The season for many of the trade shows is here once again, and several people have contacted me for tips to help that take optimal advantage of this opportunity. The trade show environment has changed significantly as a result of recent of a weakened economy, so you too may wish to optimize the impact of your attendance at a show.
Preparation — The first thing you must decide is your primary goal for the show. Do you want to sell at the show or sell later. Then staff up accordingly. Next, request a list of registered attendees before the show. Contact (phone, mail, or email) obvious prospects and invite them to visit your booth. Be as personal as you can (a hand written note is the most powerful). Third, give your booth some unique charm and impact. How does it compare to others? Does it blend in too easily? Does it use a powerful headline above your booth to grab attention? Then give your booth the necessary facelift so prospects intensify the desire for people to walk in and initiate a discussion with you.
At The Show — Arrive at the booth at least 15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes late each day. Wear your name badge on the right side so the badge faces the prospect’s face when you shake hands. Don’t carry on lengthy conversations with fellow staff or other exhibitors. Look for ways to banter with passers by. Don’t smoke, eat or drink in your booth, even when invited to do so. Never sit down. Standing up helps people see that you are ready to help.
Materials — Don’t leave literature on a table or hand it out casually. Pull it out from under a table and only give it to qualified prospects after you speak with them. Treat it as if it has value (it should be valuable!). Mail more expensive information to them after the show and then follow-up. Many savvy exhibitors are beginning to use special e-mail tools to put powerful online sales material into a prospect’s hands within 24 hours. Don’t give away cheap premiums to everyone who steps into your booth. Create a lasting impression with quality items tied to your product or message. Include a one page description of your product with all printed materials. It is more likely to be read. Loose items can disappear. Keep backups and use locking cabinets or security cables. Ship only in locked trunks. Use a coding system instead of content labels.
The Talk — Prepare a 10-20 second verbal description of your offer. Be dynamic. Describe briefly how your product or service can satisfy their particular need. Use brochures or the product itself to illustrate your words. Use the next 45-60 seconds to qualify the prospect. Ask careful questions like “What brings you to the show?” or “Are you familiar with our product?” Ask about buying interest within the first 3-5 minutes (Are you interested in this? Do you think what we have fits your needs?). If an attendee comes to your booth to complain, lead them to an area which is out of hearing range of other prospects. Remain polite and professional at all times.
Staffing – Staff your booth effectively. Try to have at least two people working at all times. One should stand outside to welcome visitors and the other should be prepared to provide more detailed information. Limit booth duty to 2 hours on and 2 hours off to prevent fatigue and irritability. Most trade shows have peak and slow hours for exhibitors. Save the peak hours to prospect for new customers. Schedule your
appointments with current customers during times when the show floor is less active. Do the paperwork for leads or orders right away and get them in process. Schedule a short daily meeting so that your sales staff can get answers to problems that have surfaced during the course of the event. Send follow-up notes within a week. An even better idea would be to send follow-up emails each evening.
When Things Go Wrong — Even the best laid plans can go wrong. Stuff happens. It is what you do next that can turn it around. I know of one person whose giveaway premiums showed up with the wrong phone number on them. The corrected items would not be ready in time for the show. So … during the show he told people what happened, held a drawing for a free dinner and collected names from visitors to the booth. Then, when the giveaway items arrived after the show, he sent them out with a letter of thanks for visiting the booth and followed it up with a phone call. Everyone remembered him and the gift. He learned that sending the gifts after the show actually had a much larger impact!
If You Cannot Affortd A Booth — If you are NOT an exhibitor, you can still work a show. Pass out something of unique value to anyone who might have an interest (for example, over the next few months leading up to the election, people will likely be giving away patriotic ad specialties). One of the best tools I have ever seen was a free white paper that one man had written on the state of their industry and his projections about what the next year would hold. He included some pretty bold predictions that generated a lot of discussion. As a result, many people were hunting him down for a copy of his paper. In this way, just being at the show generated great visibility for him.
By Gil Gerretsen. President of BizTrek International, Inc.
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