The Exhibitor's Resource – Trade Show Marketing Blog

When preparing yourself or your booth staff for an upcoming trade show, it is important to consider what questions you should be asking visitors when they enter your space. Here are some tips to help you prepare:

• Come up with several direct, but open-ended questions to ask of booth visitors that will first qualify them, and then engage them if they’re your target.
• Encourage qualified visitors to tell you what’s on their minds and ask them what business problems they have that your offering could address.
• Stay away from opening questions like “May I help you?” “How is the show treating you?” and “What do you do?”
• Ask good follow-up or probing questions to find out more.
• Make sure your answers to attendee questions intrigue and feed the conversation. A conversation is about getting information as well as giving information.
• Rehearse your booth presence with some role playing with your colleagues, you’ll be surprised how much better-prepared you’ll be after a dry run.

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A very popular feature within trade show display spaces is the product demo. Depending on the product being demonstrated, this could be computer-based or a hands-on demo with the actual product that the exhibitor is introducing to show attendees. Either way, booth staff will benefit from rehearsing their presentation. Even seasoned veteran sales staff who know the product inside and out need to put the time into demonstrating its features and functions in front of an audience to ensure that everything goes smoothly at the show. A test audience can also give feedback about how clear the demo was, suggest changes to help comprehension, and give feedback about what details might benefit from call-outs on supplemental graphics or handouts. Does putting the product in the hands of the audience to pass around help, or is it a distraction? Should audience members be invited to “drive” the computer-based demo? If AV is involved, will it be visible to all of the expected crowd? Run-throughs will help staff answer these questions ahead of the show, and help them get comfortable with their time “on stage.”

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No Sitting!
There is no reason for booth staff to sit while in the exhibit space, unless your exhibit space has a lounge area or conference are and you’re having a productive conversation with a prospect or client. Booth staff need to be up and actively reaching out to potential visitors. Sitting behind a table creates a barrier between booth staff and visitors. Booth staff should wear the most comfortable professional looking shoes they have. And schedule your staff so that they can take regular breaks to rest those legs and feet.

Absolutely No Eating or Drinking!
Schedule breaks and lunches for you and your staff so that staffers can have snacks or meals somewhere else other than in the booth space. And leave the coffee cups and soda cans in the food court, you’ll be able to get more at the next break. And think twice about that stick of gum, a mint might be the better option.

No mobile phone usage or texting.
Of course these days it’s very easy to quickly check your email or txt messages on a smart phone, but while you’re representing your company in your booth space, you shouldn’t reply to those messages or receive or place calls. Set your email outgoing message to let your clients know that you’ll be at the show, and will return their calls ASAP if you happen to be unavailable when they call. Adhering to this rule will ensure that you are available to make eye contact with show attendees and effectively engage them in conversation when there is interest.

Never leave an booth unattended.
Be sure to schedule booth staff so that breaks and meals are accommodated. It’s wise to try and have two staffers in even the smallest booth space, just so that there is some overlap in case one person must leave. An unattended booth during show hours is the just like a store being closed during the posted “open” hours. Again, you’ve spent enough money to reserve the booth space, design and set up your display, get staff to the show, so get the most our of ever expo hour with a staffed booth.

Don’t neglect housekeeping.
All booth staffers, no matter how much of a super-star they may be, need to be vigilant about keeping the booth space neat and tidy. Keep trash cans out of sight, personal belongings in storage areas, pick up any trash that appears in the booth, place furniture back into the default locations when visitors leave, replace any light bulbs that may burn out, vacuum the carpet at the beginning of expo hours, and generally do whatever you can to keep your space looking its best.

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What’s the best way to get prospects to visit you at your office? Set up shop on the trade show floor! Many sales professionals would jump through a lot of hoops to have hundreds of qualified prospects visit their office in just a few days. Yet some sales people are less enthusiastic about staffing their company’s trade show display. Are expo days long? Yes, they are! Are your feet tired by the end? If you’re not gelling, they may be. But look at what you get out of it: lots and lots of leads, many introductions, several good starter conversations, a few really promising business relationships, and a handful of sales or pending sales. Is it worth it? Absolutely! You just need to think of your trade show display as your office away from office. Or showroom away from showroom. Would you show up for your work day without appointments on the calendar? Of course not! Be sure to set appointments at your show just as you would at the office. You need to get on your prospect’s dance card. You need to make time for existing clients. Reach out, be a good host, and make the most of your satellite office!

Office Away from Office

Popularity: 18% [?]