TRADE SHOWS AND THE BOTTOM LINE (A Note for Managers)

At most companies, trade show selling advice is a bit like holiday music: something that is always on the shelf, but most people only want to hear about for a few weeks out of the year.

I completely understand that; there are dozens of other issues that come up in your day-to-day business, many of them several times more urgent and important than fine-tuning your booth staff. The problem, though, is that it often gets pushed back so far that it is never paid the attention it deserves, and so organizations end up missing the forest for the trees, so far as the bottom line is concerned.

I would be willing to bet that whatever you are spending at your next trade show, it represents a significant investment for your company or department. Shows are a big deal; I have seen businesses lay out millions of dollars in travel, arrangement, floor models, catering, and other expenses just to get it right and maximize their exposure. I have also seen those same companies invest hundreds of thousands into new scanning devices or presentation effects, while neglecting their most powerful and important asset for generating orders – their sales staff.

It is almost as if they themselves are caught up in the “rush” of trade show fun and start to get dazzled by the lights and sounds they see. As fun as all of those things are, however, allow me to break the spell and bring you back to reality: Technology is not going to sell anything for you. Finding buyers is a job for sellers; technology can help, but it cannot replace.

Without training, even a veteran sales staff is likely to be overwhelmed by the trade show environment. The rush of new faces can cause them to skip steps in the sales process, give poor live demos, or just fail to qualify potential customers effectively. Losing those orders is painful enough, but letting your team develop bad habits that will cost you year after year is worse.

Consider this: Assuming you have 5,000 visitors to your booth, a 1% improvement in sales will lead to 50 more orders generated at each trade show. Those are conservative numbers, but they would make an incredible difference to a lot of businesses, especially when you consider that the basics of trade show selling can be taught and reinforced quickly.

With all of that being said, I encourage you to take charge of your next trade show sales effort. Make a plan to achieve a huge number of sales, and then follow it. Getting specialized training like mine is a good start, of course, but it should not end there. Let your sales team know you are expecting something big from them, and then give them the tools to achieve it. Make sure they have access to product knowledge, CRM, customer support, and even sales literature well in advance of the show. You want them to arrive ready to take on a world of prospects and prepared for what they are going to face.

As you take these steps, be sure to keep things fun. Hold contests to see who can set the most appointments, buy lunch and use it as a chance to show what the company is going to be rolling out at the trade show, and which buyers it could be best for. Discuss what kinds of information your sales team needs to collect from prospects, what resources they will have available to present with on site, whether you are offering any discounts at the show, and even what sort of follow-up plan your company will be using. These are all details that can be arranged in the weeks and months leading to the trade show, so take advantage of that time.

As the sales manager or owner, your job is not just to sit back and watch the trade show happen; you should be the one orchestrating the process. I do not have to tell you how expensive these exhibitions can be, so why not give your staff every chance to succeed? Every trade show can be a huge sales event for your company, but only if you are prepared. With the right training and preparation, your sales staff can achieve trade show numbers you have only dreamed of.

Henry, Carl. Trade Show Selling: How to Make a Year's Worth of Sales in a Few Days or Less Kindle Edition.