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How Attendees can be Successful at Trade Shows

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Attending a Trade Show can be like walking through a maze unless you plan ahead.

Attending trade shows is a huge investment.

First, you are spending a lot of money on conference registrations, hotel reservations, travel, and meals. You may also pay extra fees to attend exclusive breakfast or lunch workshops.

And let’s not forget, you will be spending even more money to attend evening social networking events. While some networking events are free, some vendors may charge a small fee to weed out freeloaders and curiosity seekers.

And second, you are spending time away from your office. Sure, you can bring along your laptop and respond to emails. You may be able to squeeze in some extra work between workshops or the early mornings or late evenings. But you know from experience when you return to the office, you will have a pile of work waiting for you.

So, how can you be sure you are investing your money and time to be successful at trade shows?

Here are ten tips to help you –

First, define your goals. Why are you going to a trade show? Do you want to make new contacts? Do you want to learn more about your industry? Do you want to catch up on the latest news and gossip that you’re not finding in trade publications? Regardless of your reasons, have some specific goals in mind before going to a trade show.

Second, select the right vendors to meet. If your goal is to buy new products and services, do your homework before attending a trade show. Most trade show organizers provide a list of all vendors on their website who will be participating in the event. Links to vendor websites provide a brief description of each company and their specialty.

Take full advantage of that information. You may want to contact some vendors in advance to view an online tour or do a free trial. Or, better yet, schedule an appointment with some vendors at the trade show to save time.

Networking at Trade Shows is critical to your success. Try to meet the right people.

Third, go to evening social networking events. Many vendors will sponsor social networking events to meet and greet potential customers. While you may pay for some events, if you visit a booth and show real interest in the vendor, you could receive a free or discounted pass.

Fourth, let the vendors pick up the tab. Let’s say you are a high paying, high flying customer, and the vendor wants to wine and dine you. Great. Let him.

Fifth, make sure the right people attend. If you are an employer, you most likely will want to take part in a trade show. But, in most cases, you will invite some of your employees to attend too. I would recommend asking your sales and marketing people to go with you. With more employees attending, you can use a “divide and conquer” approach by spreading everyone out to meet key vendors on the exhibit floor.

Sixth, prepare for a long day. Attending a trade show can be exhausting. I’ve attended more than 30 trade shows in my career. Based on my experience, trade shows can last two to three days. According to Spingo’s post “20 Powerful Stats on the Value of Trade Shows and Expos,” the average attendee spends 8.3 hours viewing exhibits.

That’s a lot of time on your feet.

To prepare for those long hours, bring along a knapsack. Or, even better, bring a small carry-on suitcase so you can wheel around all your content. This way, you don’t hurt your back with all the swag and literature you will pick up. I always pack a small notebook, laptop, business cards, water, snacks like protein bars, and cell phone.

Seventh, ask succinct questions. Most experienced salespeople know that they should ask qualifying questions of attendees. Their goal is to determine if they are a good fit for what they’re selling. But trade shows can make even the most harden salesperson giddy with excitement.

With all the potential leads approaching his exhibit booth, a salesperson may disregard his training. He may do a “product vomit” on you, i.e., tell you everything under the sun about his products and services before having a chance to qualify you as a good lead. Or worse, he may ask you to watch a long video presentation with the promise of giving you…yes, you guessed it, more swag to pack and take home.

To avoid lengthy and unnecessary visits at exhibit booths, don’t ask the age-old questions, “What do you sell or what do you do?”

Instead, ask this question –

“What kind of problems do you solve?”

That question gets to the heart of why you are attending trade shows. If the salesperson at the exhibit booth can help solve your problem, keep talking. If he can’t solve your problem, keep walking.

Don’t let problems stick to you; instead, seek solutions from vendors.

Eighth, take advantage of early-bird specials. If you know for sure that you want to attend a specific trade show, then see if the event sponsor is offering early bird specials or discounts. The discounts usually apply not to conference registrations but hotel reservations too. Depending on the popularity of the event, you may want to book a hotel room early.

Ninth, sparely hand out business cards, and avoid being scanned by too many vendors. I know it’s tempting to hand out your business cards to everyone you meet. I also know you want to be polite when a vendor asks if they can scan your conference badge for your contact information.

My advice is to be careful who you give out your contact information to, or you may end up getting flooded with spam and bombarded with phone calls. Since your time is valuable, you only want to connect with vendors that you feel will help your business. So be selective about who you give your contact information to.

And please – don’t fall for the old trick of dropping your business card in a jar to win a prize. Based on my experience, I’ve seen some vendors selectively and strategically pick a prospect’s card to “win” an award. Why? So they can curry a favor with the winner and get a large order. The remaining cards are for lead generation.

And finally, have fun. Trade shows can be stressful. You don’t have to stick with a rigid schedule. So, wander the exhibit hall for a while. Go to a couple of booths that aren’t on your list. Take some swag. Make new contacts. Develop new ideas. Go to lunch outside the exhibit hall to clear your head.

Trade shows are a learning experience. The more information, contacts, and ideas you take away from a trade show, the better chance your company will be more successful.

Don Lee is the author of  Jumpstart your Sales Career, Help for New Salespeople.

