Exhibitions
Don’t despair. There are many ways to pump up performance without breaking the bank. In fact, I’ve collected 27 low or no cost ways to improve your next tradeshow:
1. Research the show BEFORE you commit: Does it attract a large number of people from your target audience?
2. Give yourself enough time: Planning and preparation for a major show can take 12-18 months.
3. Involve top management in the planning process. You’ll get better results from your team if they know upper management is supporting their efforts.
4. Send e-mail reminders to loyal customers and strong prospects before the show, urging them to stop by your booth.
5. Define goals and objectives for show participation.
6. Share these goals and objectives with your booth staff. They can’t achieve your goals and objectives if they don’t know what they are.
7. Plan for security as needed: you don’t want expensive prototypes or demo models ‘walking away’.
8. Brief your team on common tradeshow espionage practices and how to defend against them.
9. Send enough people to ensure adequate booth coverage throughout the show.
10. Give each booth staffer a specific role, with job expectations clearly spelled out.
11. Stress the value of friendly greetings, polite manners, and appropriate body language.
12. Take the time to familiarize your team with the lead collection technology you’ll be using before the show.
13. Make sure at least some of the people going to the show are prepared to answer technical questions.
14. Send friendly, personable people with a genuine enthusiasm for your company, its products and services. These may not be your most senior people: make your choices based on effectiveness, not seniority.
15. Check in with your team throughout the show to assess performance, reward positive behaviors, and stop negative trends before they get out of hand.
16. Establish a dress code for your staffers: They’ll look more professional and act as better ambassadors for your company.
17. Don’t forget the shoes, hair, and accessories: people notice the details. Manicures are crucial, as your team will be shaking hands hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times during the show.
18. Two words: Breath Mints.
19. Practice asking qualifying questions with your booth staffers.
20. Product demonstrations are a great way to draw a crowd: Make sure your team knows how to give an effective, engaging presentation by having them practice before the show.
21. If you are sponsoring entertainment, a speaker, or other event, make sure your team knows what to do during this time. From working the crowd to collecting leads, there’s plenty they should be doing to promote your company’s name and image.
22. Designate a ‘go-to’ person to act as a liason with show management. The better your relationship with management is, the better your show experience will be.
23. That exhibitor’s service manual the show organizers sent you when you registered? Read it: it’s chock full of valuable information to help ensure a stress-free show.
24. Copy appropriate pages from the exhibitor service manual and pass them along to the relevant staffers: It doesn’t help you to know when everything has to be broken down and off the show floor if you’re not the person doing that work.
25. Order services ahead of time. Making deadlines = big savings.
26. Establish a follow up protocol for hot leads, promising prospects, and likely customers. Use this protocol to turn leads into sales.
27. Say “Thank You” to attendees for stopping by, to anyone who fills out survey information or participates in a demonstration, during your follow up calls.
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Mar
It’s a marvel that can destroy your tradeshow performance.
Consider the following:
You’re at a tradeshow. An attractive exhibit catches your eye. The product on display is exactly what you’ve been searching for. When you approach the booth, a staffer looks up and with a gesture indicates that you should wait, just one minute, while he finishes his call. When he’s done talking to the important people, the message seems to be, he’ll be happy to talk to you.
How long are you going to wait? After all, you’ve only a limited amount of time at the show, and there are dozens of other booths on your ‘must-see’ list. When you discover that the display just a little further down the aisle also appears to feature a product that could fill your needs, chances are that’s all the impetus you’ll need to move along. There’s no sense waiting for the staffer to finish his call, not when there are other people who are more than ready to talk to you right now.
Let’s flip the scenario around. You’re on the other side of the aisle when your cell phone rings. Do you take the call?
I can hear you now. “But that’s different! My call is important!”
Guess what? The salesman in the first example thought his call was important too. And it was — to him. It was more important than you were, at least.
Talking on your cell phone tells tradeshow attendees three things:
1. Your team’s focus is NOT on the tradeshow.
2. Your attendee is not the most important person in the room — that honor belongs to whoever has your cell phone number.
