Trade Show Advice

No matter how much money you have in your marketing budget, it seems there’s never enough. From the marketing department at Microsoft to the small nonprofit start-up, there’s always the desire to expand your budget for more effective promotion.

On the surface, trade shows may not seem to be the best use of those marketing dollars. But when you factor in some basic components of effective marketing strategy, such as target audience, immediate one-on-one personal attention and follow-up, there are few marketing strategies that produce such a strong return on investment.

Now, a good marketing plan will include more than just attending trade shows. For maximum exposure in your market, you must have a multi-faceted approach: network marketing, marketing materials, a website and trade show marketing These tools and strategies are just a handful of effective marketing techniques, and generally perceived as the most essential. And while each technique has its strengths, none will give you the return on investment that you will receive from exhibiting at a trade show. (more…)

Get your ducks in a row before the big event. This article at TradeShowAdvisor.com offers a timeline leading up to the event and a final checklist to keep you from scrambing around at the last minute. A sample of the artice is below:

Using a trade show check list at the final stages of your event preparation may be a valuable tool to ensure all the last-minute details are handled and you are positioned to accomplish your event sales objectives.

You’ve likely spent months getting ready for your event. The final stages are critical. Adapt the following trade show check list to suit your specific needs.

• Review your exhibiting plan and objectives. Make sure everyone involved fully understands what needs to be accomplished during the show.

Read the entire article.

Once you get traffic flowing to your trade show display, beyond the product display and basic information about the product and your company, how do you keep the prospect’s interest?

Clearly your potential client has some level of interest in your product or service or they would not have stopped at your booth. But the cut-throat competition that exists at trade shows requires you to be at the top of your game so you can demonstrate what separates you from the competition. The doorway to closing the sale is building rapport – and at a trade show you don’t have a lot of time to do that.

And while you aren’t necessarily expecting to close the sale with every prospect at a trade show, Zig Ziglar says there’s one simple way you can more efficiently move toward the close. Before beginning your presentation, you establish an agreement with the prospect that at the end of the presentation you expect them to either:

• agree that the product is in their best interest so the two of you can discuss the purchase options available OR,
• indicate the product is not in their best interest and the two of you will discuss options from there.

But first, you’ve got to make it to the close of the sale. In his article, “How to Build Trust and Rapport Quickly,” sales trainer John Boe reviews tips and strategies to consider once the prospect is standing before you.

How to Build Trust and Rapport Quickly

By: John Boe

If you’re working hard, but aren’t consistently generating enough sales and getting referrals, chances are it’s a matter of trust. One of the most critically important and yet frequently overlooked aspects of selling is creating a solid foundation of trust and rapport.

Suppose you could incorporate a few simple, yet highly effective ideas into your selling process and substantially increase your bottom line?

Successful salespeople have a knack for making people feel important. They understand the value of building trust and rapport early on in the selling process. For you see, it really doesn’t matter how knowledgeable you are about your product line or how many closing techniques you have mastered, unless you earn your prospect’s trust and confidence you are not going to make the sale period.

Read more of “How to Build Trust and Rapport Quickly”

Prepping for a trade show and following up after can lead to lucrative results. But you have to implement effective strategies to get there. Email is one avenue to do that, as outlined in the article below.

Maximize Your Trade Show Investment With E-Mail

“Build it and they will come” doesn’t necessarily apply to your trade show booth. In her book “Trade Show and Event Marketing,” Ruth P. Stevens writes, “Trade show marketers often get so preoccupied with designing and building their booths, they can forget to concentrate on driving qualified traffic.”

Given that trade shows represent 18.6 percent of the typical business-to-business (B2B) marketing budget, according to a 2003 Business Marketing Association poll, investing in targeted pre- and post-show promotions should be a priority. Here are some statistics Stevens cites from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) to illustrate the importance of promotions:

• Business buyers generally plan their trade show time in advance. CEIR found 76 percent of attendees use pre-show information for this purpose. You compete with not only conference sessions and other exhibitors but also outside attractions in destination cities.
• A CEIR-commissioned study by Deloitte & Touche found exhibitors who conducted a pre-show advertising or email campaign raised their “attraction efficiency” 46 percent. This stands for the quality of the audience they were able to attract to their booths. Conversion of booth visitors to qualified leads rose 50 percent when a pre-show promotion was used.

E-Mail: Key to Multitouch Promotions

Stevens notes, “Ideal pre-show promotions use a series of contacts, leveraging multiple media channels.” A typical campaign to the trade show’s attendee list could include:

• Outbound postcards scheduled to arrive a week to 10 days before the event. Create a message that prequalifies the attendee, such as, “Attention, purchasing managers, come and find out how you can save time and money in your search for the best widgets.”
• Follow-up email reminders to the same list. This should contain links to a landing page from your company Web site covering:
  • Your plans for the event, such as a new product introduction
  • Parties you’ll host
  • Sessions in which your executives will speak

To set up appointments with prospects who have expressed interest in your company:

• Send a postcard announcing your upcoming presence at the trade show.
• Follow up with a phone call to set an appointment at the booth at a specific time.
• Confirm the appointment with an email or letter (or both) to remind the prospect of the appointment and resell why it’s going to be worthwhile. Include a pass to the show floor or the sales rep’s business card/contact information.

