Tag Archives: tradeshow booth strategies

Tradeshow Booth Clingers | How to Eliminate Them and Move On to Selling

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Talk, talk, talk... with nothing to say.Spotted a tradeshow booth for a unique USA-made product line at the ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) Show in Chicago. I had previously seen promotions on this upscale line in magazines and was anxious to check it out for real. As I approached the booth, the lone company representative was engaged with a guy who wanted to tell the rep his entire career history, a recap of all his current projects, his opinions on everything… I hovered for a bit, hoping the guy would move on. No such luck. Finally the rep hastily asked me if I’d like him to scan my badge. Sure, why not? Looks like that’s about all I’m going to get out of this booth. Pity, it was a cool product.

Poor rep, he was dealing with a tradeshow booth “clinger.”

Business Competitive Advantage by Heidi ThorneAs salespeople at tradeshows, we have a tough balancing act. How do you engage with booth visitors while at the same time connecting with the maximum number of high potential customers? Tradeshow booth clingers monopolize your time and guarantee that you will see only a handful of attendees.

Here are some “pest control” strategies for the clingers:

  • Adequately Staff Your Booth – If the show is one with high traffic, it’s probably worth it to have more than one booth staffer. That way one rep can spend more time with the hottest prospects while the other handles the marginal potential visitors. You might also want to consider hiring a professional tradeshow presenter–not a booth model!–to help qualify your traffic. (See my friend Emilie Barta’s Professional Tradeshow Presenter blog for more on the topic.)
  • Develop a Procedure for Handling the Clingers – In advance, devise a method for handling those visitors who want to share their story–their entire story!–with you. When they start to become clingy, politely hand them a project questionnaire that they can fill out right then and there or fill out later. For example, you might say “Wow, sounds you have a lot going on! [Hand over the form.] Could you take a moment to give us some details about your upcoming projects? Then let’s talk after we all get back from the show.” You accomplish a number of things with this: 1) You get clingers to focus; 2) You get the most important thing you want out of your encounter which is a lead (if there really is potential); and, 3) You get your time back.
  • Remember Why You’re Exhibiting – You are exhibiting to make sales, not friends, although that does often happen at shows. You are also not a show visitor’s on-demand consultant or therapist. Be polite, be professional, be productive.
  • Get Your Story Straight – I’ve seen a lot of booth reps who set up their booths, sometimes very beautiful booths with lots of product to show, and then they screw it up by not having a clue as to what to say when someone arrives at their booth. If you prepare proper qualifying questions to weed out those with low potential, you’ll be spending more time with those prospects that matter. Qualifying questions also help direct your interaction with booth visitors so that you can quickly assess their needs, gather the information you need, and send them on their merry way.

Click Here to Get More Info on Hiring Professional Tradeshow Presenters

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Successful Tradeshow Promotions: “Wired” Giveaway Reels ‘Em Into Your Booth

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Looking for a memorable tradeshow giveaway that customers are sure to keep? Then check this out…

Click Here to Watch Demo on YouTube

 

These designs are created to stand up on their own. Perfect for desktop or to display anywhere. Think about the possibilities where and when you could use this type of giveaway:

  • Tradeshows
  • Fundraisers
  • Wedding Favors
  • Parties
  • Graduations
  • Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s
  • Grand Openings/Open Houses
  • Place Card Favors

I was introduced to Dave Maskin by one of my favorite Twitter “tweeple,” Brad Shorr of Straight North (@bradshorr and @StraightNorth on Twitter). Brad knows I’m always looking for great ideas, especially as they relate to shows and events. And here’s what Dave Schneider of APMHC had to say about using Dave as an “booth magnet” in his booth:

I hired Dave to be our “Booth Magnet” at the North American Material Handling Show in Cleveland (NA 2010) to represent the Association of Professional Material Handling Consultants (APMHC). The association had operated trade show booths in the past with poor results. This year we set out to do it right – and DAVE Dave Maskin in the APMHC BoothMASKIN, THE WIRE MAN was the “secret sauce” for the show’s traditional high traffic day.

And boy – DID HE WORK! Our little 10X10 booth was at time packed inside – and the aisle plugged on the outside. We collected 3 times more leads that day than we did for the other three days *combined*! Except for a single “boys room” break Dave was in our booth from 10AM to show close at 5PM making wire names and attracting a crowd. Each member of our association was thrilled with the results. I am still getting comments about our booth a week after the show. There was a sketch artist in the booth next to ours and our traffic *crushed* her efforts.

As Dave worked and the crowd grew waiting for their turn our team could engage the attendees in conversation and learn more about their needs. We made quality contacts – not only potential clients but also new members – a “double bagger” of a day!

That’s a ringing endorsement!

Plus, Dave only uses 100% recycled aluminum for these wire designs. Perfect for events concerned about green issues.

Though Dave is based in the New York area, he is available for tradeshows throughout the country and can ship custom orders, too.

