Sorry, we’re not going to be talking about how to fix your love life in this post. However, there are a lot of similarities in getting the attention of a potential mate and getting the attention of a trade show attendee. You only have a few seconds to convey your message and attract those passing by.  And, unlike Craig’s List,  there is no “Missed Connection” section on a trade show’s website.

Compared to many international trade shows, U.S. shows have relatively short show hours and fewer show days.  This means that most attendees don’t have a lot of time to spend with any one particular trade show booth.  They will try to hit as many booths as they can. Oftentimes, there are other events associated with a show that attendees are also visiting.  In short, there is a lot of competition for attendee’s attention and you don’t have a lot of time to impress them.

Most U.S. shows have badges or name tags, often color-coded to quickly identify who is who, containing all of our information that can be scanned and exchanged quickly.  Attendees spend about 1-3 minutes at each station and move to the next one.  If you feel there is a connection or potential to do business you may exchange contact information. Sound familiar?  It’s sort of like speed dating!

So how do you effectively grab the attention of a passing attendee?

1. Use Eye Contact to Initiate a Conversation:

Check out my previous post on the Power of Eye Contact.  Making solid eye contact and simply initiating contact with an attendee is the first step.  Use engaging phrases, or “pick-up lines.”  My favorite one?  “Hi.” Just as simple as that!

In case that’s not your style, here are a few more:

“So what brings you to the show?”

“Are you looking for anything specific here at the show?”

If they are noticing something specific about your trade show exhibit, ask “What do you think about product X or product Y?”

2. Engage and Qualify Them:  

Now that you have their attention you need to pique their interest and qualify them as a potential lead.  This means asking a few questions and  getting them to provide as much information as possible.  You might not be able to spend a lot of time with this person so you want to make sure that if you or someone else follows up with them after the show, they will have all of the information that they need.  Ask them if they have tried your product or know your company.  Ask them what they thought of the current product or service they are using — what do they like or dislike about it?  Take a lot of clear notes, as this is valuable information that will help you reestablish the connection that you’ve created during the follow up.

2. Exchange information and Determine a Next Step:  

Now that you have engaged and qualified them, determine what the next step is and make sure you both know what that is going to be. Get their contact information so you don’t leave it up to them to follow up. Think of it this way: they are the bombshell that is getting approached by every guy in the bar.  Chances are, they just might not remember you.  Don’t take it personally though – they will be talking to a lot of people over the course of the show.  If you will personally be following up with them after the show, give them your contact information.  If someone else will be doing the follow up, let the attendee know you will be passing along all of the information you have and they will be contacted by someone else soon.

Remember, your company has spent a lot of time and money for you to be at the show and each attendee that walks by your booth could be an opportunity to make a connection.

85% of your trade show success depends on your booth staff. To ensure you’re making the most of every opportunity they have, read the Booth Staffing Guidebook.  Click here to request your free copy of the 48-page book filled with insightful articles, worksheets, and checklists.

The difference between a good booth staffer and a bad one can make the difference between a trade show that profitably boosts your brand and sales, and a tragic waste of your company’s time and money.  What can you do to ensure that you assemble a team of booth staffers that will get the job done right?

To help you find and prepare a winning booth staffer team, here are the 10 best ideas on booth staffing that I’ve collected over the years, and now share with you:

1. Choose staffers who actually want to staff your trade show booth and have the right attitude.  Then, train chosen staffers for product, company, and customer knowledge as needed.
2. Your booth staffers will be more motivated when they understand clearly just how much you are investing at each show, what are the company’s goals and your goals for them at the show.
3. A staffer that is able to stay focused on aisle traffic, watch attendees walking down the aisle for the right moment, and engage with them can get double, triple, or more leads than a booth staffer who is distracted or too shy.
4. Your booth staffers don’t have time to tell your entire company history.  So train staffers to ask what matters most to your booth visitors, and then share only the relevant part of your story.
5. Tell your booth staffers it’s essential they take a minute after each visitor conversation to write down a few sentences about what that lead said and wants, before going on to the next lead.
6. Spend enough time training your booth staffers to give them the chance to succeed.  A half hour just before the show starts is not nearly enough.  For example, can staffers all smoothly demontrate your newest products?
7. New booth staffers benefit enormously by doing practice booth staff role playing before the trade show.  It gets them over their fears and engrains the training much more memorably.
8. Invest in bringing enough staffers so they can maximize the investment you’ve already spent in booth space, trade show exhibits, show expenses and services, and promotions.
9. Surprisingly, introverted booth staffers can outperform extroverted booth staffers, because they can be more focused on engaging attendees and may listen more to your booth visitors’ needs.
10. Offer prizes and/or recognition for the staffers who gather the highest quantity of qualified leads.

