The purpose of having a trade show booth is to make contact with potential clients and reconnect with existing clients too. It is also a great opportunity to meet other vendors there that might have the potential for future work relationships or become a walking advertisement for your firm. 

To have a successful trade show experience it is fundamentally important to have a unified vision of the goals and purpose for being there in the first place.

To determine this, let’s first consider that your service may not be something that gets sold in the context of a trade show booth.  Unlike some fancy new vacuum cleaner that people can come into the booth and try and buy on the spot! Your service is a bit more complicated.  Knowing this, your goals can be laid out to make sense for who you are and what you do.

Whatever your product or service a few goals for any trade show include:

1. 1.Make contact with potential new clients
   

2. 2.Reconnect with existing clients
   

3. 3.Bring in as many people as possible from your firm to be a part of the experience, thus allowing your people to be a part of “your story”
   

4. 4.Get smarter by attending sessions offered at the event
   

5. 5.Help other people get smarter by speaking at as many sessions as you can
   

Collectively all these things are like planting seeds that over time might grow into something important -- a new client relationship!

To accomplish these goals you don’t have to transform yourself into a snake oil salesman but instead think of yourself as an ambassador for your company.  You are the brand!

If we accept the goals for the trade show, let’s look at some things that will help to create a positive booth experience:

1. 1.Stand don’t sit
   

2. 2.Observe and practice the 80/20 rule: Listen 80% of the time and talk 20% of the time
   

3. 3.Do your homework.  You need to have a strategy in place before the trade show begins -- who do we want to meet and make contact with.  Make a list of existing clients and the key people who will be there from those districts.  Next, make a list of target clients and make a quick look cheat sheet for everyone to brush up on who is who.
   

4. 4.Reach Beyond the Booth!  Don’t schedule people to just be in the booth at a given time.  Schedule people to go to presentations and to walk around the trade show to see how other people approach their booth.
   

5. 5.Don’t spend all your time talking to each other!  If you are talking to each other then you will miss key people as they walk by. 
   

6. 6.Remember the point of the trade show booth--to make contact!  You don’t have to sell in this instance but instead create a contact with another person who will now know who you. If you make a good impression they will remember that!  “Oh he’s the guy whose son is an eagle scout like my kid” or “Oh that’s the guy that knew we won state in girls soccer” which leads to “You know I like that guy” which leads to “Hey if I like that guy then I will probably like his firm too--I think we should pay more attention to this here RFQ they just sent us”

   Unfortunately, too frequently we see trade show staff violate every rule of etiquette imaginable, and it happens more than we'd like to admit. In fact, I'd venture to say that the 80/20 rule probably applies here: 80% of the staff violate one or more of the basic rules of trade show etiquette.
   

   Rob Hard, RH Communications

   
   

7. 7.Choose people to be in the booth who want to be there.  You need people who are outgoing, enthusiastic and easy to talk to.
   

8. 8.Don’t eat at the booth.  This should be a given but some people.....
   

9. 9.Leave the cell phones in the car or your office or somewhere out of sight.  Don’t get caught talking on your cell phone or worse be like the guy I saw at a trade show sitting on a barstool in his booth texting on his phone.  I walked by this guy four or five times over an hour period and not once did he look up at me as I passed by. If you must check your cell phone do it on your break from the booth.  Just as smokers take a break to go outside, take a cell phone break.
   

10. 10.If you make contact with someone of significance--write it on a notecard (name, district and what you talked about) and follow up with a hand written note after the convention.
    

11. 11.Don’t make eye contact with their badges make eye contact with them!
    

12. 12.Look the part -- walk from booth to booth and see who looks good, who looks great and who looks well...awful.  What kind of image do you want to convey to your potential clients and current clients?  Do you want to look like everyone else?  Do you want to seem approachable or cold and distant?  Your appearance will impact this.  Coordinate your efforts with everyone who will be working the booth to have some kind of standard in place--like colors, and style of dress.
    

13. 13. Introduce your colleagues to prospects and current clients.  
    

14. 14.Don’t limit those who get involved to a select few - -the more people you expose to these experiences the more they become the brand.  It is also a great chance to get to see who shines in these kind of environments!

The Conversation is the reason for the Booth!

Conversation Starters

Learning to be a good conversationalist takes practice and courage.  You MUST be willing to approach people and start a conversation.  If you are competitive like me, make it a game you play with yourself -- I will meet ten new people in a thirty minute period.  Here are some pointers that you can employ to become a great conversationalist

1. 1.Great conversationalists are often great listeners who know how to ask the right questions.
   

2. 2.Great conversationalists know how to find an immediate connection to the other person.  One way I do this is by relying on a few key questions:  where are you from, what do you do, why are you here, and my favorite where did you go to school (college).  Almost 90% of the time I can find a connection with the other person by using these simple questions.
   

3. 3.Use humor!  People love to have conversations with people who have a good (or great) sense of humor.
   

4. 4.Do your homework up front.  Know WHO you want to make contact with and what their needs, values and motivations are.  Why are they here?  How might they benefit from my product or service etc.  Share what you know with all of your colleagues who will also “work the booth”
   

5. 5.If someone makes eye contact with you and you say nothing then shame shame shame!  When we make eye contact with people we are extending an invitation to them to start a conversation with us!
   

6. 6.Avoid tired conversation openers: Throw out “How are you?” as an opening and you won’t get much beyond “Fine thanks” and the person keeps walking.
   

7. 7. Say the person’s name out loud as you see their name badge.  If you can’t see their name badge say “Hi I’m Libby Spears, who are you here with today?”  Don’t ignore people you think are of no value to you.  “Oh we don’t care about that person” or “They are here in their own booth”--both of those people could become a walking advertisement for you. 
   

8. 8.Ask “What interesting presentations have you been to today?”
   

9. 9.“Hey!  Mrs _______________ from xyz school district you are the reason for our booth!” When she looks at you funny you follow up with “Your district is in our top five list of  districts we want to work with” 
   

10. 10. “Do you know. ________________”  If you can connect this person to another person you know, it could pay off in the future.
    

11. 11. Pay attention to what some current events are right now that could make for conversation.  (of course avoid politics and religion)
    

12. 12.Use some of the old tried and true standards for opening a conversation: the weather, sports, children and traffic.  People who live in Texas LOVE to talk about the weather.  That is often a great way to start a conversation.
    

13. 13. Back to eye contact: Maintain eye contact with the person you are speaking with!  Don’t look around, over their head or shoulder or down at the ground.  You can create a genuine connection by making eye contact.  Otherwise, you will communicate you are uninterested in the other person!

Follow Up for a Positive Trade-Show Experience

One of the best ways to improve success at future trade shows  is to critically assess your performance.  If you click on the link at the right, you will find a brief survey form that guides you to form plans for future shows.

Libby Spears