Articles by Sondra
Click one of the links below or just scroll down for tips on increasing your trade show return on investment.
» Advertising Specialties: Give-A-Ways or Throw-A-Ways?
» How Not to Exhibit Yourself
» Exhibit Smarter
» So You Have to Work the Company Booth
» Three Little Words
ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES: GIVE-A-WAYS OR THROW-A-WAYS?
When is the last time you looked at the company's name on that pen you've got sticking out of your shirt pocket? I'll bet you don't remember the company, what it makes and where or when you accrued it. What about all those snurffs, stickers, pencils and plastic bags, how many of them actually made it back to your office, are you still using them?
As an exhibitor how many of your giveaways have ended up as throw-a-ways? Stop throwing your advertising specialty dollars away. If you give something out at your booth make it something that ties-in with your product or advertising campaign.
Be specific, know who you want to reach and qualify your trade show prospects before giving anything away. Use the giveaway as a "thank you for stopping and hearing our presentation" gift. This will enable you to give away fewer but more exclusive gifts to your target audience, the decision makers.
By indiscriminately handing out freebies you run the risk of overcrowding your exhibit with trinket seekers, while a qualified buyer might just pass you by to avoid the crowd; this defeats your purpose. The ideal situation is to know your target audience, then motivate them to come visit your booth with a pre-show promotion. You can increase the effectiveness of an ad specialty buy tying it in with your companies theme, slogan or marketing campaign.
If you want to giveaway pens make it one half of a pen and pencil set. Send the pencil to your target audience with a reminder to "erase your losses with..." or "pencil in profit by stopping at..." Then go on to describe what they must do to receive the second half of their gift. Such as, "plan to stop by and hear how we can help you write more business, a five minute presentation after which you will receive the PEN to start you on the way to increased profit ". At this point you should make it clear that they must bring the pencil with them in order to receive the complete set. The more commitment you are able to obtain from a visitor the better your chances of finalizing a sale.
If you still believe you must give something to everyone who stops by your booth, put the giveaway in the back of the booth. Use the giveaway to entice people to enter, then present it to them only after they have allowed you to ask them some qualifying/probing questions in order to discover if they really do have a need for your product or service.
If you are looking for show visibility try giving away large plastic bags, that provide eye catching graphics and copy that includes your booth number.
If your trade show objective is to develop a mailing list consider offering a giveaway to entrants of a drawing, game or any promotion requiring involvement. To refine this further, ask those all important qualifying questions before entering the visitors name. Remember that old expression "there is no free lunch". It's true, if they want to win the prize they'll gladly answer your questions.
To create a lasting impression try calling on your qualified prospects after the show with a personalized gift. Make the gift something with their name on it, something of value that will be used for a long time. This serves two purposes, it gets the salesman in the door and creates lasting memorability by keeping your companies name in the forefront of the prospects mind.
When used correctly, advertising specialties can motivate people to visit your booth, reward them for spending time with you and communicate a valuable message that lasts.
HOW NOT TO EXHIBIT YOURSELF
How not to exhibit yourself. This phrase comes from the comic actor John Cleese and his training film of the same name...It says it all. How many times have you walked the trade show isles and wished you had your camera along to document the outlandish actions some exhibitors engage in. That's why trade shows are "show-business" because you are on show as long as you're in view of the visitors.
No yawning, bored expression, pacing or fidgeting will do. Sitting, eating, smoking and reading in the booth are even worse. I've seen and photographed them all...even sleeping. It is of primary importance to be aware that your image reflects the company's image. Nonverbal communication plays an important role at trade shows. Research tells us that over 90% of communication is how you act, look and sound. It takes 10 seconds to pass a 10 foot booth. In less than that time the visitor decides whether he or she wants to talk with you. Your professionalism on all levels can convince a prospect to stop, listen, and choose your company over the competition. Keep a pleasant facial expression. Avoid negative body stances such as "The Executioner" (legs apart and arms crossed on chest with a scowl on your brow) and "The Barker" (standing in the isle and pulling people into the booth). Practice a positive body stance: Stand with your feet slightly apart, centered under your shoulders, knees flexible, shoulders relaxed and hands open at your sides. Hold a lead form or brochure to keep you from clasping your hands in front of you in the "Fig Leaf" position or retreating to the crossed armed "Executioner" stance.
Position yourself near (one to one and one half feet in from) the carpet line. Greet all visitors who make eye contact or step into your booth. Being overly aggressive and pulling uninterested people in from the isles is sure to scare even your best prospects off. Concentrate on the following nonverbal communications tips to make an overall professional impression. Be consistent on all channels-Body-Voice and Word.
- Smile, you may fool yourself into feeling better than you do.
- Use the visitors name, people like to hear there name.
- Start with direct eye contact.
- Nod your head to show interest in what the visitor is saying.
- Don't fiddle with coins, bracelets, keys, tie or other objects, you will appear to be ill at ease.
- No sitting, eating, drinking, smoking allowed.
- Don't pace, hover or pounce on visitors.
- Don't stand on the carpet line like a prison guard or carnival barker.
- Maintain a relaxed body stance.
- Position yourself about 1 & 1/2 feet in from the carpet line.
- Remember, it is your job to get the conversation started.
In the trade show arena people come to talk with people and to get answers they need to make buying decisions. The most dazzling display won't help sell your products if your nonverbal message communicates "Stay away, we don't want your business". By following these easy tips on "How To Exhibit Yourself" your booth will function as a highly professional selling tool to increase your trade show sales.
EXHIBIT SMARTER
Of course you want to be successful at exhibiting. You need trade shows for:
- Prospecting for new business
- Converting interest to sales
- Increasing your existing business
- Introducing new products and services
- Reaching a target audience
- Image
These are all good reasons for exhibiting. Marketing through trade shows can be a very frustrating experience for anyone who doesn't know the basics. Here are a few things you need to keep in mind:
Develop your trade show plan in advance. This takes some work but the results will be worth it. You should begin your planning at least three months before the show.
Get the full support of upper management. With their support everyone from sales representatives to sales and marketing will provide you with the information and support you require for success.
Research industry shows. Over the years the exhibitor and attendee bases change. Make sure the shows you are exhibiting in and are considering are the right ones for your product or service.
Read and Re-read your show manual. There are deadlines to meet. Missed dates will cost you time, money and aggravation.
Develop a marketing plan for each show. Your trade show marketing objectives should change with each show. Know what you want to accomplish and go for it.
Let your prospects know you will be exhibiting. Check with show management perhaps they will provide art work or actual materials you can use in trade ads and as envelope stuffers and mailers.
Take advantage of the show press room. Drop off press releases and press kits before the show opening. If you have something news worthy to say send out releases to the trades and follow-up with a phone call to assure coverage.
Train your sales force to work the booth effectively. Hire a good consultant to conduct a workshop on trade show selling. Once your staff is proficient at meeting, greeting and qualifying you will see an amazing increase in inquiries that are converted to sales.
Follow-up on all leads promptly. Get the requested information to the prospect within one week after the show. If you have worked your booth effectively they will be waiting to receive it.
Telemarket for success. Call those prospects within one week after they have received the requested information. Again, if you are working your booth correctly they will respond to your call.
SO YOU HAVE TO WORK THE COMPANY BOOTH
So you have to work the company booth ... what a bore. Think of all the things you could be doing instead. Who are you going to contact anyway? You know the company is only exhibiting because the competition is. What a waste of your time.
Sound familiar? How many times have you heard or said this? You're not alone, some companies still feel this way. Trade shows are comprehended as being something they have to do, versus something they want to do. Fortunately for all concerned this attitude is changing fast.
When I first started my consulting business, 16 years ago, convincing companies they needed training for selling in the trade environment was an up-hill battle. Most exhibitors were happy just showing up and hoping for the best. At that time any thoughts of qualifying or lead tracking were almost unheard of. In other words, most exhibitors didn't know how poorly they were performing because they were mirroring each others bad habits. Their attitude was, "If everyone is doing it how can it be wrong?"
Today exhibiting and marketing through trade shows has become sophisticated business. The continually rising exhibit costs forced companies to take a closer l ook at the trade show medium. In doing so they came to the realization that unique marketing and selling skills were required to maximize their investment.
Trade shows are more important than ever in the marketing mix. Research ranks trade shows number 2 behind direct selling. With the rise of internet buying and selling trade shows become even more important. People need to see and touch products along with building relationships.
Hi-tech is great, but the hi-touch of trade show interaction can never be replaced.
All of these facts and figures spell opportunities for you. The opportunity to make more sales calls during a three day show than you could in a whole month on the road. If your company is committing money and effort to exhibiting properly shouldn't you return the favor? After all, it is a proven fact that trade shows can dramatically cut the cost of getting a sale.
By being assertive and starting a conversation with someone who makes eye contact and by asking a few non-threatening questions you can get started on the road to increasing sales through trade shows.
"May I Help you" and "Would you like to take this literature alone with you" no longer passes muster. It is more than likely to elicit a "no" answer and where do you go from there? By asking opening questions the visitor can't answer with a "yes" or "no" such as "How are you enjoying the show?" or "What attracted you to our booth?" serves a double purpose by getting the visitor involved and putting him or her at ease allowing you to advance the conversation to more probing questions. Such as: What do you do for your company?, How do you plan to use this product?, when do you plan to make this purchase? and Are you involved in the decision to purchase this product? This type of questioning requires an involvement on the visitors part while giving you time to discover If they are a qualified buyer or just a casual looker. If they fall into the looker category you want to disengage quickly and move on to the next visitor.
Effective time management is the key to exhibit success. In other words your goal at the trade show is to talk to as many people as possible for short periods of time to ascertain which visitors you want to spend quality time with after the show. Consider hiring a trade show trainer to help you and your staff convert your field selling techniques to the trade show floor. Using trade shows as a prospecting vehicle rather than a "show and tell" forum will result in increased sales for both you and your company.
THREE LITTLE WORDS
A highly successful salesman once said "People want to hear less of how it came to be and more of what's in it for me." I agree, especially in trade show selling. In this unique environment you have between two and five minutes to get your story across, why confuse the prospect with clutter.
Trade show selling is a highly condensed form of selling. You don't want to waste a prospects time buy going into: How big your company is, the size of your new plant and the R & D that went into your product. Get right to the point, sell the benefits, what is your product is going to do for the prospect. Is it going to save money, increase sales or make him/her a hero to the boss? Benefits are what's in it for them and that's what they want to hear...Benefit, Benefit, Benefit three little but very important words.
When selling, most people take it for granted that the prospect can figure out what the product benefit is. Wrong! Never assume that your prospect will easily get the point, just because you know the answer. Don't make the visitor guess how heor she can benefit from your product. Every feature must be tied to a benefit. State the feature first then the benefit. Be careful of those weak benefits, like less downtime/more productivity. They miss the real benefit, saving money. For example, if a grinding tool grinds faster than the competition it means that the prospect can grind more tools per hour, thereby increasing profits for the company. The prospect needs to here this, because increasing profits will make him a hero to upper management and that's what will stick out in his mind. That's what's in it for him, saving money, getting noticed and maybe even a promotion or raise.
Some very important words to use when selling on the trade show floor are:
Advantage: They will have an advantage over the competition if they buy your product.
Profit: There is more profits to be made if this product or service is purchased.
Save: The buyer will save money by buying now.
Service: Repairs and complaints are taken care of quickly without a hassle.
Benefit: What's in it for them...Money, Power, Fun etc.
Productive: It will produce.
Problem/Solve: Show and sell how your product will solve their problem?
Value: A good value, too valuable to pass up.
These power words will help you emphasize the benefits of ownership of your product or service. The more the prospect hears "What's in it for me", the easier it will be to ask for and get that order.
Power words cost nothing to use but offer tremendous return on your investment. Be a successful exhibitor, learn to use these words to attract attention, interest and increase sales, and remember to sell those benefits.