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TRANSCRIPT:

*this transcript was mostly generated by AI, please excuse any mistakes

[00:00:00] Rhiannon Andersen: Marketing in general is quite a taxing position because it’s the top of the funnel. And so many businesses rely on marketing for brand exposure. Sometimes that is loosely quantifiable, but everybody knows that it’s vitally important. And so marketers. In general, tend to be asked to wear a lot of different hats.

I also think there’s a blending that’s happening and it’s been going on for probably about the last 10 years where marketing and business development and sales have all kind of like weaved together. But salespeople tend to get the credit for the work that’s done because they are the ones that are getting the signatures on the contracts.

[00:00:47] Amanda Holmes: Here is your daily dose of the ultimate sales machine coming to you from the new edition, visit ultimate sales machine. com to get your copy or multiple copies. I am your host, Amanda Holmes, CEO of Chet Holmes international. What you’re about to learn has assisted a quarter of a million businesses to generate billions of dollars, working faster, better, smarter.

Welcome everybody to the CEO Mastery Show. This week, I have a beloved guest, Rhiannon Anderson from Steelhead Productions. Now, I had the pleasure of being able to work with Riannon and her team, and it was a truly wonderful experience. Wonderful experience. I really feel that they live what they do and there’s not as much, I feel like your team is so humble that you don’t brag enough, so I’m going to brag for you.

Thank you. I appreciate it. So Rhiannon is second generation business owner, like me, her father originally started Steelhead Productions and back in 1996, then Rhiannon came in as co owner and is now working CMO. As we were just saying, right? You hit the Inc 5, 000 list just this last year. Congratulations on that.

And if you could share with everybody what you just said to me, cause I think that that’s actually really important.

[00:02:05] Rhiannon Andersen: Sure. Yeah. So, I mean, as most can imagine being in the events industry, that’s the type of business that we have. And with COVID there were no events. And so our industry and our company, we’re both hit really, really hard.

And our having made the Inc 5, 000 fastest growing companies in America, just two years, kind of with COVID in the rear view feels really amazing. And we are very proud of our. Our team that helped assist in that happening. So, yeah, it was an honor to make it amongst such amazing companies during what was a difficult economic time for a lot of people.

[00:02:48] Amanda Holmes: And congratulations to your new big space moving into a new facility as well. So If anybody ever wants to know anything about trade show booths, I’m telling you right now, especially if you’re in Vegas, you have to Google steelheadproductions. com. But we’ll get to that in a moment. So I, I want to take a step out to look at the bigger picture and then bring it back because it really feels like there’s this huge problem happening with marketing departments where they’re just more stressed than ever before.

So before we get specifically to trade shows. Can you talk a little bit about what’s going on for these marketing heads and people deploying on the marketing team?

[00:03:33] Rhiannon Andersen: Sure. So I think marketing in general is quite a taxing position because. It’s the top of the funnel, and so many businesses rely on marketing for brand exposure.

Sometimes that is loosely quantifiable, but everybody knows that it’s vitally important. And so marketers, in general, tend to be Asked to wear a lot of different hats. I also think there’s a blending that’s happening and it’s been going on for probably about the last 10 years where marketing and business development and sales has all kind of like weaved together, but salespeople tend to get the credit for the work that’s done because they are the ones that are getting the signatures on the contracts.

And so marketers, I think, have been feeling the pressure of this blending But, you know, there are things that marketers can do to help alleviate or mitigate some of their stresses. But I do think it’s an issue for a lot of marketers to have a healthy work life balance, work life integration, because they’re being asked to do a lot.

And a lot of the responsibility of growth rests on the shoulders of the marketing team or person.

[00:04:47] Amanda Holmes: Especially with all the different marketing mediums, right? It’s like 10 years ago, it was seven. Now it’s more like 21 different marketing mediums. It’s just insane. And then how can you really tie the ROI back to it?

I think we pulled some data that said 77 percent of marketers can’t figure out the ROI of their marketing efforts. So that can be fairly frustrating.

[00:05:09] Rhiannon Andersen: Yeah. And so fortunately there are technologies that are evolving, that are helping better quantify. And then marketers can substantiate their contributions a lot better.

It’ll be nice to see those evolutions continue for sure.

[00:05:24] Amanda Holmes: Yeah. Yeah. I, and I, I threw some of our work together. We found what the top lead generating channel is for creating the highest ROI. Can you share a bit more on that? Because that, knowing that there’s 21 different ones and everybody’s struggling to figure out which one’s going to really resonate for them.

