For a successful trade show you need the following:
- a great looking trade show booth display;
- qualified visitor traffic; and
- great staff to convert traffic into prospects and customers.
If you don’t have all three factors working in harmony then you will not maximize the sales potential from exhibiting at a trade show.
Of the three factors, getting qualified visitor traffic is probably the most important.
What do we mean by “qualified”?
It means we have a visitor to the booth who is interested in our products and services, has a need for the solution you offer and the means to buy them or at least, accelerate the purchasing decision within the company they represent.
Improving the level of qualification of booth traffic is done by designing a booth which appeals directly to the target market you are aiming at – there is no point using youth imagery for a booth selling zimmer frames! Promotional giveaways are always a great crowd pleaser, but you should ration them out – sure put plenty of coffee and candy out for freebies, but if an attendee wants to walk with a t-shirt or company mug, they need to talk business with you first.
Integrating promotional offers with a firm time period attached is also a great way of attracting traffic which is drawn by a desire to save on cost. There is also the added incentive of a call to action implied in the promotion – you do this deal by this time and you get this discount. Be firm and make sure it is imposed and that attendees know this too.
If the choice comes down to great booth or great staff, I’ll go for great staff – a well designed trade show booth is fantastic, but it is the people who man it who are going to make it all work. A great display is worthless if you have staff sitting on their butts all day, while a second-rate display can be made to work with hard-working, motivated and well-trained people.
The reason why I put people over the booth is because they determine the conversion ration of traffic to sales. Your booth and promotional work gets the traffic over the threshold, but it is the human touch which turns a stranger into a valued customer.
If you are new to tradeshows, focus on sourcing a clean and simple display – this will be cheaper and more effective (even look at renting one if you are an absolute beginner). Next pay attention to training your booth staff – engaging with attendees, maintaining eye contact, being welcoming and engaging, training in icebreaker and open questioning techniques to qualify visitors. Finally, look at the assets you have and think how best to deploy them to maximize the traffic to your booth.