Post-Event Follow-Up E-Mail

“An ongoing series of messages after the trade show can extend the value of the trade show investment indefinitely,” says Stevens. “Your objective is to build on the relationship with contacts made at the trade shows.”

Here are ways to follow up:

• A personal email thank-you note from the individual staffer who met with the contact at the event (Stevens adds, “If your staff has any energy left, the email can go out the evening of the meeting.”)
• An invitation to subscribe to the corporate e-newsletter
• Reprints or links to any press coverage or other articles relating to the trade show
• E-reminder of the final expiration date for the trade show special offer
• A series of communications to keep the dialogue going
• Promotion to attendees who didn’t make it to your booth

Qualifying Prospects After the Event

The best way to qualify a lead is on the trade show floor. If you can’t qualify your prospects on site, Steven says, “email is the most efficient means for post-show follow up communications.” Once you collect an email address at the trade show, follow up with:

• A thank-you note containing product information promised at the show
• An email qualification form requesting additional information
• Attachments or links to product information
• A post-show survey to capture information about the trade show experience

Nurturing Unqualified Leads

What do you do with those unqualified leads not yet ready to buy? These should be filtered through the “nurturing” or “lead development” process with a series of communications designed to build trust and awareness and to keep the relationship going.

Stevens recommends devising a standard process and refining it as experience demonstrates what works best. Most of these nurturing tactics can be accomplished via email:

• Additional qualification questions
• Seminar or Webinar invitation
• Event invitation
• Request for appointment at next trade show
• New product announcement
• E-newsletter
• Press release
• Survey or needs analysis
• White paper, article, or chapter reprints
• Case study, executive briefing, checklist, tip sheet, or guide
• Personal communication, such as a holiday card
• Letter from various sides of the company
• Letter from third party endorsing your prospect

When you get to the point where it no longer makes sense to nurture a prospect, remove the contact from the nurturing process and return the name to the marketing database for a fresh promotion.

Don’t let all those business cards drown in that trade show booth fish bowl! Hook the live ones immediately, and nurture the rest with an efficient pre- and post-show email campaign.

Some good advice I came across on the bad habits and lack of prep that can lead to a wasted trade show experience.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Tradeshows

Do you know the Seven Deadly Sins? I’m not talking about pride, envy, lust, and all the rest that you may be familiar with. While those are important, chances are they won’t crop up at the average tradeshow. Instead, there’s another set of sins – seven deadly sins – associated with exhibiting. If you commit one or more of these, you can count on a dreaded result: exhibiting that is ineffective, counter-productive, and a monumental waste of time and money!

Are you guilty? Is your exhibiting in mortal peril? Check the list and see:

Sin #1: Neglect

Failing to set exhibiting goals is one of the most deadly tradeshow sins. Having goals delineates your purpose for exhibiting. This is the essence of the whole exhibit. Knowing what you want to accomplish at a show will help plan every other aspect – your theme, the booth layout and display, graphics, and more. Exhibiting goals should complement your corporate marketing objectives and help in accomplishing them. (more…)

Wonderful article by Cynthia Lett on how to treat your future customers and partners when attending a trade show event. While some of these are ideas are simple (the best ones ususally are) we think you’ll find something even an experienced trade show attender can find useful.

Exhibit Hall Etiquette

Attending and exhibiting at trade shows is all about building relationships, learning about new products and services and maybe negotiating a deal.

But everything starts with the relationship.

It is a fact that we like to do business with people we like. We are less willing to make a deal and write a check to a company represented by disrespectful, ignorant people.

You may say, “Well, of course! That is obvious.” But if it were so obvious, why do so many people treat potential buyers and vendors so poorly?

The first impression we have of a company or product is the person who represents it. As a buyer, when you explore a booth on a trade show floor, you should notice how you are greeted? Is it with a smile? Did someone shake your hand? Were you even acknowledged?

How many times have you walked into a booth on a trade room floor and were ignored completely?

It’s happened to me. When that happens, it is my cue to walk out quickly. If the booth attendant cannot be bothered to greet me appropriately, this is a company I cannot trust to meet my needs.

This is where knowing the proper etiquette and using it makes a huge difference between you and your competition.

A first impression is made within five seconds of meeting someone. We make a judgment about them and how we will interact based on their clothes, facial expressions, energy, confidence, personal power, perceived authority, posture, personal grooming, and most of all, by the way they treat us.

For five seconds, that’s a lot of information being formulated. So you have to ask yourself, do you make that first impression a positive one? Or, do you leave the impression that the person is an imposition, a waste of your time and not worth making the effort.

To make first impressions powerful and positive, keep these tips in mind:

* Acknowledge the other person.

* Smile.

* Look the person in the eye.

* Extend your hand first to shake hands.

