The Power of Speaking Opportunities: Building Buzz and Supporting Business Objectives
Ricoh, a company that has been transforming the way people work for more than 80 years, is in the midst of its own transformation journey to a services business. Often thought of as a hardware company, Ricoh knew that in order to successfully complete this journey, they needed to show their deeper, more strategic value to their customers.
Breakaway Communications, a dedicated business partner for Ricoh for ten years, was asked to help the business along this journey. The goal was to develop a content-driven, customer-first toolkit that demonstrated how Ricoh can help business grow their revenues, expand into new markets and ultimately make a stronger impact.
Strategy
- Leverage external-facing opportunities to deliver a clear and consistent partnership and value-added approach message. This included, but was not limited to, media relations activities, speaking opportunities, engagement opportunities, and more.
- Collaborate with and promote our existing customers who experience, day in and day out, the value that Ricoh brings to their business as well as their end customers.
- Become a partner to our client’s customers. The Breakaway team realized that it is one thing to speak on behalf of Ricoh about the value they bring, but the true impact comes from direct and hands-on shared experiences from customers. With a large industry event approaching, Breakaway partnered with a Ricoh customer to develop a presentation for a main stage conference track, create key messages that mutually-benefited Ricoh and the customer, schedule media interviews/photo opps and much more – all aimed to bring more awareness and “buzz” to Ricoh and support further Ricoh sales and overall business objectives.
Results
Secured a main stage presentation for Ricoh’s valued customer titled “How Millennial Management is UP’ing Its Game”
- Worked hand-in-hand with the customer to develop the presentation, create messaging and conduct prep/dress rehearsal in advance
- Session received an evaluation of 4.7 out of 5 possible points from session attendees
Feedback of the session from attendees included:
- “The speaker’s passion was clear and contagious. His presentation was actionable and can be implemented. It was an ideal learning experience.”
- “Fantastic presentation! Inspiring new leader who gave us a great look at current business growth.”
- “Very engaging with relevant stories to subject matter.”
A potential customer for Ricoh was in the audience. He spoke with the presenter after the session and was invited back to the Ricoh booth for further conversation. He is currently in the sales pipeline for Ricoh for approximately $200,000. With no cost required for engagement, the ROI would be 100 percent of the sale – a sale that would not have made it to the pipeline without this speaking opportunity and strategic plan development.