At Hasseman Marketing, we work with organizations from all over the map. We have clients in manufacturing, financial services, education, healthcare, retail…and more. But what do all of them have in common? They all need an incredible workforce to deliver their products and services. Without exception, each of these companies needs a great team in order to do their best work.
So how do you attract and retain the best talent for your team, if everyone is trying to do the same thing? It’s the million-dollar question (or for some organizations, the billion-dollar question). And while there are MANY different strategies and tactics to make sure your people want to stick around, one is universal.
Care more.
Employees tend to stay where they are fairly compensated…and they feel appreciated. That appreciation can be shown in many ways. But one way that we have seen organizations showcase their “give a damn” is through Health and Wellness programs. The best Health and Wellness programs not only help employees be healthier but also show that the employer wants them to. As Maya Angelou said, “People will not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Why Do You Need A Health and Wellness Program?
While this all may feel warm and fuzzy, a great health and wellness program affects the bottom line too. Many organizations negotiate their healthcare costs based on the health of their employees. In other words, if you are team is healthier, it will save your company money on healthcare costs. But it goes further than that. In a study done on the ROI of employee wellness programs, Harvard researchers conclude that, on average, for every dollar spent on employee wellness, medical costs fall $3.27 and absenteeism drops $2.73. This is a 6-to-1 return on investment.
According to the Rand Wellness Programs Study, the disease management component of the studied wellness program was responsible for 86 percent of the hard health care cost savings, generating $136 in savings per member, per month, and a 30 percent reduction in hospital admissions.
So while you may explore a health and wellness plan because you want your employees to thrive, it can certainly help your bottom line as well.
5 Must-Haves For a Successful Health And Wellness Program
However, there is a challenge with organizations that want to implement a health and wellness program that will move the needle. Where do you start? What do you need to do to make it happen? As with most things, if you just throw it together, it will feel that way. And you won’t get the results or impact you or your organization wants. So here are the 5 things we think your health and wellness program needs to be successful.
Enrollment Plan
For people to make real change they have to be enrolled in the journey. Enrollment is not forced. It’s voluntary. There is a difference between education and learning. Education is forced. Learning is voluntary. We learn faster and grow faster if we WANT to do it. We need to be enrolled in the journey. The goal is not just to get people signed up. You want to get them enrolled! We recommend the 3 E’s to get the program started. Excite, Engage, and Enroll.
Excitement is what you create when you promote the program. This is when you tell the team about the program. You explain the potential results. This is when you talk about the impact on the team and on them personally.
Engage is when you get them to sign up. You give them their first cool branded merch to help them identify as a part of the tribe.
Enrollment is the process of getting their buy-in. They may have signed up, but you need to continue to motivate and inspire them to get started on the right foot!
Design Plan
While you can certainly use your company logo on the merch, we think it works best if you create something special. Make no mistake, your health and wellness design should match your branding guidelines to maintain continuity. But we think having a special design will help to announce to the team who is taking part in the journey. This allows to members of the team to build camaraderie on the journey and to lift each other up. By making a special design for the program, you can make your team members feel special in the process.
Merch Plan
We say all of the time “Friends don’t let friends do bad merch!” And while you might expect to hear that from a company that sells branded merch, we believe it because it’s about affecting human behavior. If you and your organization do trashy branded merch in your health and wellness program it will not encourage people to sign up. And if you don’t get enrollment, you will not affect any change. This does NOT mean you need to break the bank. But you do need to focus on items that will fit the goals and encourage people to jump in. It takes a commitment and a plan.
Communication Plan
If you have ever started a new fitness program, you know that maintaining consistency and motivation is a huge factor in success. We believe that creating a communication (or inspiration) plan that reaches out to participants consistently can help to increase their chances of success. While you may be completely self-motivated, most of us are not. A coach or a voice of encouragement can really help to push people to do their best.
Exercise Plan
A great Health and Wellness plan is not only about exercise anymore. The best plans help your team to focus on mental wellness as well. This might come in the communication/inspiration plan above. But it should include a fitness plan as well. As studies will tell you, your overall fitness will help shape your mental wellness too. So make sure to consider ways to get your team active in a real and positive way!
As you can see, a productive health and wellness program can really have a positive impact on your organization. On the other hand, you can probably see how much there is to run one well. Want help? At Hasseman Marketing, we have a program called Total Wellness. If you want to schedule a call to see how we might help you, click here and we can set it up.
Thirsty Thursday is back! What is Thirsty Thursday? Thirsty Thursday is the award-winning piece of content from Hasseman Marketing where we take a mystery drink out of a piece of branded drinkware! Be careful…it’s not for everyone. This week we feature the 27 oz. Denali from our friends at Bel Promo. This is a fun episode. We try a brand new drink with Briar, Kirby, and Kelly. Does Kelly Throw up? It’s touch and go. Watch the latest episode now and find out!