[00:05:45] Rhiannon Andersen: Yeah, I’m happy to share because it is what we do. So events and trade shows, you know, marketers find that probably 40 percent of their qualified opportunities and leads come through trade shows and events. And I believe that it’s because the prospects get the opportunity to in real life. Engage with the brand and engage with the people.

And that creates an experience. That’s memorable questions can be asked. Relationships can be had, like vibes can be felt. And it’s a really beautiful place for the end users and the suppliers to come together as humans. And it’s a real unique marketing opportunity and marketers see the results when they go to trade shows.

They recognize that this magic that can happen in real life adds tangible benefits to the bottom line of their organization. And us being suppliers and facilitators of that feels really awesome because we’re helping marketers, these busy, overwhelmed marketers work channels that help them professionally.

[00:06:59] Amanda Holmes: Hmm. I, I was thinking about you too, as I was at the biohacking conference, we had two booths and I kept thinking about all of you thinking, wow, if I had them here, it would be so much better. If only I had steelhead production. So when you’re thinking about, cause I see this time and time again, where businesses will just set up a booth and there’s many ways to do this wrong.

So what are some tips on how to make a great trade show without making your life more difficult, I guess.

[00:07:31] Rhiannon Andersen: Yeah, so I think I’ll state a little bit of the obvious, but all of us humans recognize that markets are shifting really quickly and products are evolving and they have to evolve. There’s just such a volume and technology is moving really quickly.

And products are changing constantly to keep up with the ever changing way we’re existing in the world. So we can kind of all agree that that’s happening. And then you have marketers who want the flexibility to meet this kind of ever changing market. Their brand is probably evolving to kind of keep up with how rapid things are changing.

I remember like in our work together, I learned that. Companies are evolving their product now on average once a year. So as a marketer, I want to have tools that will allow me the flexibility. Taking that into what we do as event designers and producers, we suggest that our clients never, never, under no circumstance, buy a physical infrastructure to take to a trade show.

Because typically the finance department will require. A depreciation of that asset or an amount of utilization to justify the cost of that asset that marketers hopefully aren’t buying. But 89 percent of marketers that go to trade shows, they own their exhibits. And I feel like after our plethora of experience with supporting so many different brands and their trade show marketing.

But that’s a bit of a ball and chain having this asset that you are forced to take this ever evolving product and constantly be using this fixed structure in this fixed asset to market through. And so 1 of the ways that we suggest, you know, trade show and event marketers combat this struggle is by renting renting the assets that they need for that market for that product for this moment in time.

And always coming with a fresh look that accurately represents what they’re trying to communicate at the events that they’re going to.

[00:09:59] Amanda Holmes: I think that also speaks volumes too to how fast a pace our online world is and how quickly we can put materials together today. And yet, in the physical world of trade shows.

We’re so far behind in that. No wonder over the decades that you’ve been building out, right? Your team has been building out trade show booths. You would come to the realization that we need to be fresh. We need to revitalize these so much more frequently than what we’re doing. So hence why you would focus more on rentals.

I just, I love that concept. And it also does a lot with the environment too, right? I love all of your. Talks on the environment. Can you talk a little bit to that as well? Sure. So

[00:10:42] Rhiannon Andersen: unfortunately, as you can imagine, because you’ve been to a lot of trade shows and events, They tend to be pretty wasteful. It’s been heard.

And I don’t want to quote this and say I have an accurate source, but it’s out in the universe that the events industry is second or third most wasteful to the construction industry. And as you imagine, yeah. So it’s quite hefty and it’s dent on the planet and utilizing the rental or access model. As you can imagine, you know, I have this thing, I let you use it, I let Tom use it, I let Sam use it, rental, rental, rental, rental, the useful life, life of this item is really being maximized.

Now, if I have this thing, I keep it, I use it two or three times and then I throw it away and build something new. The impact to the environment is so significant. So another one of the major reasons why we are a rental only company, we don’t sell exhibits. And that was born from our desire to support the event trade show manager.

And so fortunately, the Unintended by product of that was a more sustainable model, which we’ve realized now quantified and so proudly are a B Corp company because of our commitment to that model.

[00:12:13] Amanda Holmes: I love that. And is there anybody else in your space that’s B Corp? Not in North America. We are the

[00:12:21] Rhiannon Andersen: only event.

Faction company that’s B Corp certified in North America.

[00:12:28] Amanda Holmes: I, I love that so much. So anybody that has ESG on their mind or in their financial planning and have to adhere to that, man, you’ll have to tell the story in just a little bit, maybe about one of your clients that had to adhere to some of the ESG compliances, cause that’s a really good story, but before I get there, I’m curious.

