Having attended an average of 5 shows a year for the last 4 years I have seen a variety of businesses do a variety of behaviors on the show floor. I’m sure you know what I mean: there’s the bashful betty that sits in a back corner of the booth waiting for you to come talk to her, the pals that are too busy talking to eachother to talk to you, and (everyone’s favorite) the hawker – standing in the aisle waiting to jump on anyone with a pulse that walks by their booth. As much as I hate to say it the hawker is actually working the show more than anyone else… but they’re still missing so many more opportunities.
Walking the Show Floor
In addition to checking out the competition, walking the floor is a great practice for a multitude of reasons. Booth Setup. No matter how many years or how much money you spent in developing the perfect booth, times change. Cruising the aisles is a great way to stay current. What booths are the busiest? How does the layout encourage people to hang out in the booth? What colors and styles are showing up more and more? Many people forget to also look for what doesn’t work. It never hurts to keep an eye out for the items in a booth setup (or in the way the staffers are interacting with patrons) looking for where people get bored and walk away. You don’t do that, ok? Learning from others both positively & negatively is the way to go.
Meet your Neighbors. You never know what new product/brand will be the next overnight success, just because you do or don’t like it, doesn’t mean the whole world agrees with you. Meeting your neighbors (aka networking) can give you buddies for future shows, tips on new shows to attend, and even connections for growing your business. The newer your product or service is, the more proactive you should be in getting around and meeting the neighbors.
Before The Show
Many people totally miss the boat on this one. The organizers of your show have a myriad of resources you can take advantage of. I’ve never attended (or even heard of) a show that didn’t do press release distribution to the press pre-event. Many shows even have online tools that allow you to go through and search attendees and exhibitors to setup meetings and events. I’m a big fan of downloading the Exhibitor list in advance and highlight the ones I want to visit at the show (colleagues call it the disneyland map – my show floor map with booths I want to visit highlighted). More often shows are even putting together cocktail parties or other networking events, these can be fantastic opportunities to meet attendees, exhibitors, and members of the press – without the ‘sales’ setting of the show floor. NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO please for the love of all business hopes everywhere, PUT YOUR PRESS KIT IN THE PRESS ROOM. Some shows these days are going digital – so you don’t even have to print this stuff out. Should a press person happen to stop at your booth – GIVE THEM SAMPLES – treat them like the avenues to advantage that they are. I’ve seen soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many exhibitors completely blow it here. If keeping your samples at your booth just in case someone wants to place an order is more important to you than 20,000 people reading about your product – your business is in MUCH MORE trouble than a couple of orders can cure.
Post Event
Call the people you said you were going to call. Send thank you notes to the folks that let you borrow their ladder during setup, or shared their power hookup with you. Email the visitors you collected cards for. Send a note to your connection at the show. Debrief your show team about how the event went and what you want to do about it next year – write it down, put it on the calendar, and get it done…. before you get back to the office if possible. You spent all this time and money getting ready for the show, you ought to be just as diligent when wrapping it up.
Hopefully some of these tips make it through to the folks I see at every show complaining about how slow it is (while one row over is hopping – because their staff isn’t so busy complaining they can’t pay attention to the visitors), and some of the folks I see that are almost-famous can get that edge they were looking for. Trade Shows are a valuable part of the marketing plan for 95% of the business world, it just takes the right show with the right setup for all the elements of success to fall into place.
Cheers,
Rebekah King
Sun, Jan 18, 2009
Tips & Tricks