Your booth staffers are the ambassadors of your brand.  What they say and do matters.  A lot.  Use these 10 tips to ensure that your staff performs at a higher level and gets more from your trade show investment.

I’m sure you’ve learned your own booth staffing secrets while gracing the ailes of your trade show booth.  We’d love to hear your best ideas in the comment box below.

This article is one of a series on Top 10 Tips for various key trade show topics:
> Top 10 Tips For Trade Show Promotions

> Top 10 Tips For Trade Show Exhibit Design

>Top 10 Tips For Trade Show Lead Management

Booth staffing is just one part of effective exhibiting.  To see what else makes exhibitors successful, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper. To request this guidebook full of tips and ideas, click here. 

The busy season is over and you’ve just exhibited at the same trade shows that you always exhibit at, year after year.  Which can make you too easily fall into the “same old, same-old” mindset: Same competitors, same booth staff, same exhibit, same promotions, same city, same products, same, same, same.

Be careful. That complacency can dangerously slip into irrelevancy.

To keep your edge, try to see trade shows with fresh eyes.  Give yourself some time at your next few shows to get re-inspired.  All you need is your eyes, your feet, and an open mind.

Question everything

When you next walk your show, give yourself permission to question everything.  Put your curiosity on steroids and let it run off the leash.  As you walk down the aisles, ask yourself these key questions – and don’t stop walking until you’ve witnessed the answers for yourself:

• What trade show booths are getting more traffic?  And why?
• Which booths seem to not only attract visitors, but put them at ease to the point they look like they don’t want to leave?
• Look for booth staffers and visitors truly engaged in meaningful conversations — what did they do to get there?
• What at-show activities are generating a crowd, and keeping the right people in the booth?
• What new trade show exhibit designs are you seeing that are catching your eye (and getting more attendees)?  Is it their messaging, shape, color, products, or something else?
• How are booth staffers dressing, more relaxed or more formally?
• Where in the show hall are the hot spots of traffic — and did that change during the day?
• Follow some attendees (at a discreet distance!) and watch what catches their eye, and what they blow right past.

Gain crucial booth staffer insights

I walked a show last week with many of these questions in mind.  Within an hour the difference between good and bad booth staffers was visible; in two hours it was obvious; and by the end of the day it was astonishingly appalling.  Some booth staffers were great and others had me shaking my head asking, who would wreck their entire trade show program by bringing these horrible staffers?

Try it yourself: walk your trade show and see who does a good job engaging you, and who ignores you — even when you walk into their booth!  Who pays attention to all attendees as they walk by, and who is on the phone, even when you reach for a business card on their table?  Who is friendly even at the end of the show, and who looks like they need a trip to the spa?  Who offers a friendly engaging question and turns it into a meaningful conversation, and who says “Hi,” and then shuts up?  By the end of this walk you will have a burning desire to put far greater emphasis on the choosing and training of your booth staff.

You may also notice, depending on the industry your show is in, how incredibly valuable a simple, yet clear product demo is, in stopping and keeping interested booth visitors.

And what else will you find?  That’s up to you to find out; when you get re-inspired with the fresh set of eyes you’ll get after your walk around your next trade show.  You’ll come away with an overflowing list of new things you want to try next year.  And that sure beats the same old thing any day!

For more tips on what to look for and do at your next trade show, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper. To receive your free copy of this 32 page book, click here.

If you think you are doing a great job following up on your leads, unfortunately, the visitors to your trade show exhibit may not agree.  What you consider good lead fulfillment may look very different to them.

