Determining to be present at a trade show is a big decision for all companies; it takes a chunk from your marketing budget; is a real investment in time, for your marketing team as well as your sales staff.
Just showing up to the booth isn’t enough: you need to be truly present or you could miss huge opportunities. ESN has gathered tips from trade show experts around the globe for over 20 years. Read what some of the leaders in our industry have to say about maximizing your trade show investment.
- You’ve got to be present.
You’ve got to be standing on the edge of your booth, and you’ve got to learn how to connect with people. You put all this money, all this time, all this effort, and then there is this moment between the person working the booth and the attendee walking by, which is physically three feet, and if this attendee turns into a customer, the lifetime value—especially if you’re in the B2B space—will inevitably jump up to six or seven figures. Close that gap and engage with that person!
- Break up the booth huddle.
The ‘booth huddle’ phenomenon is when you see three or four people from the same exact booth wearing the same colored shirt all talking to each other and their backs are all to the floor. And when people are in a huddle like that they are not approachable. So now what you have is not one person not doing their job, you have three, possibly four, people not doing their job—also not approachable. And all you have to do is start ticking off the dollars of how much this is wasting.
- Don’t drop people the second you realize they’re not a qualified lead.
You need to engage the person, and that starts with an opening line of some sort. We are very big into being ‘in the moment.’ And then you need to quickly move to qualified, and depending on how high-traffic the event is, that will determine how fast you should move into qualification. Then if they’re disqualified…you still have to make that experience positive. Never make an unqualified lead feel as if you are rejecting them. You never know when your business may have an opportunity to engage with their business again or refer another business to them. Always keep all contacts positive.
For further tips on maximizing your trade show investment, see our recent webinar with Hiett Ives of Trade Show Dynamics on our website.
Call or email us today with any questions or assistance needed!
Phone: +1-832-358-2002
Email: esn@tradesho.com