3. The attendee’s business is not valuable to your company.
Add to this the very real possibility that attendees are listening to at least one side of your staffer’s cell phone conversations. What might they be hearing?
• Confidential business details, including customer names, order size and more. What great info for your competitors to have.
• Intimate, personal conversations. Nothing’s more off putting than TMI (too much information)!
• Humor or observations that may be considered offensive. What a PR nightmare!
How does this impact your marketing message? How does cell phone use by your staffers affect how that message is received by the show attendees?
(For a free copy of “10 Common Mistakes Exhibitors Make”, e-mail: article4@thetradeshowcoach.com)
It’s entirely possible that cell phone use by your staff will eliminate the clear communication of your marketing message. Sad but true: that’s the best you can hope for. Worse, and far more likely, attendees are getting different messages from your company, including:
• We’re too busy for you.
• We’re too important for you.
• We don’t care about you.
• You’re not worth our time.
• You don’t deserve our attention.
Is that the message you want to send? Emphatically NO! That’s why you need a cell phone policy. This policy will obviously vary by company, but should include the following:
• Cell phones must be shut off when you’re on the floor.
• Give staffers regular breaks so they can check messages and make calls, away from the exhibit.
• Staffers who have personal reasons to be in constant contact (i.e. small children, ailing parents, etc.) should be encouraged to program their phones to signal ‘high priority’ calls with a distinctive ring or vibration pattern. That way, staffers can only answer emergency calls and let voice mail pick up the rest. This offers your team the security of being constantly connected while still keeping the focus on the tradeshow attendees.
Expect some resistance when first introducing this policy. Cell phones have become such a part of our lives that many people feel naked without them. Explain the benefits and reasoning of the policy. Minimize tension by being flexible, providing ample opportunity for staffers to ‘check in’, and leading by example. You can’t tell your people to turn off their phones and then spend the day chatting on yours!
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Mar
Surprisingly, quite a bit. There are some very strong similarities between Winnie the Pooh and the other inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Woods and many tradeshow exhibitors. Don’t believe me? Take a look and see how many of your staffers you recognize:
Winnie the Pooh
Pooh Bear may be cute, cuddly and approachable — but he’s also got one thing on his mind. What makes this roly poly bear happy? Honey, of course! He’s obsessed with the golden sweet — when he’s not enjoying a meal, he’s in search of the next smackerel to fill his rumbly-tummy.
A Pooh-style booth staffer is hungry. He might be talking to attendees, but he’s thinking about lunch. If someone walks by with a sandwich, his eyes are instantly drawn to it. Scents from the food court get his nostrils quivering. When he gets a chance to eat, he takes it: even if that means eating in the booth!
Piglet
Piglet is a very small animal, made even more timid when confronted with unfamiliar surroundings, loud noises, bright colors, and crowds. His reaction? Why, to run and hide under the bed, of course, or behind his good friend Pooh.
A Piglet-style staffer may be naturally shy or someone who is easily overwhelmed. Their reaction, inspired by fear, is to fade into the back of the booth and hope no one notices them. More often than not, they get their wish — which is good for them, but bad for your bottom line.
Owl
Owl is an exceedingly well educated bird. He’s got a brain just cram-packed full of facts and figures — and he wants you to know it. No tidbit of information is too small to escape his attention, nor to avoid being retold to anyone who will listen.
If you have an Owl-style staffer, you might count yourself lucky. After all, she knows EVERYTHING! However, watch your Owl in action. Their overwhelming compulsion to ‘show off’ their knowledge can easily alienate attendees and send them in search of a salesperson who knows how to listen.
Rabbit
Rabbit is the busiest creature in the Hundred Acre Woods. He’s always rushing around: planting seeds over here, pulling weeds over there, chasing crows and watering daffodils. There are a million and one tasks required to keep his beloved garden blooming, and they’re all very important.
You can always tell a Rabbit-style staffer. They’re the ones with a cell phone constantly in their ear, fingers flying over the keyboard as they check e-mails or text message the home office. They’re so obviously busy taking care of business that they can’t be bothered with trivial distractions — like talking to show attendees!
