Discussion
As some on here may recall, I'm in the process of planning & starting my own business.
Last weekend I went with Mrs Panic to the 2nd biggest annual trade show in the UK to do a bit of research. My aim is to be ready to exhibit at the same show this time next year, having cut my teeth on some smaller local ones beforehand.
Fortunately I didn't see any direct competitors to what I'm planning.
What I was really interested in was how exhibitors approached the whole thing. There were some very stark contrasts, and much of it seems like common sense to me (but then I guess a lot of stuff does once you realise it).
Option 1:
Set up a table at the front of your area, sit down behind it and chat amongst yourselves, wearing whatever you felt like that day. Wait for people to ask a direct question.
Option 2:
Set up tables & stands with your brochures/promo materials/competitions/merchandise around the edge and have an open space. Actively engage with people walking past, in a friendly, smiling manner, showing interest & enthusiasm in what you're offering. Don't start off with "can I help you?" as you'll get a "no I'm just looking". All wear the same colours & style of clothing, preferably aligned to your brand.
Naturally I expect this differs between different sectors, but this was what I picked up in a relatively informal B2C environment.
Anyone else got any good tips? Do's & don'ts of exhibiting at trade shows?
Last weekend I went with Mrs Panic to the 2nd biggest annual trade show in the UK to do a bit of research. My aim is to be ready to exhibit at the same show this time next year, having cut my teeth on some smaller local ones beforehand.
Fortunately I didn't see any direct competitors to what I'm planning.
What I was really interested in was how exhibitors approached the whole thing. There were some very stark contrasts, and much of it seems like common sense to me (but then I guess a lot of stuff does once you realise it).
Option 1:
Set up a table at the front of your area, sit down behind it and chat amongst yourselves, wearing whatever you felt like that day. Wait for people to ask a direct question.
Option 2:
Set up tables & stands with your brochures/promo materials/competitions/merchandise around the edge and have an open space. Actively engage with people walking past, in a friendly, smiling manner, showing interest & enthusiasm in what you're offering. Don't start off with "can I help you?" as you'll get a "no I'm just looking". All wear the same colours & style of clothing, preferably aligned to your brand.
Naturally I expect this differs between different sectors, but this was what I picked up in a relatively informal B2C environment.
Anyone else got any good tips? Do's & don'ts of exhibiting at trade shows?
Did the first lot work for the council? They can never be arsed.
The companies that do best out of trade shows use something to get people to their stand. If you just stay on your stand waiting for people to come over then you'll only meet a small percentage of delegates.
The company I used to work for did this in two ways. The MD would always try and get a speaking slot if one was available, which would always bring people over. The other way was passing out promotional keyrings which said "visit our stand for a chance to win a bottle of champagne or a holiday". The keyring was attached to a key and we passed out hundreds of these to everyone who entered the room. A couple of keys would open the lock that was on our stand and as we were a property finance company it was nicely on-topic. No matter what event we went to we were always the busiest stand. Then it was just a case of chatting with them and capturing their details.
The companies that do best out of trade shows use something to get people to their stand. If you just stay on your stand waiting for people to come over then you'll only meet a small percentage of delegates.
The company I used to work for did this in two ways. The MD would always try and get a speaking slot if one was available, which would always bring people over. The other way was passing out promotional keyrings which said "visit our stand for a chance to win a bottle of champagne or a holiday". The keyring was attached to a key and we passed out hundreds of these to everyone who entered the room. A couple of keys would open the lock that was on our stand and as we were a property finance company it was nicely on-topic. No matter what event we went to we were always the busiest stand. Then it was just a case of chatting with them and capturing their details.
Obviously this is going to depend highly on the type of business your in. If you have a physical product (as opposed to a service) ensure that you have some set up/available for people to pick up/play with. Once they have it their hands, rather than asking "can I help you" make a comment somthing along the lines of "interesting isn't it" its unlikely they will say no otherwise they wouldn't have picked it up in the first place. Once a conversation has started its down to your sales skills.
At trade shows presentation is EVERYTHING. It could be the crappiest product in the world but correctly presented will sell loads. If your product is a smallish/low value product promotions of the likes of "buy one get one free" work well. Supermarkets do this better than anyone and it works or they wouldn't do it. Once the wallet is open its all down to your sales skills again to extract as much as poss from it!
At trade shows presentation is EVERYTHING. It could be the crappiest product in the world but correctly presented will sell loads. If your product is a smallish/low value product promotions of the likes of "buy one get one free" work well. Supermarkets do this better than anyone and it works or they wouldn't do it. Once the wallet is open its all down to your sales skills again to extract as much as poss from it!
Some good points there thanks. I'll have a think about interesting ways of getting people to the stand.
What I'm proposing is quite new in the field so people won't be seeking it out. However, I happen to know that it is very useful and at a price that should be quite saleable. I'm planning the presentation & marketing of the system in tandem with planning the actual system, so hopefully by the time it is finalised my sales pitch should be quite good. It's all coming from what a customer would want, and given that I was one such customer quite recently I've got a little insight
Closer to the time I'll have to investigate wireless chip & pin machines too. It's an alien technology to me! E-commerce I can do, but handling actual physical transactions? How quaint!
What I'm proposing is quite new in the field so people won't be seeking it out. However, I happen to know that it is very useful and at a price that should be quite saleable. I'm planning the presentation & marketing of the system in tandem with planning the actual system, so hopefully by the time it is finalised my sales pitch should be quite good. It's all coming from what a customer would want, and given that I was one such customer quite recently I've got a little insight
Closer to the time I'll have to investigate wireless chip & pin machines too. It's an alien technology to me! E-commerce I can do, but handling actual physical transactions? How quaint!
We always have a live demo - once one person stops for a look, others follow - don't be afraid to ask for the business, or a crd or something to follow up on. For hot leads we follow up overnight, so that the prospect has a quick note summarising what we are going to do from us when the open their email the next day. It's easy meeting people at tradeshows, the difference is in the follow-up.
In past lives I've used a prize draw to get traffic to the stand - I worked in healthcare so the types of prizes would be rare books (first edition of Frueds Psycopathology of Everyday Life, etc - only a couple of hundred quid but different and interesting) or useful reference materials. It's amazing how may people that just happened to have a big project we wanted to work on would win! ;-)
Also use preshow mailers, and post show follow-ups to those leads that aren't that hot...
In past lives I've used a prize draw to get traffic to the stand - I worked in healthcare so the types of prizes would be rare books (first edition of Frueds Psycopathology of Everyday Life, etc - only a couple of hundred quid but different and interesting) or useful reference materials. It's amazing how may people that just happened to have a big project we wanted to work on would win! ;-)
Also use preshow mailers, and post show follow-ups to those leads that aren't that hot...
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff