"Stack the Deck" of Trade Show Attendees in Your Favor

Ruth Failer, CTSM

I was a juror at a downtown courthouse recently, and had time to think about how that process compares to the business world. I wondered what would happen if the attorneys could call past clients, friends and relatives to be jurors for their cases. Of course in the justice system that’s jury tampering, a major felony. In business, however, relying on your past clients and your connections is not only legal but practically a requirement if you want to stay in business.

The trade show organizer casts a big net when they invite past attendees and people on lists from many industries to the show. You want to “stack the deck” of trade show attendees in your favor, so that the hand you are dealt works for you. Why leave it up to chance that many of the people walking the show will want to know more about your products and services than your competitors’?

Create a pre-show marketing campaign to bring potential buyers to your booth. Be creative and give the recipient a reason to visit you, not just the show.

Tips for a pre-show marketing campaign:

• Save time by asking the show organizer for promotional materials
• Have an offer on your invitation
• Give away quality swag in your booth

It’s a lot more fun to have a busy booth filled with people who are interested in your products and services than to be standing in the aisles waiting for someone to catch your eye as they look up at your booth name. A pre-show marketing plan will help to establish a relationship with your prospects. It will increase your return on trade show investment by bringing customers to your booth. Your cost per lead will drop, those responding to your follow up will increase, and you will have a busy productive booth. 

If you would like more ideas and a structured plan for Pre-show marketing, schedule an interactive Pre-Show Marketing workshop with Tips of the Trade. Other engaging workshops are: Qualifying Customers, Fool-proof Follow-up Plan, and Booth Sales Skills. Customized topics or combinations of topics are also available.

Tips to: Follow-up without Checking-in

Don’t call to just “check-in” with contacts Personalize your phone call with information useful to that customer

• Ask for their expertise in solving a problem that can help others

• Learn their “pain points” and offer solutions

• If you reach voice mail, leave more than your name and number – give them a solid reason to call you back

• Ask your prospective customer when you call – do you have a moment to talk?

• If the potential customer shows no interest, thank them and move on

• Put your contact’s needs first when interrupting their day with your call

  To schedule an engaging workshop with more helpful information on getting a response from your follow-up, email: ruth@BestTipsOfTheTrade.com

Marketing and Memorabilia

I recently attended a summer camp reunion and will admit that during the event I wasn’t thinking about marketing. As I was considering what to write, however, I realized how much marketing was being done and what we can take away from this reunion. To read the complete article about the reunion visit http://app.e2ma.net/app2/campaigns/archived/17123/d443e2e94d71a883cd060639ce9b85ac/  or Facebook.com/Tips Of The Trade.


This is the marketing I noticed:

1. Target Your Audience: Only the campers and counselors who went to the old camp were invited.

2. Name badges: You may have figured out where I was going when I was discussing the name tags. At your business or at a show, it is important that your name tag is visible – no awkward moments with people trying to get to close to read your name or vice-versa. You don’t want to be staring at places you shouldn’t be just to read a person’s name.

3. Re purposing the camp director’s speech to be used for perspective campers. It will also be placed on a special You Tube video site specifically for the Old Camp Alumni.


4. The Legacy Program announced to encourage us (most of us already support the camp) to give money to the camp in our will. The camp will receive funds after the person has died.

5. Social Media will continue to spread the word of this event and will close the gap on the friendships we may have lost. A You tube page has been set up and my guess is that a Facebook page is just around the corner. Great networking opportunities as well.

EXHIBITOR magazine - Article: Research: Trade Show Trends, April 2011

Trade Show Trends Last year, exhibitors coped with decreasing show attendance by telling themselves the percentage of qualified buyers walking the aisles was up. Check out the results of Exhibit Surveys Inc.'s Trade Show Trends report to see if that hopeful assumption was correct.
EXHIBITOR magazine - Article: Research: Trade Show Trends, April 2011

Do you trust Reviews?

When I was looking for a place to buy tires, and friend recommended that I check out Yelp.com to see what people had to say about the local tire stores in the area. The reviews were rated well so I gave them a try.
Do you believe the reviews you read on Amazon, Yelp and other sites? Do you believe written or video testimonials from businesses? How much to they weigh in your decision making?

Ruth Failer and Karen Voelkening-Behegan

Hi Ruth,

I'm just writing to thank you for your wonderful presentation last night.

Our group really enjoyed it, and we all benefited from role-playing exercises and examples you gave us.  The lessons we learned will come in very handy for our non-profit, educational organization.  Proper questioning and listening techniques are such important communication skills, that it's essential to bring them to everyone's attention.

I hope you enjoyed speaking as much as we enjoyed having you.   The way you handled the different unexpected situations that came up was very professional, and I could tell that your presentation was based on a lot of hard work and experience.  I will definitely pass on referrals to you whenever I have a chance.

 

We really appreciate what you did for us, and as the leader of the group, I can gratefully rest assured that your "students" from last night are now in a much better position to properly deliver the message of our organization.

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

Karen Voelkening-Behegan

Pasadena CA Chapter Leader

Weston A. Price Foundation

For more information on the Weston A. Price Foundation, go to:

http://westonaprice.org/

What others had to say about the communication skills workshop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpZOZxSbuug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qXxUem6S_4

Extend an Invitation to Your Customers

In a consultation meeting with a client the other day, I was asked why I so strongly recommend she invite her existing customers to the show if she was already doing business with them. She corresponded with her customers on a regular basis and they knew how to get in touch with her if they needed anything. When business managers are trying to spend less money, do less printing, use less energy and maximize return on trade show investment, does it really make sense to add customers you've already won over to the list of prospects you want to attract to the show?

In my answer I asked if she had ever had an extremely satisfied customer stop by her booth to say hello and talk about the virtues of her product. She said yes, and then remembered that a prospect overheard the conversation and became very interested. This kind of on-the-spot word of mouth is some of the best advertising you can get. We then discussed some other great reasons existing customers should always be invited to any show where you plan to have a presence:

- To show them other items they might be interested in that they haven’t already purchased.

- To enlist their help in showing the benefits of your product to any friends or associates they might bring with them.

- To keep your booth active so that others passing by will want to come in and find out what’s going on.

- To keep you and your products at the tops of your customers' minds. They might even tweet about you from your booth.

- To entertain and build a relationship with customers after the show.

When you've built a relationship with the customer, you will find it is much easier to recommend additional products to existing customers than to begin the sales process with a new prospect. Customers are more apt to open up and tell you about their needs when they feel comfortable and have met/spoken with you a few times. A trade show is a great place to continue building rapport with your customers. Remember to add them to your pre-show marketing data base.

According to CEIR 2007 /data: On average, 34% of visitors at exhibitions qualify as “Net Promoters.”  This means that they are likely to recommend a product or a particular brand showcased at an exhibition. (CEIR- Center For Exhibition Industry Research)

Sounds like another great reason to invite your existing customers to the show- they just might recommend your products and services to others!