In a blog post on her Trade Show Institute blog, Traci Brown tells a sorry tale about her visit to the AIBTM show, where she happily had lengthy meetings with over 20 exhibitors.   Unfortunately, after the show, only one exhibitor truly followed up with her.  Sure, the other exhibitors followed up with big glossy brochures, email campaigns, and the like.  But they were all generic follow up messages.  Only one exhibitor had specific follow up that answered the specific questions she raised while in their  trade show booths.

Why is that?  Because most exhibitors’ lead fulfillment process is simply not designed for individualized lead fulfillment.

Most exhibitors get leads, and if they are somewhat prepared, they have pre-set fulfillment packets ready to go before the show starts.  Then after the show, they put names on letters and send them out.  It’s all they have time to do.  But at the trade shows, we don’t meet with generic leads, we meet face-to-face with real, live individuals.  Individuals with specific needs, that if you ask and listen, they’ll even tell you right at the show.

The First Missing Link: The Transfer From The Booth Staffer To The Field Sales Rep

The first missing link in most exhibitor’s generic lead fulfillment is passing on to the field sales rep what your trade show visitors told you.  And that all starts with your booth staffer.  Your booth staffers must capture what your visitors said is their situation, and what they were looking to solve.  Your booth staffers must also write down what they promised your booth visitors would be the next step – someone will call to set up an appointment, we’ll send you info and prices on the new products you liked, and so on.  Without knowing what your booth staffer promised, you can’t fulfill on that promise.  And when that conversation is accurately and concisely captured, it must quickly be routed to the appropriate sales rep, so they can take the right actions after the show.

The Second Missing Link: The Fulfillment Package

The second part of fixing trade show lead fulfillment is customizing what you mail or email.  You have to be willing and able to customize what you send to your booth visitors based on what they said to your booth staffers.  At minimum, your cover letter should say that your company “was pleased to meet you at the XYZ show, and that you’ve enclosed your requested items, and that our company representative will soon follow up about your needs discovered in our booth.”  You only send the company brochures related to the products your booth visitor asked for.  You don’t send 10 product brochures, when they only showed interest in one product.  And for sure you send the brochures for that one product!

If you want to truly fix the broken link in your trade show lead fulfillment you tailor each followup letter to directly respond to your booth visitor conversations.  Writing in the letter that your booth staffer learned you ask for ____, and so we will be sending you a price quote/calling for an appointment time/talking with our engineer about your project/gathering up samples to show you, or something else appropriate for the next step.

“We can’t do that, can we?”

Now, I hear your objection to this:  ”We don’t have time for this high level of customized lead fulfillment!  Our booth visitors expect an answer fast!”  Yes, booth visitors do expect a quick answer — but as Traci’s experience shows, even more they want the right answers.

But you can pull this off.  You just need to also qualify your leads while in your booth.  Your “A” leads are your best leads – immediate needs, have a budget, and authority to buy.  So the smaller portion of “A” leads are the first ones you fulfill, with letters and products customed to their requests.

Then, fulfill the “B” leads, which may have a need, but not immediately, and perhaps without an approved budget.  Once those are out the door, then fulfill your “C” leads…which may get the more generic “Thanks for visiting our booth at the XYZ show” letter any how, because that’s how far the conversation went.

More effort?  Certainly.  Worth it?  Definitely.

Fix another link in your trade show leads process by measuring your results with the Measurement Made Easy CD, yours free by clicking here.

YOU the Exhibitor have invested hours and hours in meetings, discussing booth structure, how you want the booth to look, what main message you want your attendees to know, and more.  So when the booth looks great but doesn’t get the results you want, your first reflex may be to blame your booth staff.

Don’t blame them just yet.  There may be other things that were overlooked while your team focused on the exhibit design.

Did you also invest time before your show:

1. Planning Promotions – 3 months prior to your trade show, did you gather your team to discuss how you are going to promote your upcoming show and to who?  And then execute on your plan? Suggestions for this are: send out mailers, an email campaign, add to your email signature, call current clients and prospects for a personal invite – if and where possible book appointments right at the show.

