the customer's experience from their point of view; it should not be just a sales pitch. Once the staff internal- izes your key message, then they will commu- nicate with authentic enthusiasm. • Develop relationships with visitors. Visitors to trades shows know that the people staffing the booths are there to sell to them. So, they natu- rally put up their guard as soon as they enter the door of the exhibit hall. Employees staffing the booth should engage the visitor, ask engaging questions, and most importantly, listen. Learn- ing about someone enables conversation and the beginning of a relationship. Selling someone raises barriers and shuts down interaction. Fourth, capture each moment as it hap- pens. Make notes on salient points from the discussion, and any promises or commit- ments made immediately after a conversa- tion is over. Note any insights or observations that could help with the customer relation- ship. After a full day of greeting people, conversations will blend. The notes will be valuable. Fifth, be generous and diligent with your follow-up. After the show, reconnect as prom- ised in a timely manner. Offer something of value related to the conversation you had with someone. What you offer does not have to be tied to your product or service. It needs to be relevant to the prospect or customer. They'll remember that a lot longer than anything else. Remember that everyone with whom your team connects is an existing or potential relationship with the person and the com- pany. Connect to the person first before you explore opportunities. And, measure your results. A trade show is the same as any other marketing tactic. Its purpose is to generate results. Don't guess as to whether the show was successful. Know for sure. n Ken Cook is the co-author of "How to WHO: Selling Personified," a book about building business through relationships. Ken Cook ▶ ▶ Creativity … isn't routine or efficient because it takes time to deal with 'new.' ▶ ▶ Entice people to stop at your booth. Think of booth visitors as a form of speed dating. This means putting your best foot forward.