* Pump from the wrist, not the shoulder or the elbow.

* Make the handshake firm, not bone crushing. Don’t give a “limp fish shake.”

* Lean forward from the shoulder to put energy into your greeting.

* Introduce yourself by stating your first and last name and position.

* Whether you are the buyer or seller, always extend or accept a greeting–don’t wander into a booth, grab a brochure or sample and run out without making a connection.

* Make the encounter worthwhile–even for the few moments you are there. Ask questions. Attempt to learn something about the product, service or buyer’s needs.

* If the product is not of use to you or your company, thank the booth attendants and say goodbye without wasting their time. This shows respect for their business and their time. It will also leave a positive impression about you, because you never know when you may encounter them again.

* If you are the seller, qualify the lead by asking specific questions. Too many generalities waste time for both of you. Examples of good specific questions are, “Do you believe that our product would be helpful to you?” or “What prompted you to stop by our booth?” Remember, wasting someone else’s time is a huge etiquette faux pas.

* Ask how you can follow up with them if you intend to do that. Don’t ask, “May I have your card?” That is a demand for a gift, not a request for information. The reason we want someone’s business card is to have information for follow-up. If you make the demand for a card, you may embarrass them if they don’t have any to give. What you really are requesting is a way to follow up. Ask instead, “What is the best way to follow up with you?” or “Where may I send additional information?” This leaves a classier impression and respect for the other person.

* Understand the corporate culture. Is it informal? Does everyone use first names immediately? Or does it tend to be more formal? If so, don’t forget to use an honorific (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.).

* If someone else is occupying your attention when new guests come into your booth, at a break in the conversation, make an introduction and tell them that you will be with them momentarily. This gesture demonstrates several positives. You are acknowledging their presence, and you are making it easy for them to meet someone new.

* People who employ good etiquette act as a resource for others. Know who else is exhibiting and where they are located in case your new prospect would like to know.

* You are either a host or a guest in all situations. If you are the exhibitor, the host role is yours. Everyone who comes to your booth is coming to your office-away-from-the-office. Treat them with the respect you would use if they had made an appointment to meet you in the office. If you are a buyer, you are the guest. As a guest, you have certain duties as well. They include, being present in the conversation; being polite with your questions; making requests, not demands; not wasting anyone’s time; and introducing yourself.

* Don’t be a complainer. Do you like to hear about someone’s aching feet or their hunger for lunch?

* Don’t sit down. A person sitting is unapproachable at a show. If buyers want to learn about your product, and you are waiting for them in a chair, chances are they will walk on by and feel put off.

* Don’t eat in the booth. If you are not in the position to share what you are eating with people who come into your booth, don’t eat in front of them. (Also, chewing gum is a huge faux pas!).

* Be careful not to talk about a function you attended or plan to attend unless everyone at the show has been invited. Nothing makes people feel more uneasy than hearing about not being invited to an event. Along these lines, never make an invitation to one person if anyone else not invited could possibly hear.

* If you said “hello,” you must say “goodbye.” Don’t disappear without closure of some sort.

* Shake hands to say “goodbye.”

* Turn off your cell phone, unless you are on a break. If you must be in contact at all times, invest in a vibrating pager or cell phone. If either does go off in the company of others, ask if you may put the caller on hold until you can excuse yourself to a quiet, private location to talk. Don’t carry on a conversation in front of anyone in your booth. That is a strong form of ignorance. It is the same as broadcasting your business on the front page of The Washington Post.

* If you don’t know what to talk about to break the ice, consider what things you have in common. First, you are at a tradeshow, so ask if it meets their expectations. You had to travel, so ask how their trip was. You probably heard the general session opening speech, so ask their opinions about it. Compliment the guests in your booth on a positive aspect of their company. This could be the number of years they have been in business, their recent merger, their standing on the Fortune 500 list or a recent “win” they had in securing a big contract. Nothing makes someone pay attention to you in a positive way than being complimented.

* No gossiping. When it is slow in the booth, many salespeople revert to gossip to pass the time. This will kill your professional image quickly–even with your colleagues who are also participating.

* Brush up on your grammar. Poorly spoken English causes others to regard you as uneducated. Even a college degree doesn’t count if you use the language improperly. Also remember, using swear words are taboo for a professional image. They also make others quite uncomfortable.

While this is a short list, the tips are important to cultivate proper behaviors at a trade show, or any business function.

Keep this in mind: Treat others with the respect, kindness and professionalism. If you do, you remain in good standing with your competition. You can really stand out if you master some of the suggestions.

Once you incorporate these behavior tips into your approach at a trade show, you will enjoy your relationship-building efforts and make each trade show a more effective use of your time and efforts and each business encounter more productive.

Cynthia Lett is director and CEO of The Lett Group, an international leader in etiquette and protocol training. The Lett Group teaches a seminar called Trade Show & Meetings Etiquette. To contact her, call +1 888 933 3883, or visit www.lettgroup.com.

Presenting at a trade show soon. Exhibit Deal can help with trade show display rentals or buy a wholesale trade show display.