Special Note: Middle Photo by HIVAN ARVIZU @soyhivan on Unsplash
Last Photo by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

How to Attract Attendees to your Trade Show Booth

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Exhibiting at a trade show takes a lot of planning.

It’s trade show season. That time of year when you and other salespeople attend trade shows in hopes of gaining more leads.

Your bags are pack.

You’re ready to go.

But before you hit the road, you need to make sure you have a game plan in place to ensure your trip will be worthwhile.

While there is a debate in some corners on whether vendors should invest in exhibiting at trade shows for not, most companies will attend at least one event each year. There are hundreds of state and regional conferences each year, but unless you are working for a major corporation, most vendors will select at least one or two “must go” big events.

Exhibiting at a trade show is expensive. Besides paying the registration fee, you must consider transportation, hotel, and meal costs. Some trade show sponsors will nickel and time you to death, by forcing you to pay high prices in wi-fi access, rental furniture like chairs and tables, carpeting for your exhibit space, electricity and much more.

So, your goal is this – how do you get more bang for your buck? Or, to put it in another way, how do you ensure that you will attract as many high qualified attendees to your booth to convert them into paying customer later?

Here are some tips to help you –

1). Plan – you can’t wing it when it comes to exhibiting at trade shows. You need to review your plans at least two (2) months in advance. One way of doing this is to create a checklist. The list should include what you should bring (e.g., swag, power strip and extension cords, presentation media, business cards), who should attend, a summary of all expenses, where you will be staying and much more.

2). Target key attendees – if you are lucky, you will receive an attendee list at least a week or so in advance of the trade show. However, not all trade show sponsors provide these lists to exhibitors. And even if they do provide lists, sometimes you must pay extra to acquire the list. If you are fortunate enough to receive an attendee list, review it carefully and determine which attendees you would like to meet at your booth or in a designated area for private meetings.

Attendees are like cattle – you need to make sure you steer them in the right direction to your booth.

3). You don’t have an attendee list, now what? Let’s say the conference sponsors are not providing attendee lists, or the lists are too expensive. No worries. As a skilled sales or marketing professional, you should already know who the key players are in your niche industry. Reach out to them at least two (2) months in advance and see if they are planning to attend the event. Sure, some may fall through the cracks, but hopefully, you will find enough to make your participation at the conference worthwhile.

4). Pre-Show Promotions – there are several ways you can promote your exhibit at the conference. Email campaigns will help. Plugging your attendance on social media, like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook will undoubtedly draw a crowd. And don’t forget using YouTube to get the word out. And depending on your budget, you can send targeted direct marketing pieces to critical prospects. The underlying goal is to create buzz before the show begins. If you wait too late, most attendees will have already been overwhelmed with promotions from your competitors.

5). Flyers or Leaflets – most conference sponsors will give attendees a “goodie” or tote bag filled with conference agendas, trade show maps, and swag. For a fee, you can have your company’s brochure inserted in the bag, or available at or near the registration desk. And finally, you can hire a flyer distribution service to insert your brochures underneath doors at hotels where you feel most attendees will be staying. (I’m unsure if this is legal or not, but I know one of my employers used that tactic effectively at a few conferences).

Exhibit booths should be inviting and open for attendees.

6). Booth display – You need to stand out, but you don’t want to overwhelm attendees with your message. Your goal is to attract people to your booth, have a short conversation, scan their badge or acquire their business card, and determine next steps after the conference. With that said, avoid too many flashy or ostentatious signage. Instead, simplify your message so that when someone walks by your booth, they will immediately understand who you are and what you’re selling.

Also, make your booth inviting. Try to avoid having a table between you and attendees, because it makes it appear that you are setting up a barrier. Instead, go with open spacing and have tables on the side for handouts and swag. Having a monitor on the edge of your display showing a short video (2 minutes tops) will help. You can also use the monitor to provide a brief demonstration of what you are selling.

You must remember that the attention span of most attendees is short. They are dealing with information overload. They have a limited time to visit booths. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone plans their attendance on who they want to meet in advance. So, it’s your job to get their attention quickly and plan next steps.

7). Have someone walk around with a sandwich cardboard sign – yes, it’s tacky, but it works if you want to stand out of the crowd, especially at a significant event. The sign walker could also hand out cards announcing times for upcoming drawings, or special presentations. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone walk around with a funny or eccentric costume, and hand out cards describing your company and showing your exhibit location. Again, the goal is to get people to your booth.

8). Show sponsorships – For a fee, vendors can help sponsor themselves by purchasing Gold, Silver or Bronze sponsorships that will be displayed in conference literature or website. Sponsorships might also include promoting your company’s logo on an attendee name badge holders, lanyards, coffee or lunch break tables/carts, opening reception, outside tote bags, or charging stations for cell phones.

Also, trade show sponsors may receive special treatment, such as earlier access to attendee lists to help promote yourself sooner over your competitors.  Overall, the goal of sponsorships is to enhance your company’s image and brand…and get more sales.

Exhibiting at trade shows can pay off by helping you attract the right prospects who you can convert into sales. Just make sure you do enough planning and preparation to make it valuable experience without breaking your budget.

Credit: Top Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Middle Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash