Small things can be particularly significant, especially at trade shows. The clients’ desire and decision to come to your booth is created based on feelings. “If I give my time to this company, is it going to be pleasant and useful to me?” is the process our brain and its emotional center go through. Create a good atmosphere by avoiding the following mistakes!Small things can be particularly significant, especially at trade shows. The clients’ desire and decision to come to your booth is created based on feelings. “If I give my time to this company, is it going to be pleasant and useful to me?” is the process our brain and its emotional center go through. Create a good atmosphere by avoiding the following mistakes!
This usually says a lot about your attitude toward the trade show, the visitors, and management. The clients can also read between the lines to judge your appreciativeness. If you see these kinds of things happening, go back to the basics and think about your goals and why you are at the trade show in the first place
Clients who come to the trade show with the intent to purchase often arrive as soon as the trade show opens, because they know that they can handle their business without rushing. Luckily, you will never know that the client with the best potential passed by your booth just before you arrived.
Sure, it may be nice to enjoy a cup of coffee in a new environment, but this could prove to be a pretty expensive cafe for your company. The clients probably won’t want to disturb your morning routine, and instead move politely to the next (competitor’s) stand.
“Great game last night, by the way.” Things that are not work-related should not be part of the warmup routine for your booth. Pretty soon your entire team may be involved in analyzing the game. The client will soon see that they are playing for a different club.
Unless you are participating in an adult entertainment industry event, your sales personnel probably should not be flashing skin at the clients!
We are all used to eating at a certain time, so why should we change our routine for one trade show. And while we are waiting for service, we have time to catch up and discuss the past few years with old colleagues. Besides, the booth has all sorts of brochures and contact forms if the one sales person covering for the entire team does not have time to engage everyone.
As your clients probably cannot read for themselves, you should demonstrate your expertise by reciting the same exact content that can be found in the brochure. There’s no point in spending time asking questions and listening to the clients; just present the same quick sales pitch to everyone.
If you are not fully convinced that an interested client will still remember you after visiting dozens of booths, you can ask for their contact information and discuss contacting them after the trade show.
Having empathy at a trade show means that even the clients understand that the sales people need moments of relaxation during the long day, sitting comfortably while staring at the screen of a computer or tablet. A polite client will not disturb a sales person who is taking some sorely needed personal time.
What could be a better way to communicate your client-oriented approach to potential buyers who have arranged their schedule to have enough time to tour all the interesting suppliers before the trade show ends and paid for the privilege. Luckily, your competitors are still around to help them.
These are small things, but unfortunately many companies keep making blunders related to these aspects. When you take care of these, you will have the attention of the client, create an impression of quality, and facilitate the creation of customer relationships and trade opportunities! And one last thing: you will stand out from your competition in a positive light!
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Familiarity creates security, but it can also be expensive.
You may have sometimes wondered why your company is once again attending a trade show, even though the results have not been what you hoped for in the past. I can tell you that you are not the only one thinking this. Doing the same things in the same way over and over again will provide the same results!
Trade show after-sales
The potential clients who visit your booth are unlikely to contact you! It is the sales person's job to contact future clients as soon as possible after the trade show. Other marketing ventures should support the establishment of customer relationships and sales.