15 Things Your Boss Wishes You Knew About Trade Show Booths
Being part of a trade show offers a company the opportunity to market itself to a wider range of customers. The experience also helps the company to gain higher visibility within an industry, which allows it to reap the benefits from a larger number of contacts. Here are a few tips you should know about trade show booths that can help you to maximize the success of your presentation:
1– Manage Your Budget Carefully
Attendance at a trade show can be a big expense for a small company. Ensure that your budget covers all the necessary items without excess padding. Keep a realistic eye on shipping and transportation costs. Never use the trade show as an opportunity to pad your expense account; it only hurts the company if you are significantly over budget.
2 – Focus Your Booth’s Message
Your company may offer a wide range of products or services. Trying to enumerate everything it offers can be confusing and off-putting. Stick to a few key concepts that will help attendees to remember your company, and let them explore further after the show.
3 – Prepare Carefully
Take time with your set-up and materials to ensure you present an organized and competent image when interacting with show attendees. Try to anticipate attendees’ needs.
4 – Meet New Suppliers
A trade show presents not only a chance to acquire new customers, but also a chance to learn about new suppliers that can offer better prices. Be alert to these opportunities and get information for your company.
5 – Project The Best Possible Image For the Company
If your company has chosen you to present at a trade show, understand that you are representing the company’s interests in all that you do. Groom carefully, dress neatly and keep your behavior, both at the show and after-hours, within reasonable limits.
6 – Use A Gimmick To Get Attention
A laptop computer provides endless opportunities to use PowerPoint, images, music and other features to draw visitors to your booth. Offer something unusual to get their interest.
7 – Avoid Clutter
Spend time throughout the day keeping your booth looking organized and clean. Heavy traffic can make a mess of booth area. Use the time in-between rushes to get your booth back into shape.
8 – Manage Last-Minute Problems
Understand that attendance at a trade show offer a variety of opportunities for things to go wrong. When your presentation is damaged or your suit is ruined, be ready to handle the emergency calmly.
9 – Engage Your Audience’s Senses
Your booth should be colorful to be visually interesting and have sample to examine for tactile opportunities. Try to engage attendees’ senses in as many ways as you can to attract their interest.
10 – Choose A High-Traffic Location at the Show
Sign up for the show early so that you can get a good location on the floor. A spot that has high traffic will allow you to make more contacts than one on the fringes in the back of the room.
11 – Have A Sufficient Number of Materials on Hand
Make sure you have a sizeable amount of brochures, business cards, promotional items and other materials on hand so that you can make the most of the traffic near your booth.
12 – Collect Business Cards
When speaking with interested parties, ask for a business card so the company can send additional information to them at a later time.
13 – Make Contact With Media
If you see media wandering around the show looking for interesting shots, make contact and talk about your company and what they do. Have something positive and insightful about the show that will get you a quote in an article that will also get a mention of your company.
14 – Give Attention To Current Customers
When a current customer stops by to say hello, take the time to engage with them fully to cement the relationship. Find out if their needs are being met properly.
15 –Get the Mailing List of Attendees
Most trade shows offer a list of pre-registered attendee, either free or for a small price. These lists can be good reference materials for sales throughout the year.