Tigger
Tigger is full of energy. He bounces around, springing from one thing that catches his attention to the next. Full of laughs, high spirits and infectious energy, Tiggers are a lot of fun to have around.
Put Tigger at a tradeshow, however, and you might have a problem. Enthusiasm and high energy can attract traffic to your exhibit, but without some focus and control (concepts foreign to most Tigger-types) there’s no way to capitalize on your crowds.
At this point, you might be feeling a little like Eeyore — down in the dumps. After all, with a booth full of Poohs, Piglets, Owls, Rabbits & Tiggers, your chances for success are looking pretty slim. Don’t despair! The hero of the Hundred Acre Woods is on his way!
Christopher Robin
The human companion to Winnie the Pooh and all of his furry friends, Christopher Robin encompasses the best traits of all five and adds a crucial element: perspective and understanding of how things actually work.
A Christopher Robin-style staffer combines Owl’s knowledge, Tigger’s enthusiasm and Pooh’s approachability with an understanding and appreciation for the tradeshow attendee. They realize the importance of giving all their attention to their visitor, setting aside the cell phone, the lap top –even the sandwich! — to focus on what’s really important.
Every exhibitor needs to have a Christopher Robin on their team, preferably more than one. Now’s the time to take a look at your team.
How many Christopher Robins do you have?
How many Poohs? Piglets? Tiggers?
What can you do to change the makeup in your Hundred Acre Woods?
(Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Owl, Eeyore, Rabbit, Christopher Robin and the Hundred Acre Woods are all ™ Disney)
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Mar
Athletes Train - Why Don’t You?
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Appearances can be deceiving. What you don’t see is the long, grueling hours of training and practice star athletes put in behind the scenes: the endless laps around the track with no one watching, the skill drills where that star player practices jump shot after jump shot after jump shot.
The same is true for exhibiting. The truly great exhibitors don’t just show up at the show and automatically know how to turn in a great performance. They’ve trained for the event, making sure that they’ve got a good grasp of the fundamental skills needed and the game-day strategy critical to ensure success.
What type of training routine does your exhibiting team have? Most companies, if they answered honestly, would have to say little to no time is devoted to practicing the skills needed to do a good job on the show floor. It’s assumed that the skills necessary to be a good salesman or manufacturer’s rep in the field will automatically transfer over into the show environment.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Someone who jogs everyday, even if they run for miles at a time, does not automatically turn into a top-notch marathon runner. You can work out in the weight room twice a week at the gym. That doesn’t mean you’re anywhere near ready to go compete in Olympic level power lifting!
There are some essential differences between the everyday routine your sales reps face and the high-pressure intense situation they encounter on the show floor. From the extremely limited amount of time your team has with each attendee to the length of the event to the sheer numbers of people one talks to in the course of the day, tradeshows are a demanding event. One needs to maintain lightning quick reflexes like a boxer while performing for hours on end like a marathon runner. The only way to combine these two seemingly disparate skill sets is by training.
If you want your team to break the ribbon, bring home the gold medal, claim the trophy, then you need to provide them with the training and practice opportunities they’ll need to succeed.
This training takes place ‘behind the scenes’ yet yields very visible results. Sharpening skills for tradeshows will also improve performance in the everyday sales environment: active listening, for example, will help your team focus on the customer, truly understand their needs, and deliver accordingly. This will deepen and reinforce existing relationships, as well as make establishing new relationships easier — after all, an existing customer will have no hesitation recommending a vendor who does so much for them!
For maximum results, training efforts should be consistent throughout the year, intensifying as major events draw closer. Consider having your own “Spring Training Camp” sessions before the exhibiting season begins, to refresh booth skills, learn new information, and familiarize your team with the product lines and demonstrations you’ll be featuring.
Spring Training is mandatory for the baseball crowd, and it should be mandatory for your team too! Nobody is too experienced, too important or too busy to do what is, at the core, the most important aspect of everyone’s job: focus on the customer. Additionally, training together can help form valuable team bonds, a critical resource when you’re functioning in a high pressure environment.