2. Booth Staff Training – Did you set the right expectations with your staff?  Tell them you want them to Dress for Success and bring your Smile.  In the first 6 seconds as the attendee walks by your booth they will decide if they are entering it and if you are interested in them.  A big NO NO in today’s world of technology is to be disconnected with your attendees by having your interest focused more on your Blackberry/iPhone or eating lunch, rather than being 100% focused on the attendees who have come specifically to YOUR booth.

3. Planning A Staff Schedule – Did you run them into the ground?  Instead, be sure each booth staff knows when they are “on” and when their breaks are.  Schedule breaks and lunches so the booth is always staffed properly – you do not want to miss out on the opportunity that came along when nobody was there.  Decide before the show how many staff you will need and what their specific roles are.

Finally, when you are at the show, lead by example.  The most important training you can give your staff is to lead by example. Managers, Executives, more experienced staff should be mixed with new or less experienced staff.  The best training is on-site training – first hand.

 Just in case you still think it’s the booth staff’s fault,  pick up the Booth Staffing Guidebook, full of ideas  and tips for a successful staff.  Click here for your free, 46-page copy. 

He sure looked like a perfectly good prospect.  He had the right color badge.  He works at a company that is in the right vertical market and the right size.  And your uncanny booth staffing sixth sense told you he even had an approved budget for your product.

Yet with barely a glance he sailed right on past your booth.  So why didn’t he drop anchor?  Perhaps for one or more of these 8 reasons:

1. Your booth looked too boring.  Like too many other exhibitors, your trade show booth has dull colors, too much text, and too many small images.
2. Your benefit was not clear.  With all that text, or else none at all, your trade show booth graphics didn’t quickly communicate what you sell — and why you are worth buying from.
3. He doesn’t know you can solve his problems.  Because he doesn’t know your company yet, and what it can do for him.
4. Your booth staffers didn’t appeal to him.  They looked unprofessional, uninterested, unmotivated, and pre-occupied — not the kind of people he wants to talk to — let alone buy from, for that matter.
5. Your booth staff didn’t attempt to engage him.  Rather than offer a greeting or ask a question, they stared into space, or talked with each other, or into the phone.
6. Your booth space lacks activity.  It looks too dull compared to other exhibitors who are having energetic conversations, presentations, demos, and more.
7. He wasn’t invited.  He has only so much time to visit booths, so those that asked him to visit before the show get first dibs.  Or perhaps…
8. He already has an appointment.  He breezed past you on the way to a meeting with another exhibitor further into the hall.  But you can still get him on his return trip — if he walks down your aisle again.

If you want to stop the parade of qualified attendees walking by, but not into, your booth, then improve your exhibit’s visual appeal, amp up your booth staff, create engaging activities, and get on attendees’ dance card before the show starts.

Then you can have many good conversations in your booth.  Which sure beats talking to yourself.

For more ways to prevent trade show attendees from passing you by, check out the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  This guidebook is full of tips and ideas for successful exhibiting.  Click here to request your free copy. 

Trade shows are not your whole job, just a part of it.  You only do, at most, a few small shows a year, and you’ve got lots of other responsibilities to handle.  So all this detail in our blog about doing trade shows better?  You simply have no time for it all.

But you still would like to boost your results – but only if the changes are simple and quick.  So in that vein, here are 5 tips to help you — quickly — get more out of trade shows:

1. A large, clear message is easier to grasp, so make your next set of booth graphics colorful and easy to understand, with a benefit statement that will then get your prospects into your trade show booth.
2. Create a demo with motion in your trade show exhibit to get more of the right people engaged and interested.  That will also get people to remember you.
3. Collecting business cards is not enough.  Print paper lead cards to write more notes for the sales force to do better follow up, or get electronic lead machines from the show to get their attendee data with every badge scan.
4. Your booth staffers make a huge difference.  Bring staffers who want to be there, give them support, training, and treats.  Count how many qualified leads each one takes in your trade show displays to help decide who staffs the next show.
5. Do everything you can before the show to set up appointments with qualified buyers and existing clients in your booth at the show.

