In order to compete for exhibitors’ marketing budgets, associations need new ways to help exhibitors sell effectively while also helping attendees buy intelligently.

“Seller-Funded Case Studies” is a solution that turns sales upside down. In order to create these case studies, the seller pays the buyer to solve the buyer’s problem. Then an unbiased third-party (an association) mediates and publishes the documentation of the case study.

Seller-Funded Case Studies are an extension of the concept behind Second Meetings, where sellers pay buyers for their attention.

The Problem: “Buyer Beware”

All buyers face a risk that economists call an informational asymmmetry. Sellers have real, un-spun information about their product that buyers need but will never get. Sure, sellers might have well-polished case studies, but who is writing white papers about the cases that went bad?

Because associations build communities that tie buyers and sellers together, they are in a unique position to solve the informational asymmetry inherent in buying, and thereby to bring great value to their exhibitors and attendees.

A Solution: “Seller-Funded Case Studies”

(1) Identifying Buyer Problems. The association recruits buyers to submit cases to study. These are problems the buyers would like to solve. The buyers each provide a set of metrics that they will use to determine how well their problem is solved.

(2) Marketing to Sellers. The association publicizes these proposd case studies to sellers and arranges for sellers to meet with buyers.

(3) Reverse Bidding. Sellers bid on how much they will PAY to to provide a solution to a buyer’s problem and have that solution documented in a case study.

(4) Picking a Winner. Buyers select a winning seller and receive payment from the seller.

(5) Creating the Case Study. The association works with the buyer and seller to document in a case study what solution the seller provided and how well the problem was solved. This case study is published by and is the property of the association.

An Example

What this blog post needs is a case study of a Seller-Funded Case Study. Who is prepared to fund it, I don’t know. In the absense of an actual case study, I’ll invent one, for illustration.

(1) A hospital (buyer) submits a problem: The average age of its accounts receivable is too great. Within 3 months, it wants the average age to be under 40 days and it wants to collect on 98% of its sales.

(2) Five accounts receivable management companies propose solutions.

(3) The five companies bid to pay the buyer between $0 and $5,000 to fund the case study, and agree to pay the association a fee of $2,500 for managing the case study (a new source of non-dues revenue for the assocation). They expect that if they are successful, they will win the buyer’s business on an on-going basis.

(4) The hospital (buyer) selects a winning bidder.

(5) The winning bidder solves te buyer’s problem, bringing the average age of accounts receivable to 30 days and the percent of sales collected to 98.5%. Following the three-month case study period, the seller takes on the hospital as a paying client. The association documents how the seller used a variety of methods and the metrics that were achieved. The association circulates the Seller-Funded Case Study among its membership.  Several hospital members pay special attention to the case study because they know it is an unbiased representation of the seller’s work.

Do Seller-Funded Case Studies sound unrealistic to you? Why?

What types of associations are well-positioned to host Seller-Funded Case Studies?

Selection Methodology

For the 100 exhibiting companies self-tagged as technology companies, I reviewed their 25-word descriptions.  For the 20 software companies whose descriptions stood out from the crowd, I reviewed all of their websites and attempted to identify the 5 that appeared to be offering some of the most new, original, and value-creating products and services.  The companies listed below are the result.

(1) Anzu (www.anzupower.com)

ASAE12 Booth: 1622

ASAE12 Categories: Application Service Provider, Document Imaging Solutions, Education Services/Programming, Printers/Publishers, Technology

ASAE12 Description: Anzu apps, including AnzuMedical, offer professional organizations, content providers, and advertisers unprecedented opportunities to engage your member based communities with your with relevant rich content.

Why innovative?  Anzu delivers professional content, such as medical journals, directly to the iPad.  It also targets ads to viewers based on the content being viewed.  By controlling the platform on which professional content is delivered, Anzu has the potential to recommend content and ads based on an individual’s viewing habits.

(2) Core-apps (www.core-apps.com)

ASAE12 Booth: 666

ASAE12 Categories: Association Management Company/Services, Convention/Meeting/Exposition Products & Services, Technology, OTHER: Mobile Technology

ASAE12 Description: Core-apps, is the creator of Follow Me & EventLink; the leading mobile applications for tradeshows and events. And MEMBER DIRECT, the new Association specific app!

Why innovative?  Core-apps, an expo software company like CrowdCompass, is helping drive the meeting app revolution.  Core-apps produces apps that not only provide information to attendees, but help attendees interact with the event and with exhibitors, such as by submitting feedback and participating in social media.  It doesn’t hurt that Core-apps was chosen by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events as its official mobile app provider.

(3) CrowdCompass (www.crowdcompass.com)

ASAE12 Booth: 1307a

ASAE12 Categories: Convention/Meeting/Exposition Products & Services Technology

ASAE12 Description: None

Why Innovative?  CrowdCompass continues the theme of expo apps that engage users.  CrowdCompass has a number of catchy games, including an exhibitor scavenger hunt photo game that is sure to take some of the load off of pacing down the expo aisles.  Like Core-apps, CrowdCompass’s platform allows for exhibitor and sponsor advertisements, enabling a new source of non-dues revenue.

(4) KnowledgeVault (www.knowledgevault.com)

ASAE12 Booth: 625

ASAE12 Categories: Association Management Company/Services, Computers/Computer Services, Distance Learning/E-learning, Survey Software/Equipment, Technology

ASAE12 Description: KnowledgeVault is an SAAS solution built for sharing, teaching and learning, in a user-friendly, social manner. It’s built to be a secure, completely integrated and private knowledge distribution platform. KnowledgeVault is built on four pillars – Knowledge Management with Knowledge Objects, Secure, Social Business, Modern Learning Management, and Everything Everywhere. The integration of any one of them into your association can be a powerful change agent, but taken together, they can be revolutionary.

Why Innovative?  KnowledgeVault helps people share, search for, and discuss information within an association’s community.  For associations, this means more control and flexibility over the sharing of information.

(5) Litle & Co. (www.litle.com)

ASAE12 Booth: 601

ASAE12 Categories: Application Service Provider, Financial Institutions/Services, Technology, OTHER: Payment Processor

ASAE12 Description: Litle & Co. is the leading, independent authority in card-not-present commerce, transaction processing and merchant services. Litle powers the payment processing engines for leading companies that sell directly to consumers through multichannel, internet, and direct response retail, online services, membership associations, as well as publisher, utility and non-profit communities.

Why Innovative?  Need an alternative to accepting credit card payments?  Litle & Co. provides a host of solutions, including mobile payments.  Litle & Co. is unique for its full-service approach to payment processing, offering reporting and analytics services to couple with its payment offerings.

I have no affiliation with any of the companies listed above.

Think another company is more innovative than these?