UPDATE: HIMSS has announced that the 2020 Global Health Conference & Exhibition has been cancelled due to recent updates from the CDC and WHO regarding the coronavirus. Please see a link to their press release here: HIMSS Statement
As a sales rep, I pride myself in never being the smartest guy in the room - HIMSS is no exception. There are many guides to navigating HIMSS20 in general, or to pursuing CE hours, academic hours, or to gleaning knowledge from industry experts; but what if you aren’t looking for knowledge? What if you aren’t an IT guy, executive, or entrepreneur, etc.?
What if want to make contacts, but you aren’t the company that everyone comes to see, or you don’t have the SWAG that goes viral and draws everyone to your booth, or you aren’t sponsoring a bourbon tasting? What if you are just a “sales guy” and you know that this is your chance to shake hands with those prospects who don’t respond to email, voicemail, LinkedIn, etc. (which, in my experience, is well above 99%)? I call these folks mythical beasts (no offense) because there is no proof they actually exist. You also want to connect with as many other prospects as you can. Well, you probably know that if you show up without a predefined attack plan, you will be as productive as this deer in headlights.
Now let’s say your company isn’t buying the attendee list, you don’t have inside reps to help with the heavy lifting, and finally…you still have a job to do and can’t dedicate days to plan for HIMSS20 while your Outlook
tasks multiply like rabbits? Well here is a simple methodology I have followed that takes some time, but has
given me the feeling that I have made the most of the time and resources I had available to me – similar to the genesis of Hamburger Helper:
Booth Strategy: I will leave it up to your marketing to devise a booth strategy – although this isn’t the show for booth traffic – prospects couldn’t find you if they wanted to.
Social Media Strategy: Wish your marketing group luck trying to break through all of the noise trying to draw attention and people to your booth.
LinkedIn Strategy:
You must post to let your Links know you will be there and ask your Links, who are customers, to stop by and to tell their peers to check out your technology, “It would be worth their time.” They may be attending with prospects, so just ask the question.
Create a list within LinkedIn and send personal invites to your biggest targets/mythical beasts - try to entice them with a gift of $25 or more. The cost of one sales call to meet these folks in the field is way more than $25. If you have a huge hit rate with this effort, tell your management/marketing to think of how much they saved in cost of sales vs. how much you spent.
Exhibitor Floor Strategy (There are 1,301 exhibitors to look through so you may want to divvy up the list with your sales counterparts – divide and conquer):
Potential customers – Exhibiting health systems
Potential technology partners
Team with the sales rep as well as business strategy folks
Potential resellers
Competitors
Take advantage of Exhibitor Hosted Activities
Sessions/Speakers: Views From the Top, Keynote Speakers
Rather than going to sessions strictly to learn, find all sessions with a speaker from an organization you are trying to get into. Find out more about the organization, reference the speaker and session in your next email to your target company, or see if the speaker is willing to give a referral.
Search for sessions that have a topic in your same niche because the folks attending that session will be your prospects.
Attend your competitors’ events – this is a no-brainer.
Networking Events / Receptions: The ability to work a room is why you make the big bucks. I always target the ones serving social lubricant. If you find a contact in this environment, odds are good you will get a follow up meeting or referral. Some events aren’t keen with sales reps working the room, and other events are only sales reps working the room.
Getting Onsite Meetings: I have learned that many attendees either get a per diem or don’t, and aren’t expensing meals, so they are more likely to take a free lunch meeting than back home. Maybe you can reserve a table for lunch and try to drive attendance to lunch via LinkedIn or a call down or email blast – this is more convenient for your prospects and cheaper than dinner and reserving a venue. Do the same thing with a pre-determined happy hour spot between exhibiting hours and all the ensuing dinner events.
So if you are a rep like me who doesn’t show up to a pre-assembled booth, who isn’t merely farming customers, but is doing the heavy lifting (figuratively and literally), these tidbits are here in case you need a helping hand.
About the Author: Eric Olson
Eric is a Regional Business Development Manager at Extract Systems with more than 10 years of experience in the healthcare technology marketplace. His healthcare background includes data backup, disaster recovery, SaaS, value-based care, HIM process improvement, regulatory guidelines, and quality
analytics. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and enjoys hiking and camping in our national parks. Eric engages and challenges his customers to find ways of leveraging technology to streamline workflows, improve processes and ultimately reduce costs. Eric is committed to being accountable and responsive to his customers, focusing on developing long-term relationships because he understands that his customers are buying from him as much as they are buying from Extract Systems.