Okay, I could write another 10 bullet points, but as the occasional exhibitor you won’t have time to do more than these first 5!  But you’ve got to do these 5!  Once you enjoy the greater success you’ll have at your shows, then come back to the www.skylinetradeshowtips.com blog and read some more!

For more quick tips on the best ways to exhibit, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  This report reveals the most effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results and stretch their budgets. Click here to request your free copy. 

Do you have sales people who are “volunteered” to staff your trade show booth?  While you welcome the good help, there are some things that could make sales people great help. So here’s an open letter to your sales people who will be staffing your trade show displays.  Share it with whomever you wish!

Dear Sales Guy,

You have been hand-chosen to staff our booth at our next trade show. We picked you because you have so many of the skills and knowledge we need:

• You know our products inside and out, our competitors, and most importantly, our customers.
• You’re friendly, have good people skills, and aren’t afraid to strike up a conversation.

These are essential skills for a booth staffer.  However, there are some…issues…that I’d like to address, and hope that these 9 points will enlighten you and help you be an even greater staffer in our booth:

1. Rise Up To The Challenge:  You can help us reach more prospects face-to-face over the next 2-3 days than you’d be able to see in more than a month of field selling.  We’ve invested substantial marketing dollars to drink from this sales fire hose.  So be focused and engaged, and help us grow the company.

2. Your New Quota:  While staffing our booth, you have a new quota: 2 qualified leads an hour.  So leave the office behind and concentrate on helping us achieve a successful show.

3. Shift Gears:  The trade show isn’t the same as field selling.  You don’t have 20 minutes to chat about the local football team or what you did last weekend.  In that short time you’ve lost too many potential leads who walked by the booth.  You’ve got to build that relationship quickly so you can then qualify them. Present only the part of our story they care about, and then close on an agreed-upon next step.

4. Talk To Attendees:  Throughout the show, keep focused on engaging potential prospects, not the other company employees. When you chat up our company big wigs in the booth, you’re actually taking two booth staffers out of action.  Better to impress them by hustling to get the most qualified leads. Even better, wait until you get your very best lead of the day, then introduce them to our company CMO, VP of Sales or other high-titled booth staffer.  You’ll impress the booth visitor, and our top execs, at the same time.

5. Quality Leads:  Don’t complain about the trade show lead quality; improve it.  Just as every cold call you make doesn’t ring the cash register, not every visitor to our booth is an immediate sale.  So rate the leads, A, B, and C quality, and help prioritize lead follow up by your teammates, and ensure the best leads don’t get lost in the pile.

6. Set Appointments:  Call your best clients and prospects to schedule meetings at the show.  Use the trade show to your advantage.  For prospects you haven’t been able to get an appointment in their office, you may get face time with them in our booth.  Once there, you’ve got all its visual proof, our top execs, and our new products to advance the buying cycle.  Or invite your clients, to up-sell or cross-sell them on our proven products they haven’t bought yet.  Tell me who and what times and I’ll set aside meeting space and corral whoever you need on our end to meet with them.

7. Ignore Territories:  Work hard to turn visitors into leads, no matter if they are from outside your territory.  We’ve invested too much to have you not give your all because you won’t benefit 100% directly from the lead.  Remember that we’ve invested a lot in training, salary, and benefits to help you succeed as a company sales person.  And that somewhere soon, at another show we exhibit at, there’s another company sales person who is hustling to get a lead for you.

8. All The Leads, Please:  While this may not apply to you, please, please, please don’t pocket your very best leads from the show. The sales you get will not get credited to the show, and so we may not be able to justify exhibiting the following year.  Which would mean fewer high quality leads for you in the future.  And if I can’t prove sufficient ROI from the show, I could even lose my job.

9. Follow Up:  Follow up on our trade show leads immediately after the show. You’ve been away from your own accounts for a few days, and can’t wait to get back into your usual groove.  But remember that we’ve invested about $200-$300 per lead, and that many of these leads will buy from somebody.  That might as well be you – so if some get assigned to you, keep following up with them.  Better yet, when they do buy from you, let me know, so I can better track our trade show ROI, and keep improving our programs.