Many times, training is viewed as a valuable perk. This is especially true as the pool of employees skews younger: the folks entering the job market today tend to place a higher premium on knowledge for knowledge’s sake than previous generations did. They’re savvy enough to realize training comes with expectations of enhanced performance — but they also continually cite chances for education and career skills development as one of the factors they consider critical when choosing employers. If retaining your most valuable asset — your employees — is important to you, that’s just one more reason to put training on the schedule.
To recap: training is essential to ensure top notch performance for your team. For maximum results, provide training that is relevant, consistent, and of high value. Everyone should participate, with a focus on educating your staffers and strengthening team bonds.
That way, when it’s time for your team to take to the field, they too will turn in a top notch performance — and make it look like it’s the most natural thing in the world!
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Mar
This got me thinking about the two types of people: gamblers and planners. Both would like to have the big bag of cash, but they take different routes to achieve it. A gambler might plunk down a dollar — or two, or twenty, or two hundred — in hopes of winning big in a lottery, while the planner follows a less exciting route of saving and investing. At the end of the day, who’s more likely to have the big bucks? Chances are, it’d be the planner.
Tradeshow exhibiting works the same way. You can gamble on having a good show, approaching it in a frenzy because ‘everybody’s doing it’ and you’ve heard there’s big money to be had, or you can approach it methodically, making a plan, doing your research, and making those actions that are prudent and improve your bottom line.
Some gamblers win. That’s what keeps lotteries going, after all. Some exhibitors show up with only half an idea of what they’re doing, a horrible exhibit and only fledgling show skills, and yet still have a triumphant show. But the odds are against most gamblers. For every winner, there are thousands of losers. For every successful ‘We just wing it’ exhibitor, there are hundreds who look at the time and effort expended and realize they could have done much, much better — if only they’d taken the time to learn what they were doing. Are you willing to take that chance?
I’m not much of a gambler myself, but even I know you should never lay money on the table without knowing what’s at stake. Ask yourself, what could happen if I leave my tradeshow performance to chance?
You could luck out and have a fabulous show.
You could also:
- Miss out on great sales opportunities because your booth staffers didn’t ask the right questions.
- Alienate would be buyers with pushy sales tactics, off color humor, or crass booth behavior.
- Make any of a dozen common mistakes that cost companies customers.
- Ruin your standing in the industry by appearing inept and poorly prepared next to your peers.
- Discourage would-be partners from considering doing business with you: after all, you obviously don’t have your act together!
- And even more!
Losing this wager doesn’t appear so inconsequential anymore, does it? When the real life cost of poor show performance is spelled out, the planning route suddenly becomes far more attractive.
Ideally, tradeshow planning begins twelve to eighteen months before the event. This is the best way to ensure your staffers know what’s expected of them, and have time to develop and practice the skills they need to do the best job possible.
What happens if you’re within that window? Do you just throw the dice and hope for the best?
You can: or you can choose to do the best you can in the time you have. Any preparation, even a few hurried hours before the event, is better than none at all. Obviously, the more you have, the better off you are.
Priority items to cover include goals and objectives: Why are you at the show and what do you want to accomplish? Go over qualifying questions: what type of attendees should your staffers be spending time with, and what type of information do you want them to collect. Establish a lead collection and follow up procedure to maximize your return on the show.
All of this is obviously a lot of work — which is why the planner types start well in advance of the show. However, when you consider the alternative — winging it through one of the highest profile marketing exercises you’ll engage in all year — you’ve just got to ask yourself one question:
Do you feel lucky?
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Mar
It’s almost impossible to realize positive ROI when you don’t know how much you’re spending — and what you’re spending it on! If you ask most exhibitors what they think the largest expense associated with tradeshow participation is, chances are they’ll tell you the display space.
It’s true that exhibiting space is expensive. That 10X10 booth can set you back a pretty penny — and price tags go up for larger spaces and prime locations. However, exhibiting space itself is generally only 30% of the total cost associated with exhibiting.
That 30% of your budget is fairly fixed. A fabulous negotiator might be able to get show management to shave a few hundred off the price of exhibit space, but that’s the exception rather than the rule.
