17 Trade Show Tips
Trade shows are an incredibly effective promotional and sales tool. With proper preparation, you can make the show work for you! Here are 17 helpful tips to maximize your time and financial investment, and generate new business opportunities from any trade show you attend.
1. Set goals. What do you want to achieve by attending the show? Sell a certain amount of inventory? Launch a new product? You can have more than one goal, but make sure you are clear about what you want to achieve.
2. Be selective. Only participate in trade show(s) that will give your business the best ROI for your goal. If your goal is on-site sales, participating in a big, splashy trade show with a dozen other vendors that sell similar products is not a good idea. Instead, choose a trade show that targets your audience and has the best chance of achieving your goal. Find out what the trade show’s objectives are – investigate and evaluate the audience.
3. Scope out your space. Find out everything you can about your space: where it is located on the floor, what exhibitors will be around it, whether it’s a high traffic or low traffic area, and the physical conditions of your booth space (e.g. lighting).
4. Target your audience. Who are you targeting with your display? Retail customers? Wholesale buyers? Other businesses in your industry? Different audiences “shop” trade shows differently and have different needs.
5. Advertise in advance. Put the word out that you’re participating in a trade show invite clients, prospects, suppliers, media and other contacts to stop by your booth. (Be sure you give them all the details, e.g. booth number.) Advertise your upcoming trade show on your website.
6. Alert the press. Find out which press are covering the trade show and the angle they are covering. If it is a good fit with your goals, ask them to include your company’s name as an example or third party resource.
7. Think neatness and visibility. Make sure your booth is organized and tidy, and your prices are clearly marked. Display some of your products at eye-level to draw prospects to your booth.
8. Build the impression of demand. Prospects are more likely to want your products if they think they’re in high demand. Place a strategic SOLD sign on one or two items. You might even leave a display spot empty to give the impression that you’ve been too busy to restock.
9. Pull a crowd to your booth. Use an interactive display, such as a quiz, computer game, contest drawing or scheduled demonstration. It doesn’t need to be fancy to get people’s attention and create a cluster around your booth vs. someone’s booth.
10. Give away promotional items. Small, useable items are best. Print your company’s name and telephone number on promotional items to remind prospects about your business. Make sure prospects have to walk through or into your booth to get the item.
11. Offer a prize drawing or contest. This is a great way to collect contact information from prospects. Give away promotional items to encourage participation.
12. Make it easy for prospects to get information. Use signs to communicate pricing, minimum orders and other basic information. This will save time and prevent prospects from leaving your booth if you are occupied with another customer.
13. Have plenty of promotional literature on hand. Make it easy for prospects to find you after the show. Bring a good supply of colored flyers and brochures as well as order forms, price sheets and business cards to hand out to prospects. Prepare press kits for trade media.
14. Be ready to do business. Have a good supply of order forms, pens, credit card slips, and anything else you need to conduct sales and track orders.
15. Occupy your booth at all times. Make sure someone is always at your booth to greet prospects, engage them in conversation and answer questions.
16. Actively engage prospects. The trick is to draw prospects to your booth without intimidating or overwhelming them. Make sure your body language is friendly (ex. give prospects a friendly welcome, don’t cross your arms). Find out what aspect of your business they’re most interested in and be prepared to offer specific solutions.
17. Follow-up promptly. Email, snail mail or telephone prospects as soon as possible after the show. The faster you follow-up with prospects the more your business will stand out from the rest.