Sounds implausible I know but the story goes something like this. Several years ago I was exhibiting in the US at a Government trade Show in Washington DC. Our stand was doing OK but the one next door was enjoying twice the number of visitors. Their stand didn’t look dramatically different from our own and the product was not exactly amazing so intrigued as to their success I asked one of their sales people why they were doing so well.
It turned out that the reason for their success was a humble jigsaw puzzle. On their stand was a large jigsaw with a piece missing. The company had bought a database of attendees from the organisers and mailed everyone in the list a jigsaw piece. Visitors would come to the stand with their own jigsaw piece and if it was the one missing from the puzzle they would win a games console. This initiative obviously worked as droves of visitors would turn up every day to try their luck and be chatted to by sales people while they were waiting.
What’s this got to do with a Star Wars video winning a£100,000 contract, well the jigsaw spawned an idea but you’ll have to wait for my next entry for an explanation – Episode II A New Sale! (sorry I couldn’t resist that).
Comments