Instead, you’ll want to concentrate on that other 70% of your budget. The expenses that make up the bulk of your participation cost are, to some degree, variable. They’re under your control — which means, with time, planning, and oversight, you can keep them down. The lower your costs are, after all, the easier it will be to generate a positive ROI on your show!
The reality is, however, that most exhibitors don’t pay close attention — or any attention at all! — to some of the items that make up the remaining 70%. The cost of their show creeps steadily upward, bit by bit, as small charges mount up and up until they’re a sizable chunk of change. This is particularly common among new exhibitors — although it also plagues seasoned pros who fall prey to the assumption trap. This is when an exhibitor assumes that things will be done this year the way they’ve always been done previously. Like all assumptions, this one can prove costly!
Here are some of the items that make up that 70%, as well as some thoughts on how to keep these costs manageable.
Display Materials
Your display can make your show: attractively presenting your merchandise in an eye-catching and innovative way helps capture attendee interest and draw them to your booth. However, you want to make sure that you’re not overspending on your display. There’s the initial cost of your display, not to mention the storage and maintenance expense. Consider renting or leasing a display (especially if you are a first-time exhibitor or only attend one show a year): you can often get a high level of customization while saving money and reducing headaches.
Freight
Shipping displays, products, promotional literature, giveaway items and all the other show stuff to the tradeshow can eat up a lot of money. Consider your shipping options carefully. Take the time to do some comparison shopping. Who can offer you the best deal and ensure timely delivery? It does no good to save money if your material arrives after the show closes. Often, shipping companies have experts on staff who can help your crew pack material in the most cost-efficient manner possible. Again, a minor point, but one that can save you big money.
Show Services
Read your exhibitor manual! In there, you’ll find information detailing how and when you need to sign up for show services — items like electricity, floor coverings, and so on. The earlier you sign up, the more you’ll save. On average, costs go up by at least 25% for these services after the initial deadline passes. The closer you get to the actual show, the more you’re going to pay — and if you forget about needing utilities until you arrive on the show floor, you’ll pay top dollar.
This is one clear instance where planning ahead will save you a substantial amount of money.
Pre-show Promotion
Pre-show promotion is critical to your success. Show management often offers several free and low cost promotional venues: explore your options. This may include participating in a product display area, an Artist’s Alley, having your name included in category listings in the directory, website advertising and so on. Always consider: will participating in this effort help me reach the target audience I’m trying to reach? If you sell widgets and the show organizer is putting together a directory listing of Widget Sellers online and in the guidebook, and charging $35 to participate, it may be the best $35 you’ve ever spent.
Booth Staffers
Transporting, lodging, and feeding booth staffers can eat up a considerable chunk of change. Most people have a tendency to live a little grander when they’re on the company dime — you know they don’t order the $65 steak dinner at home!
Keeping your corporate culture in mind, you may want to introduce some restrictions into the booth staffing budget. Offering per diem meal allowances is one way, requiring receipts is another. Explore lodging options: some hotels offer convention specials if you can book early enough. Again, pre-planning is your best friend. Travel costs can fluctuate wildly, based on fuel prices and other variables beyond your control. Again, giving yourself enough time in the schedule to find good transportation deals can help control costs.
They say time is money. That’s certainly true when it comes to the tradeshow arena. By planning ahead and allowing yourself enough time to explore options, sign up for services, promote your participation, and other critical steps, you’ll be able to enjoy maximum results for minimal expense!
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Feb
Yet it is critical that our tradeshow performance be excellent. Your organization’s financial well being depends in part of what attendees learn about your company from your exhibit. How will you know, at the end of the day, what they thought of your booth?
This is where the mystery shopper comes in. By stopping by your exhibit and doing a little covert surveillance, the mystery shopper can provide you with a critical and fair assessment of your performance.
This skilled professional will assess your booth on many levels. Was your team as polished as you thought they were? Was that clever signage really that funny? Did the giveaway items appeal or were they just so much more stuff to haul around the show floor? The mystery shopper can tell you.
Getting an objective opinion of your exhibit is one very valuable and valid reason to hire a mystery shopper. It’s not the only one. There’s another reason to consider hiring a mystery shopper, especially if you have a larger company with several display teams.