I’m grateful to have you on our booth staffing team.  Your skills, knowledge, and positive attitude will help us leave the show with a much fuller pipeline of future sales.  I hope you don’t think me too forward for writing you this letter.  Please keep an open mind and take these suggestions to heart.  Do that, help us succeed, and I’ll go to the wall for you.

Sincerely,

Your Trade Show Manager

For more ways to take your booth staffers from good to great, read the Booth Staffing Guidebook.  This 48-page book is filled with insightful articles, worksheets, and checklists to get the most from your staff at trade shows. Click here to request your free copy. 

One of the key attributes of a great trade show booth staffer is that they listen more than they talk.  They listen to what booth visitors share about their hopes, dreams, and needs, and then tell their visitors only the part of their company’s story that is relevant.

Let’s look at a several examples of facial expressions.  Consider if it would be good or bad if your booth visitors had these looks on their faces while you were talking to them in your trade show exhibit:

After you’re done “listening” with your eyes, be sure to use them to read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  The report is full of effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results and stretch their budgets.  Click here to request your free copy.

When visiting the Fancy Foods Trade Show in New York City, I took some time to visit the various trade show booths representing various states. I was sampling the impressive array of food and drinks offered as treats at each booth.

I noticed that the trade show display for a certain southern state had a young woman giving away samples of gourmet seasoned cashews and anticipated enjoying a cup of them. I wasn’t disappointed – the gourmet nuts were so warm and delicious, I circled around in order to get another sample.

Staffer Skimps On Treats

The staffer at this trade show booth recognized me and she obviously didn’t appreciate my extreme fondness for the treat she was handing out. When I got to the head of the line, she carefully counted out six small cashews that amounted to less than a third of my previous serving.  Her entire demeanor said that she didn’t appreciate my attempt to get more of their great tasting snack.

Weighing Goodwill Against Cashews

While it may be understandable that the young staffer wanted to make sure she had enough cashews for every visitor to her trade show booth, she failed to weigh the potential goodwill of a visitor against the value of a few cashews.  I walked away from the booth disappointed in that state’s brand of southern hospitality.  The young woman had not represented them in a positive light.

Perception Is Everything

The staffer giving out the gourmet cashews looked at me as simply an interloper trying to get an extra treat.  But what if she had looked at me in a different light?  If she had stopped to consider that I was a potential client, she could have created an opening to praise her state and cement a new business relationship.

If she had smiled and welcomed me with enthusiasm, she could have created some goodwill and ensured that I praised her state to others.  She might have said, “Welcome back!  I guess you just couldn’t resist our yummy gourmet cashews! Here, have an extra serving, and be sure to tell everyone you got them from the our trade show booth, where gourmet treats are just the beginning of our big welcome!”

Lessons Learned For Your Staffers

Reviewing the actions of this trade show display staffer, you’ll realize that there were several moments when she had the opportunity to make a wonderful impression for her state, but chose the wrong action:

1. When the staffer inadvertently turned me off and no doubt some other visitors as well.  Don’t let your facial expressions damage your brand identity.  You may be frowning at someone in particular, but plenty of others will see you and turn away.  No one likes to approach someone who looks unhappy or upset.  Remember body language is fast and powerful and is 55% of our communication.
2. The trade show booth staffer chose to save a handful of nuts and in the process lost my interest.  Your trade show booth display may be the only opportunity your company has to make a great impression.  Does it really make sense to skimp on the little things instead of focusing on the big picture?  Relax a bit and don’t be afraid to be generous.
3. The staffer missed a golden opportunity to build a stronger relationship with a visitor to her trade show display. If she’d taken the “Welcome Back” approach, her entire state might have benefited from it.  Look at every interaction as an opportunity to strengthen a relationship, maximizing your business’ positive image.
4. Staffers represent your brand and remember 90% of what visitors remember about your company at a show will be based on your booth staff.

Your staff can make an elephant-sized impression on your booth visitors.  Make sure they understand how their use of giveaways — even gourmet cashews — can have a big impact on how your brand is perceived.

Don’t let your booth staffers pass up the chance to make a great first impression. Find out how to engage your visitors, get tips and more by requesting your free copy of the Booth Staffing Guidebook by clicking here.