Why You Should Consider the 27 oz Denali Stainless Steel Tumbler.
In a word, the Denali is sturdy. This stainless steel double-wall vacuum tumbler has a great design and even better function. In addition, you can do a simple one-color imprint, or you can deck it out in full color. Regardless of the promo need, the Denali is a great option!
For many organizations, trade shows are a tool in the marketing toolbox. And, if you pick one that serves your perfect customers, it can be a great investment. But make no mistake…it is an investment. It certainly costs money. But it’s also the investment of time. So if you are going to make that investment, you want it to be worth it. So here are 10 tips to ensure Trade Show Success.
If it is at all possible, get a list of everyone who has confirmed they are coming to the show. Though trade shows do have a lot of last-minute sign-ups, they should have a great list of attendees who are registered and ready to attend that you, as an exhibitor, can get access to before the event.
In the lead-up to the show, these registered attendees are themselves preparing for the show. If they’re smart, they’re creating a strategy for working the show themselves.
So, the first tip is to simply get that list! As a matter of fact, some of my clients do not even exhibit at trade shows if the organizers don’t provide a list of attendees, it’s that valuable to them. Now that you have the list, on to the next tip.
Tip #2: Send each attendee an email inviting them to come to your booth
Make sure this email is attractive, creative, and personal. Try to whet their appetite. What great promotional item do you have on offer? What’s your fun theme? Are you giving out free beer? Whatever it is, let them know that you want them to come and see you.
Tell attendees where your booth will be located, what’s in it for them, and why they should look for you. If you have enough lead time before the show, you can even send more than one email.
Tip #3: Send a direct mail piece which mirrors the email
This direct mail piece should match the theme of your booth. I like this direct mail piece to be either a postcard (so they don’t have to open it to see it) or a personal card. If you make this direct mail piece impactful, you’ll see returns in better attendance at your booth.
During the Trade Show
Tip #4: Send great people (and people who are familiar with your sales process.)
It’s essential that the people manning your booth know the product or service you provide, and that they are comfortable selling at the booth. Often companies just put “warm bodies” at the booth, or send people who aren’t familiar with the sales process. This detracts from the credibility of the company. So, to get the most return on your investment in the trade show, be thoughtful about who will be staffing your booth.
Tip #5: Have a theme
Let’s be honest. Trade shows can be a little … monotonous. Creating an attractive and memorable theme for your booth (ideally one that’s aligned with or somehow reinforces what makes your company unique) will make you stand out among the long rows of the Trade Show Masses. In addition, having a theme can help you plan out how to dress and what to hand out, making your trade show planning process go more smoothly (and more fun, too!)
Tip #6: Bring a great handout
With this, you want to have a plan too! Handouts, done well, can drive traffic to the booth. Great, thoughtful, and useful gifts have an impact that lasts long after the show is done. If you choose to bring the same old promotional items as everyone else, that pen with your logo in it is going to end up at the bottom of the trade show bag, and might never come out again.
It’s up to you… think about the audience, the item, and its impact. Stuck for ideas? Call a promotional consultant, who can help you think this through. (If you don’t have a promotional consultant, please let us at Hasseman Marketing know! We would love to help.)
Tip #7: Have a VIP Gift
Sometimes at a trade show, one of your current customers will stop by the booth. This is a wonderful opportunity to make a big deal about their business and to thank them with a special VIP gift.
You also might have leads that you have a connection with or who show a real interest in your product or service. This is a great time to reach below the table and get out a VIP gift.
For a current customer, you might say: “Stan, I really appreciate your business and for taking the time to stop and see me today. I am not giving this to everyone, but please take this as a small token of my appreciation.”
With a prospect, the conversation might go like this: “Janice, I think we are on the same page. I know you have a lot of folks you want to see today, but I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. I am not giving these to everyone, but please take this and I will follow up with you after the show.”
These VIP gifts should be something a little nicer than what you’re handing out to everyone, and you don’t need hundreds of them. Used sparingly, they leave a big impression on your special contacts and customers, making them feel like the VIP’s they are!
After the Trade Show
What’s the secret to trade show success?
It’s what happens once you get back to the office.
The fortune is in the follow-up.
Tip #8: Follow Up Quickly with Email
Truthfully, email follow-ups are really just the bare minimum, but it’s an essential step. Make sure you have a rock-solid system in place to follow up with everyone that stopped by your booth. Thank them for coming, and remind them who you are and what you do.