When the cat’s away, the mouse will play. It’s an old saying, with more than a little modern truth to it. Any time the boss is out of the office, for example, employees tend to slack off a little bit. It’s a good time to chat and surf the web.
What happens when it’s not the boss who’s away, but the employees? If you’ve packed up your sales team and shipped them across the country to a tradeshow, how do you know they’re performing up to your standards?
We all like to hope that professionalism and responsibility will carry the day. Employees who do a good job all the rest of the year will probably continue to do well in the tradeshow environment. It might be a safe bet — but do you want to take chances with your company’s reputation?
If the answer to that question is no, you have a few options.
The first is to go to the show yourself, and keep an eye on things. If you can’t go, you could delegate this duty to a trusted supervisor.
If that doesn’t work, or you want a wholly objective opinion, you can hire a mystery shopper. Mystery shoppers walk the show floor, and will visit your display. Without identifying themselves, they assess your team’s performance. Were they greeted promptly? Did your team ask qualifying questions? Was the level of professionalism and product knowledge displayed in keeping with your company’s expectations?
The mystery shopper will let you know. These professionals are not only objective, the best ones are well versed in what makes an effective tradeshow exhibit. Simply knowing that a mystery shopper will be stopping by the booth can act as a de facto ‘cat’ for your booth staffers. When they don’t know who the important attendee they have to impress is, all attendees become important. That’s good news for your company!
You might also opt not to let your team know about the mystery shopper. This way, the mystery shopper will get to assess the exhibit as it really is, without any special pretense or put-on behaviors. If your team is doing a good job, the mystery shopper will see that. If things aren’t as you might wish them to be, the mystery shopper will see that too.
The mystery shopper can let you know of any performance problems. The first step to improved performance is to have an accurate assessment of the current exhibiting situation. This assessment will allow you to identify weak areas and pinpoint performance problems — information that’s critical to have if you want to formulate solutions. That’s what a mystery shopper can provide.
From critical exhibit assessment to objective performance review, the mystery shopper provides a critical service to the exhibitor. Everyone can benefit from having a fresh set of eyes on them, from fledgling exhibitors to the ‘old pros’. Consider having a mystery shopper work with you on your next show. You’ll be amazed what you can learn.
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Feb
To continually improve, you have to have a very clear and concrete idea of where you are right now. An objective measurement of performance is the only way to plan for and achieve an improved result at subsequent shows. It serves as your baseline.
How do you get this baseline measurement? It’s a two part process, incorporating both measurable and intangible criteria. The combination of these two criteria gives you the most comprehensive picture possible of your performance.
Let’s start with the measurable criteria. These are your goals and objectives, spelled out in black and white. If you say that you want to do $X in sales or collect Y number of leads, then you can compare your results against your goal. It’s simple. You met your goal, you exceeded your goal, or you fell short.
However, there are other factors in tradeshow performance to consider. These are the intangible, hard to measure things that affect your show: staff performance, booth design, general ambiance, and a host of other criteria. You need to know how you’re performing before you can improve that performance.
Where can you get information on these intangible criteria? After all, there’s no magic ball where you can look and see how you did. Tradeshow exhibiting is not like Monday Night Football, with cameras tracking every move and instant replay only a moment away.
This is where a mystery shopper’s services can be critical. By providing an objective, focused analysis of your exhibit, a mystery shopper can pinpoint weaknesses, identify strengths and on occasion, offer suggestions for improvement.
It’s important to take the mystery shopper’s report into account. However, it is not the only point of view you’ll want to consider. Often, valuable information can come from your booth staffers themselves. During your end-of-day debriefing session, go over what worked, what didn’t, and what challenges arose during the day. Take time to meet with your staffers a short time after the show as well — giving them time to reflect upon the event and gain some perspective may yield up new insights.
Another source of information might be your customers. Offer your best accounts — and some new clients that you want to reinforce your relationship with — an opportunity to critique your team’s performance. This can be done as a simple e-mail survey or during a follow up phone call. Often, an attractive incentive item can persuade people to share their opinions with you when they would otherwise keep quiet.