What are some of the top money sucks that rapidly add up when it comes to trade shows? Sure. So,

[00:12:55] Rhiannon Andersen: going back to the rental versus ownership model, there are a lot of carrying costs associated with Owning physical assets. And you have to think about how to refurb it, how to take care of it, how to insure it, how to keep it kind of like evolving in its aesthetic, possibly dispose of it.

So those are all things that once you buy an exhibit, then you have the cost of the ownership associated with it. Now, alternatively, you work with a company like Steelhead, we own all of the assets. We are accountable for making sure that when our clients have access to them, that they’re in perfect condition.

So we take responsibility for the care and disposal of, or reuse of, or refurbishing of said items.

[00:13:53] Amanda Holmes: That’s wonderful. So, so it does tie me back. Can you tell that one story about that wonderful company that you do trade show booths with regularly and how it tied to them actually getting results from their events?

Cause I think so often we go to an event and hope and pray that we, you know, generate some revenue from it. But I, I know you guys actually had some great success stories about getting results based on how they’re putting together their trade show booth. Yeah,

[00:14:23] Rhiannon Andersen: well, I feel so thankful that I have no idea which one of our customers we have a 9.

8 client satisfaction score. So we have a lot of happy clients. So we felt do good work for, but I can’t speak to, I’ll speak to two types of clients and we’ll go back to the sustainability initiatives, which so many companies are starting to. List as a top priority by renting steelhead has developed systems to help report back positive metrics for working with our B Corp company so we can tell our client.

Waste diverted because they’ve chosen the rental model or the access model versus the ownership model. We can help quantify things like carbon offset. So when partnering with another company or a supplier like us that takes sustainability seriously, we can provide data that then you can take, or our clients can take up to their executive level and say, Our event program is in alignment with sustainability initiatives.

So a lot of our clients have had successes in that way. And based on the volume of their exhibiting with us, the metrics scale accordingly. So there’s some really quite impressive numbers that we can share for those who have larger scale programs. And then going back to just. The desire to use trade shows as a mechanism to make impact in reference to your brand or get new clients.

You know, it’s our area of expertise. We do over 300 shows a year. We see Yeah, the best of in all different categories of business. And so when our clients work with us, they are getting access to a team of people who over the course of, you know, as long as our company’s been in existence, almost 30 years have watched what works and what doesn’t work.

And with our obsession to help our clients succeed on the trade show floor, we bring forth. Our whole entire experience to help fuel good ideas that will move their initiatives forward. We also pay attention to human behavior and the aesthetics that help cultivate environments with people. Engagement with maybe having closed meetings for deals to take place.

So whatever the objectives are for our prospects, we have experience because we’ve been doing this, just this for so long over wide span of customer types. And so we’re able to bring our expertise to help our customers succeed. We feel really proud about that.

[00:17:33] Amanda Holmes: Yeah, I mean your satisfaction rates show it.

That’s insanely high. I think for

[00:17:39] Rhiannon Andersen: anybody that’s familiar. I’m so proud of our team. I mean, it takes our entire team for that to be the result. And it’s pretty awesome. You’re right. It is high.

[00:17:49] Amanda Holmes: I think I was referencing a case study that you had told us about where they got double digit growth from their leads generated from the event when they started using you in their, in their trade show booths.

So great results. I see lots of people that do that wrong. So, so I’m sure that anybody that is not doing events, I hope that you consider it because wow, trade show as. As Rhiannon mentioned, right, 40 percent more qualified leads come from trade show booths, which is saying a lot because you can waste a lot of money online.

And then the idea of just being able to be fresh. With every booth and have an expert that can help guide you or many experts. Right. And, and I do have to give props for how much your team plans ahead and make sure that every little detail is accounted for because right, you just never know what’s going to go wrong and you take so many extra precautions.

It’s so wonderful.

[00:18:51] Rhiannon Andersen: You know, trade shows, they’re expensive. It’s expensive to attend. It’s expensive to exhibit. And if your company chooses to make the investment, like making the investment in finding the right partner is so critical because a lot’s at stake.

[00:19:13] Amanda Holmes: So for anybody that would like to have some help with their trade show booths, I highly recommend Steelhead Productions, S T E E L H E A D Productions with an S, dot com, and if you just click on that contact us button up in the right hand corner, schedule a time and talk because, I mean, just, Everything from your design ideas are so out of the box and so creative, and so for those that maybe hadn’t heard of this kind of way of presenting at a trade show, I think everyone needs to consider Steelhead Productions.

[00:19:52] Rhiannon Andersen: You

[00:19:53] Amanda Holmes: are so kind, and I agree.

[00:19:55] Rhiannon Andersen: Ha ha ha!

