Here are some trade show dos and don’ts that you may or may not be aware of but may want to review each time you decide to attend or become a vendor at one. I have compiled these from years of doing different trade shows, trade shows, children’s shows, health fairs, community festivals and more while working various jobs and also with my own marketing business.
Learn How To Work The Room OR Be The Vendor Everyone Wants To Stop At With My 23 Trade Show Techniques!
Here are the 14 things every salesperson should know:
1. Bring your friendliest employees or friends to work the booth with you, at least one other person so you don’t manage it alone. You want happy, energetic people at your booth who know your business, but most of all who know how to talk to people.
2. Try not to stand or sit behind your booth, sometimes it’s more appropriate to put your table behind you while you stand out in the aisle by luring people to your booth with a big “hook” or catchy phrase. In fact, you can put the chairs that are given to you, you should never sit in your cabin. The ones sitting in your booth are not as engaging or seem less interested in making people stop.
3. Do not talk on the phone or with other workers in your cabin; always have your attention focused on passing attendees. If you look busy, people won’t stop.
4. Practice your hook, a quick attention grabbing phrase to get people interested and stop. You could say something like “Do you want to know how to lose 10 pounds in 10 days?”, “Find out how to save $100 on your next _____”, “Having trouble knowing how much to save for retirement?” or something like these.
5. Don’t try to spend too much time trying to ‘sell’ someone that day or you will spend a LOT of time with that person. You will want to meet and collect information on as many people as possible; you can always follow up with them later. Try to make a note or mark the bus cards of those who might be attractive prospects so that you remember it later. Having a booth at a trade show is like an instant database boost place; You want to focus on getting the name, address, phone, and emails of everyone you can at all times.
6. Bring a clever gift of some sort of promotional item, pens tend to get overused. Think of something that people will not only keep or use, but also have some sort of correlation to your type of business. I’ve seen letter openers, flashlights, plastic water bottles, computer brushes, mouse pads, coffee cups, sticky notes, and I use little booklets to place business cards with my logo and website on them so they always have it handy.
7. Hold a raffle for a free gift, not a discount on your services, but something anyone would want. Not everyone will want your services. Have a large bowl or basket for people to deposit their cards AND have a drawing sheet in case they don’t have cards and make sure you collect all the information including email addresses; this obviously builds your database, which should be the MAIN REASON you’re there.
8. Offer incentives if they sign up with you now or shop today, a discount or gift certificate just for taking the time for a consultation (ex: Give them $10 to Starbucks or something when they show up for the appointment?).
9. Make your booth interactive – think of a way to get attendees “in” at your booth so they take the time to stop. I’ve seen real popcorn machines that emit a great smell, big spinning wheels with corresponding prizes, puzzles to solve on the spot, quiz to fill out (bonus, gives you more information too), video play on a TV, masseuse in a chair giving free massages in his cabin, card game or magic trick.
10. Have a large full color banner (average 3’x8′ size for booths) for trade shows with your company name or logo, slogan or catchy phrase/headline at the top, phone number and website also in lettering big and bold. You want as much signage as will fit in or around your booth that people can see in the room. Don’t get fancy with the lyrics; remember that the goal should be to get people to stop at your booth and for you to capture their information.
11. Make your booth stand out with balloons, music, or bigger signs if possible. Many indoor trade shows allow you to hang signs or the like from the ceiling and you can often hook up electricity to your booth so you can have fun, energetic music – everyone loves music. Just make sure the music isn’t too loud so you can’t hear people or they can’t hear you as they walk by.
12. Bring treats, candies or some kind of original food if possible, not just the regular Hershey’s kisses or hard candy; the more original you are with this, the more people will want to find your booth (I’ve seen someone with a popcorn machine in their booth, for example, with cute red and white striped popcorn bags). If you can get something with your logo or name on it too, that’s a plus, but not necessary unless it’s your only giveaway because people will just eat the food/candy and throw away the wrapper. I used to give away individually wrapped fortune cookies and stick a label with my information on the outside, but you can get fortune cookies, for example, with your unique phrase, name, logo, or even a discount offer on the inside. of fortune.
13. Bring a small cooler with bottled water, sodas, and quick and easy snacks in case you can’t catch a break, however, get out and eat quickly and don’t leave your food and drinks on your tables in plain sight. That’s why you want at least one other person with you so you can tear each other apart.