You may wish to offer an anonymous comment area on your organization website as well. Some people may very well have commentary to make, but fear to say anything as they feel it may jeopardize a profitable business or professional relationship. If you do this, be prepared for commentary that’s markedly harsher than you’d otherwise get — people will say things behind the cloak of anonymity that they’d never dare voice otherwise. If you offer an anonymous option, though, you have to be fair about it — no sneaky tracking of IP addresses to later ferret out who said what!
Combining the mystery shopper’s report the information garnered from your staffers and customers will give you the most comprehensive picture of the intangible factors that influence show performance. Coupled with the measurable criteria, you’ve got your baseline measurement.
Collecting this information is only the first step. You have to consider what the information is saying and decide how it will influence your future actions. For example, if you find that you’ve fallen short on the number of leads that you want to collect and your intangible criteria indicates that you had surly booth staffers reluctant to engage with the public, you’ve got a clear cause and effect relationship spelled out for you –and an obvious point indicating where training is needed. Additionally, these reports have historical value: comparing this year’s reports with previous years will show you in black and white how the team’s performance has evolved over the years and the clear value of your training efforts.
Data in isolation is useless. If you’re going to compile for reports just for the sake of compiling reports, don’t bother. However, if you’re going to use this information to identify problem areas and take actions to improve performance, you’ll find your efforts well rewarded.
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Feb
1. Go Over the Goals
Booth staffers function best when they have full knowledge of what as an organization, you’re trying, to achieve at the show. A show where you’re launching a new product and want to raise brand awareness is, in some ways, a fundamentally different exercise than a show where you’re simply attempting to reinforce existing relationships and move as much product as possible. Meet with your team and spell out exactly what you hope to accomplish. This is a good time to let them know what you expect on an individual as well as an organizational level.
2. Play Trivial Pursuit
How well does your team know your products and services? How about your company’s structure, organization, and public image? You might be surprised. Test your team with a friendly game modeled after Trivial Pursuit™ or Jeopardy™. Instead of random trivia questions, use questions centered on your products and services. Make sure these questions range from the everyday — detailing features and benefits — to the relatively off-topic — are your products manufactured in the country? If not, where, and under what conditions? This exercise will reinforce product knowledge and help your team be prepared for whatever questions come their way.
3. Body Language Bingo
This is a fun exercise. Snap pictures (or use pictures you already have) at a tradeshow and industry event. You want images of people slouching, eating, ignoring attendees, chatting with peers, and otherwise behaving badly at shows. (I wouldn’t recommend using pictures of your own people, in the interest of company harmony, but that’s up to you!)
Create little bingo cards detailing the bad behaviors, and distribute them to your team. Display the images on a screen and have them identify problem behaviors. Again, this will reinforce to your team what they shouldn’t be doing. For a little fun, give the first person to call “Bingo” a prize.
4. Sew Their Pockets Shut
Ok, you don’t really want to sew their pants pocket shut — but consider distributing double sided sticky tape that your staffers can use to close their pockets. This will encourage them to keep their hands out of their pockets, a behavior that tradeshow attendees consistently identify as unattractive and off-putting.
Remember to play fair. Give your booth staffers something productive to do with their hands to overcome the natural tendency to fidget. Often, having something official to do with their hands relieves a lot of anxiety.
5. The Name Game
Relationship building is easier and more effective when you use the other person’s name. Study after study has shown that people universally respond positively to hearing their own name, as long as it doesn’t seem affected and forced.
Do role playing exercises focused on learning the other person’s name and working it naturally into conversation. To make it more realistic, have both parties wear fake ‘show badges’ with a name that’s not their own.
6. Do the Demo
Before the show, have your team members actually practice the demo you expect them to perform during the show. This gives them time to familiarize themselves with the equipment — critical, as many salespeople generally aren’t ‘hands on’ with the merchandise — and become comfortable demonstrating it.
7. Teach the Technology
If you’re using card scanners or other lead gathering technology, schedule a time to actually teach your team how to use it. You want your team to be proficient with the equipment and not spend valuable, limited show time trying to figure out how to work the scanner.