[00:19:59] Amanda Holmes: I love that. So on a tangential note, we’ve done quite a bit of work on education and did some deep dives into market data around what’s going on in your industry. And we did a core story. I’m curious, you know, it’s been a little bit of time since I talked to you.

What have you noticed about shifts in your process implementing and going through that process? Well, I have to

[00:20:25] Rhiannon Andersen: say that all forms of outreach have adjusted after having gone through the core story process. Our messaging and what we’re saying is relatively The same, because those are our core beliefs, but how we’re saying it has shifted.

And I think one of the biggest aha’s for me as a marketer came from the power of the data and the power of sharing statistics, because so much of the way we shared was we were storytelling, which I think is really beautiful and sharing narratives, but when you. Overlay and infuse data into the storytelling.

It’s so much more powerful. And now if you go to our social media, go to Instagram, exhibit, happy. com, LinkedIn, steelhead productions. I mean, you’ll literally, you could probably pinpoint. Where we started our process with you, and now you’ll see data infused into our storytelling, and it just completely changed the way we write copy for our website, the way we blog, and the things that we share on our social platforms, because.

It gives people the route to connect to, and they see themselves in the data that we’re sharing. And it’s not just kind of hypothetical narrative that we have been using previously.

[00:21:59] Amanda Holmes: I love that. And I’m curious, was there anything that was an aha about your prospects that maybe you didn’t know until you saw the data?

Because you know, Very often I find that our clients go, you know, I know everything about our prospects. And then when we do the data, it kind of like takes them a few steps back from what they’re doing and they see this bigger picture to kind of understand their day to day world a little bit more. I’m curious, was there anything that you were a bit surprised about?

Yeah.

[00:22:26] Rhiannon Andersen: And we’ve been talking about it. We led with it. The stress level. You know, we have our personas defined as do many other good companies and the one piece that was left out of every single persona and all of the different types of prospects that we want to talk with was just the level of pressure that they feel in the day to day work of their career.

We feel really proud of how we show up for our customers, and yet we really didn’t talk about how we work is the cell to the pain so many of them feel in being overworked, overstressed. and asked to do a lot with less resources year over year. So that was a big aha for me.

[00:23:21] Amanda Holmes: I think that that also ties to an important thing.

I’m doing a core story in the chiropractic industry right now, and I’ve been analyzing a lot of the ads that come out and I find it fascinating that nearly every, they think that I’m a chiropractor now. My whole Facebook feed is just chiropractor. Hey, chiropractor. I’m like, yes, I’m watching. I’m not a chiropractor, but yes, everyone.

Keeps talking about, you know, we can help you double your practice. We can help you increase this sales and increase that. And yet I, I know statistically you’re a prospect. We’ll move five times faster to get out of pain than they will. Moving towards pleasure, and yet we forget to talk about where they’re at right now before they find that solution, or what pain is making them want to find that solution quicker, and I think it’s such a huge competitive edge to be able to speak to their pain and articulate it in, in the outgoing.

Marketing and sales messaging.

[00:24:22] Rhiannon Andersen: Yeah. And we’ve been finding our voice around that. It’s not the easiest because our company tends to be, I mean, our tagline is exhibit happy. Yeah. So we are, I know of Optimus in this up to. You know, rightfully see and support our prospects and our customers. Is it important?

And Alighty was definitely shined in that direction with the work we did with CoreStory and the ultimate sales machine.

[00:24:52] Amanda Holmes: It is definitely a balance being able to articulate it in a way where they feel heard and understood without completely banging them over the head. I was, I was showing somebody some copy, an executive team two days ago, and I’m like, This may just be too much.

I might have poked the bear a little too much. Tell me, cause I think I’m at a nine. So if you went into seven, we can make it that. But here’s what nine looks like. So you get an idea, and they laugh. But, it, it, yeah. Interesting to see. Always good to test and find out and, and, Yeah, it’s definitely an evolution.

Because it’s such a different thinking, right? I’m sure you guys looked at it and went, Whoa, this is different. You know, we have a lot of good things here. So how do we then integrate it? So interesting. Well, I so appreciate, so again, everyone that is listening, that is watching steelheadproductions. com.

Click on that upper right hand corner, contact us and see what. you can do to level up on the highest qualified lead generating marketing medium possible and how you can level up your quality

[00:26:04] Rhiannon Andersen: leads. Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me and for all of the awesome support your entire team brought to the table for our executive leadership and, and our marketing department.

It was an amazing journey. And honestly, we will never be the same after having worked with you. Things have shifted tremendously. Thank you. Make sure

[00:26:28] Amanda Holmes: to get your copy or copies at theultimatesalesmachine. com. There’s a lot of special bonuses that you can’t get going to Amazon. So make sure you check it out at ultimate sales machine.