14. Don’t let your leads get cold! Contact potential customers immediately and thank them for visiting your booth. You’ll want to set aside the entire next day after a good-sized show to follow up with: enter the names into a spreadsheet, mail them together with the labels if you’d like, or handwrite them on a quick note with your business card or pre-printed card or letter written specifically for them as a thank you for visiting your booth, etc. You could also have pre-printed follow-up postcards ready to go. If your leads cool off, one of your competitors will beat you to it and if you don’t follow up, YOU HAVE WASTED YOUR TIME AND MONEY at the show!
Here are 9 tips for trade show attendees to follow:
1. Have a goal in mind: how many people do you want to meet? How many cards do you want to deal or collect? Do you want to make at least 2 good contacts? Are you targeting vendors or other attendees? Know who you’re talking to so you don’t get sidetracked and make the most of your time while you’re there; some of these may take some time to complete and you want to be efficient.
2. First of all, for God’s sake, bring enough business cards (3 times more than you think you’ll need). You can even have more in your car.
3. Allow plenty of time to go through the entire show without rushing. For a larger trade show you would like to allow at least 4 hours. For a small community event, you can usually expect 1.5-2 hours.
4. Instead of lugging around heavy brochures, collect serious lead cards and follow up with them later; You can always send anyone tracking information about you or your business. They won’t have much time to talk to you anyway, as they’re there to network for their own business, so don’t be pushy about your stuff. Remember, they paid to be there, you didn’t.
5. Wear a name tag and possibly a logo t-shirt so people will recognize you and see your logo and make that connection – This is a small business brand. Plus, it makes it easy for those who might need your product or service to see what you’re doing when you’re walking around.
6. Wear comfortable clothes with pockets and/or carry a large bag to put all the information you collect. Collect business cards from everyone you talk to so you can follow up later. Even if they are not an attractive target prospect, they can be a good referral source for you if you build a good relationship with them. In fact, you can collect all the cards from the vendors, as well as any attendees you know, the more the merrier for your database!
7. Do not try to sell your product or service to someone who has a booth. This just says that you were too cheap to pay for a booth yourself, so you thought you’d go and try to sell everyone while you were there. If vendors are good prospects, get their business cards and contact information and say hello, but then come back and call or write them later to introduce your business; if they are prospects today, they will be tomorrow.
8. Enter all the draws given in all the posts, for the simple reason of seeing how they go on. Many of them won’t follow up with you, which means they’re wasting your trade show dollars, but that’s okay, take a look at which ones DO follow up with you and how they do it. Those companies are more likely to do business with you simply because they “get it.” Plus, you might discover some great ideas for your own follow-up strategies.
9. Be outgoing and have a lot of fun! If it looks like you’re having fun, more people will want to meet you and talk to you; therefore, you will build a bigger database!
Do you realize how many contacts you can make at the type of trade show or show that’s right for your business and target market? TONS!
Most of you probably know all of this, but are you doing it? Do you have trade show booths for your industry? There are so many out there that you may not even realize it.
To find trade shows in your area, the best places to look are the websites of local venues that regularly host trade shows: community centers, convention centers, concert halls, etc.
Have fun!
**** Scroll down for a SPECIAL BONUS! ****
*************************COUSIN!********************** * **** ****
List of items that any vendor should bring to a trade show:
- bus cards, brochures
- sales brochures or special offers
- plastic (or other) holders for bus cards, brochures, flyers, etc.
- promotional items and basket to display them in
- fishbowl to collect letters in
- email sign up sheet
- drawing briefs for those who do not have bus cards to enter drawing
- drawing award
- sign and display stand FREE DRAWING
- tabletop display risers
- additional tablecloths, colored napkins or tools to match the theme
- large banner or sign
- balloons, colors to match the theme
- Office supplies: regular pens and large chunky pens, extra paper for handwritten signs, regular tape and packing tape, tablecloth clips/holders, clips, safety pins, velcro stickers, metal hangers for banners, clipboards, dice for games, rubber bands, ID card holders or name tags
- candy basket or some edible gift with bus card attached or not
- flowers, sweets and/or table decoration
- portfolio to show
- bragging book to show
- bio sheets
- list of services and rates
- new client packages
- rope or hooks for signage and banners
- cooler with water, snacks (for the vendor!)