8. Finesse Follow Up
Maximize the return you realize on the show by following up on every lead. Delegate responsibilities before the show and introduce an element of accountability: simply by letting your team know what they’re expected to do and when they’re expected to do it, you’ll see a marked increase in return.
You see? That wasn’t so hard! These effortless exercises don’t require much in the way of equipment or money, just a little time. Considering the impact that enhanced tradeshow performance can have on your bottom line, isn’t it worth it?
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Feb
That’s why networking events, such as dinners or organized off-site outings, are so important. Even though these events are primarily in social in nature, they’re the ideal place to start or reinforce relationships with your clients and potential clients.
However, networking events can also create high levels of anxiety, especially among exhibitors who don’t know what they’re expected to accomplish or how they’re supposed to conduct themselves to make the most of the opportunity. You don’t want to flub it — nor have your team flub it for you.
Here are ten tips your team needs to know to shine like stars — even when they’re not on the showfloor!
1. Relax
Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat as needed. If you’re nervous, take some time to meditate, center, or do whatever you need to do to calm yourself before getting to the event.
People come to networking events to get to know you in a social setting. The focus is on fun and conversation: two areas where most people can shine without stressing themselves out.
2. Listen more than you talk
There’s nothing in this world people love more than talking about themselves. At the same time, there’s nothing rarer than a good listener. Stifle the impulse to talk, talk, talk and focus on being a good listener. Ask the person you’re with about themselves: what they do, what hobbies they enjoy, and so on. Keep it personal and light — you don’t want to come off like you’re conducting an interrogation.
3. Take your time
This tip is especially pertinent if you’re at a show overseas. Most Americans rush through everything, including eating and having a good time. There’s really no rush. You’re not going to collect a prize for being the first one to clean your plate. Take your time, and eat slowly.
4. Stay sober
Even though it’s a casual setting, the people at the networking event will be judging you and your company by how you conduct yourself. Remaining sober will make it much easier to create a good impression. Skip the alcoholic drinks — especially if your guest opts not to visit the bar. Fewer people are drinking these days, and no one will raise an eyebrow at a coke with a slice of lemon in it.
5. Forgo fancy food
You may have gourmet tastes. This isn’t the time to show them off. Order simple, easy-to-eat food. You don’t want to slop sauce on your shirt or wrestle with claw crackers in front of someone you hardly know. After all, they might not remember your sparkling conversational skills — but they’ll always remember that you dumped the stuffed shells in your lap!
6. Be nice to the waitstaff
Waiters, servers, waitresses, bartenders and all the other people who work the facility where the networking event is being held are people too. It behooves you to treat them as such. Be polite and courteous, even if you don’t think anyone is watching. This is especially true if something’s gone wrong — a mistaken order, cold food, or any of the million other things that happen in a restaurant. How you treat the *little* people says a lot about how you can be expected to treat the *big* people.
7. Shut off the cell phone
Your intention for the evening is to get to know the people you’re with. You want their time and attention. That means it’s a good idea to shut off your cell phone — there’s nothing ruder than constantly interrupting a meal to answer the phone and expecting them to hold on while you chat.
8. Skip the gossip
Badmouthing your competition is the sure sign of an amateur. Avoid the temptation to dig up dirt on your industry colleagues or indulge in idle gossip. It’s far too easy to pick up a negative reputation for indulging in this kind of behavior — not to mention the risk of alienating peers and colleagues you might someday need on your side.
9. Leave the literature behind
Don’t bring brochures, catalogs, or samples to the networking event with you. If it turns out that the people you meet at the networking events are interested in these things, they’ll either make a point of picking them up from you at the show, or you can arrange to send it to them. On the other hand, you want to make sure you have a good supply of business cards on hand so people can get in contact with you.
10. Pick up the tab
If you’re the one entertaining, pick up the tab. Sometimes you’ll run into guests who can’t accept — their employers forbid them from accepting free meals or other gifts — so just follow their lead. Otherwise however, pay for the meal. It’s a nice gesture that shows you value the relationship.
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