Trade show attendees meet a lot of people in a short period of time, so do your best to remind them of you. If you remember the conversation it would be great to reference it in the personal email you send. Time is of the essence. The sooner after the show you follow up, the more you convey that you and your company are “on it!”
Tip #9: Follow Up with a Card
Everyone sends emails. You should send a card. It’s a really nice personal touch. Now, I understand, if you need to contact thousands of people this might not be a realistic goal. If you can’t send a card, consider at least sending a direct mail postcard. This is one more way to get across their desk and to remind them of your awesomeness. The personal card, when appropriate can REALLY make you stand out!
If the idea of writing, stamping, and sending all of those cards makes you squeamish, look into automated ways of doing it. At Hasseman Marketing, we use a system called Send Out Cards. It’s perfect for personal follow-ups like these.
Tip #10: Follow Up with a Call
You probably saw this coming. Now it’s time to call them. After going through this process, a call is a great way to make the final personal touch. It’s time to reel them in!
So there you go…these are my top 10 trade show tips to ensure success.
Depending on how many emails you send in the email steps, if you follow all my tips you will have “touched” each prospect between 7 and 12 times. Studies show it takes, on average, 7 touches before a prospect buys … so follow all 10 tips and you’ve done a complete job!
It’s not rocket science, but to make the most of your investment in a trade show you need to have a plan.
As always, we want to provide you with value. So if you want to create marketing campaigns (and appreciation gifts) that hit the TARGET, check out our TARGET marketing playbook here.
Every year we welcome some of our very best suppliers to join us in Coshocton, Ohio for our annual Customer Trade Show. The show this year was amazing! But we understand that not every person can make it the day of the show. Life gets busy. So we did some of the work for you. Here are a few of our favorite products we saw at this year’s show. You can check them ALL out on our shop here.
5.5″ x 8.5″ Seed Paper Bound JournalBook
The 5.5″ x 8.5″ Seed Paper Bound JournalBook features a seed paper cover and 80 sheets of FSC®-certified recycled lined paper. Includes elastic band, pen loop, ribbon page marker, and back pocket. This was a great item to give to our guests as they walked in the door. Learn more here.
Thor 40oz Eco-Friendly Straw Tumbler
The Bullet Thor 40 oz Eco-Friendly Straw Tumbler features durable double-wall construction to keep your beverages hot or cold in any environment. Food-grade recycled straw is included for easy reuse daily. The Thor has a 40-ounce capacity for fewer refills and features a slim base that fits into most cupholders, a comfortable carry handle, and a splash-proof press-on lid with two openings and a swivel closure, friendly to both Sippers and Chuggers!
12-Month Custom Planner
You might love the calendar on your phone, but many people still love to have the monthly planner calendar to keep things straight. This one includes a full-color imprint on the front and back cover in order to show off your brand.
Colorwav Soundbar
The ColorWav sound bar adds a new dynamic to your home sound system with its slim black construction and RGB-illuminated grill. Its multi-colored lights behind the grill light up your logo and create an impressive statement while high-quality sound fills the room. The compact size is perfect for various spaces, and the full-color packaging makes it an ideal gift for staff or VIP clients.
27 oz Denali Stainless Steel Vacuum Tumblers
Help your clients get excited for their morning commute with these 27 oz. Denali stainless steel vacuum tumblers! This attractive mug features double-wall vacuum insulation and a clear lid to keep your beverage at your preferred temperature and prevent any spills while on the go. The Ridge Deco-inspired design makes this tumbler stand out from the crowd of travel mugs and a product that people will be proud to bring everywhere. Not only is this tumbler secure, eye-catching, and large enough to hold as much of your favorite drink as you need, but it is also environmentally friendly with a BPA-free construction! Promote your brand on a mug you and your clients can feel good about!
And as always, we want to provide you with value. So if you want to create marketing campaigns (and appreciation gifts) that really hit the TARGET, check out our TARGET marketing playbook here.
Thirsty Thursday is back! What is Thirsty Thursday? Thirsty Thursday is the award-winning piece of content from Hasseman Marketing where we take a mystery drink out of a piece of branded drinkware! Be careful…it’s not for everyone. This week we feature the Thor 40 oz Eco-Friendly Straw Tumbler. It’s hot right now. Watch the latest episode now!
Why You Should Consider the Thor 40 oz Eco-Friendly Straw Tumbler
The Thor is doing extremely well this holiday season. And we like it so much, that we did an entire blog about why you might consider the Thor over the Stanley. You can read that here. But in a word, price. The Thor tumbler is available at a lower price point compared to the Stanley tumbler. You can find the Thor tumbler for as low as $9.99, while the Stanley tumbler costs around $50. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, the Thor tumbler is the clear winner. Check out the shop with all of our featured drinkware here.
