How to get the most out of a trade show.

• Have enough people. A trade show isn’t a vacation or a boondoggle, it’s a head-to-head selling opportunity. Make sure you have enough staff for the expected visitors.
• Identify booth personnel. Sometimes its hard to tell the booth tenders from the booth visitors. Identify your staff with distinctive buttons, shirts, blazers or uniforms. Nothing is more frustrating than having to look for someone to help you.
• Practice. Spend some time with your booth personnel before the show to rehearse the sales presentation. This would also be a good time to anticipate the questions your staff might be asked...and come up with the answers.
• Pay attention to booth design. Design your booth so it’s easy to get into and out of. Make it look inviting. Plan on supplemental light. Keep it simple. Make sure your company and brand name are clearly identified, then concentrate on the main points of your sales story.
• Use signage effectively. Use signage to put across the key benefits and features. There won’t always be a salesman handy, and even when there is, some people prefer to shop alone.
• Tie booth graphics to advertising. We can never understand why a company has one theme or look going in their national advertising campaign, and something completely different going on in their booth. Unify your themes and you’ll get more mileage — and memorability — from them.
• Don’t let them walk away empty-handed. It’s common practice to get a prospect’s name and send them literature after the show, but it’s still a good idea to give them something to take along that re-emphasizes your key selling points.
• Remember the trade press. Have a professionally prepared press kit available for journalists that may drop by. Better still, make the effort to specifically invite key editors to your booth, then give them access to top executives and information they can really use.
• Target key prospects. Send an invitation to your customer and prospect list. Tell them about your participation in the show. Specifically invite them to visit your booth or hospitality suite.

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