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Month: August 2014
How to Get On the Trade Show Dance Card
Often, companies decide to exhibit at a trade show without giving importance to the attendees. Attendees or the company’s target market, don’t come without prior research on all the companies exhibiting, especially the ones of their interest. Most trade show attendees research exhibitors before they attend. If you haven’t planned it out properly, then there’s a high likelihood that the attendees don’t put you on their dance card.
Be Sure of What You’re Selling
If you are standing at the booth clueless of what products you have and what are their benefits and uses, then it will send a red signal to the attendees visiting your booth. Make sure you booth staffers study everything prior to the show and make sure you have all the answers to an attendee’s questions about the company or its products.
An Effective Marketing Plan
Pre-show marketing plans are often the reason behind a booth getting lots of attendees. When you develop a strategic & creative marketing plan and portray the best of your company in your campaigns which will run all over social media or even ATL (above-the-line) and BTL (below-the-line) activities, you will be able to entice a lot of potential customers to your booth. It will also help impress existing customers and continue staying top of mind with them.
Make Good Offers
If your booth is designed in a unique way and has all the attractive signage and display, you will get on the attendees’ dance card. To make your strategy work even better, you can offer something in return. What if there’s a colorful attractive display saying that ‘visit our booth and see what we have for you’ ‘what’s better than a free sample, incentive or demonstration?’
It is not an easy task to get on the trade show dance card. It takes a lot of planning & performance and only then will the result be overwhelming.
Learning Trade Show Skills From A 2-Year Old
It’s a true joy raising a child (most of the time) and I’m amazed at, not only the childhood experiences that I had forgotten, but also the lessons a parent can learn from a child.
My son is currently 2-1/2 years old and I’ve recently realized that many of his life experiences can be related to the important trade show skills a marketer & booth staffer should learn.
Ask questions to engage & learn about your prospects
Recently, my son has started asking a lot of questions:
What’s that noise?
That’s a siren from a firetruck.
What’s a firetruck
The firetruck carries the firemen to the people who need a fire put out.
What’s a fireman?
The fireman is a person who puts out fires.
Alright.
As you can see, asking questions uncovers a lot of information. For example, in a trade show setting, you might ask questions such as:
What brings you to the show?
Tell me more about (a problem or situation in their reply).
What if we were able to (insert suggestion about your product or service that solves their pain).
Uncovering information is a critical part of the booth staffing role which leads to prospect qualification and the proper follow-up method.
Smile
Humans have a range of emotions, however I’m also amazed at how quickly my son can recover from a sad moment into a smile. It’s infectious and his smile brightens any room. When you’re at a trade show, no matter how much your feet hurt, smile. It’s starts the process of engaging with strangers and makes them feel comfortable. You’ve then just made process of starting a discussion even easier.
Never Give Up
How many times does a child fall before he or she learns to walk? Thousands probably. It took Edison 10,000+ tries before he invented the light bulb. He didn’t classify these as failures. Instead, he said “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”
If your trade show promo doesn’t work, if you’re not drawing a lot of traffic, if your booth staffers aren’t asking the right questions — don’t give up. Find the way that will work.