Tradeshows | 3 Reasons You Don’t Want Your Booth by the Entrance

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Business Competitive Advantage by Heidi ThorneWhen I was selling exhibit space for tradeshows, I’d usually get some smaller, newer exhibitors who absolutely wanted to have their booths as close to the entrance as possible. They reasoned that they would get more overall traffic and have the advantage of being the first exhibit a show visitor would encounter.

These inexperienced exhibitors failed to realize that there are three good reasons NOT to have their booths placed near the entrances at tradeshows:

1. People are Anxious to Get Into the Main Aisles of the Show – Take a moment at the next tradeshow you visit to hang around the show entrance. What are people doing? Are they making a beeline for the first booth they encounter? Sometimes they are. But more likely they are flipping through the show directory, adjusting their badges which just got scanned, looking for a show bag to put stuff in, etc. You become part of the entryway discombobulation!

2. You Can Bask in the Glow of the Big Guys – One of the shows I sold for had some very big name exhibitors. The aisles surrounding their exhibit received great traffic which helped the smaller guys. Granted, people may whisk past the surrounding booths to get to the mega exhibitor. But it doesn’t hurt to be in a place to soak up the overflow and the crowd exiting the bigger booth.

3. Last In First Out – No, I’m not talking about your booth move-out schedule… although that might be a hidden advantage! What I’m talking about is the attendees’ show bags. Think about this. Show visitors are wandering through the show and dumping brochures and promotional products as they go along. Whose materials are going to be the first ones they see when they arrive back home because they were put in last and on top? Yours! And if you made their experience in your booth near the exit a pleasant one, that will also be a positive send-off that will work in your favor.

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Read Business Competitive Advantage: A Handbook for Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs and Consultants

Promotional Product Strategies | 3 Ways to Avoid the ‘Can I Have One For My Kid?’ Problem

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A tradeshow visitor walks up to you, points to one of your promotional products, and asks “Can I have one of these for my kid?” Or maybe you’re meeting with a client and upon handing him your cool new promotion, he exclaims, “My kid will love this!” Your heart sinks as you realize that this promotion will not be used for its intended purpose which is to sell your product, service or cause. Worse yet is that those marketing dollars are being wasted to provide a child with a plaything.

There are also some additional issues that come into play (pun intended!) with these scenarios. Though these items are not intended for children, they are now going to be given to children, opening up an additional layer of consumer product safety concerns.

SWAG How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business by Heidi ThorneCan you avoid this problem? Even though whether someone gives an item to a child or not is out of your control, there are some promotional product strategies you can use to make it less of an issue.

Read SWAG: How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business

1. Select Age and Purpose Appropriate Promotional Products – Select items that adults use. Chances are children are not going to be too interested in items such as auto travel mugs, writing portfolios, and adult-size clothing. Look for items that relate to your marketing purpose or event to help guide you.

2. Avoid “Cute” if Giving to Adults – This is where the trouble really starts. In particular, stress balls available in a myriad of cute characters and shapes are problematic. These are not toys and should not be given to young children! They are not required to be made or imprinted with kid-friendly materials. Bits of them can also be worked off, presenting a swallowing or choking hazard. Same principle for stuffed toys, model cars, novelty pens, and the like.

3. Select Safer Products – Unsure of in what hands your item will end up? Are you actually giving to children as a way to endear yourself to the parents? Select an item that complies with safety standards for non-toxic materials or would not present other hazards by nature. For example, coloring books can be a safer choice, especially looking for those which are identified as using non-toxic inks. Ask your promotional product distributor for details on particular products.

Don’t let your promotional product end up in the hands of little ones who have no ability to buy from you! This will save you marketing dollars and will help make your promotions more effective.

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4 Big Bad Billboard Advertising Blunders (and How to Avoid Them)

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SWAG How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business by Heidi ThorneCan you tell your marketing story to an audience moving at 55 miles an hour? If you’re advertising on billboards flanking the nation’s highway system, you better be able to do that. Yet so many billboards fall short of the 55 miles an hour test because the advertisers (or designers) have committed one of these big bad billboard blunders… sometimes even committed more than one within the same billboard!

1. Huh? – In their quest to be cute or clever, advertisers display a cryptic message that they hope will get people to think about their billboard. In the scant few seconds that a driver will spend focused on your sign, they do not have enough time to think about it before they refocus on the next billboard or the traffic ahead. Think they’ll think about it later? They won’t. Cut cute.

2. Brought to You By? – A billboard offers up to hundreds of square feet to emblazon an advertiser’s name and contact or location information. Yet the designer has chosen to place the company name, phone, or website in the lower corner at a size that would require the viewer to be within a few yards to read it. This blunder is often committed by designers who do not have the experience or ability to design on a large scale and at extreme distance. Another reason this is a common blunder is that either the advertiser or designer wants the message to be subtle. But if it’s too subtle, viewers don’t have a clue who the advertiser is. Remember, at 55 miles an hour, subtle does not equal sales. Bigger does equal better.

3. Is There a Message There? – The billboard is light blue or a photo. The advertising text on it is white. The contrast between the background and message is almost negligible. The ability for speeding drivers to read the message is zero. Advertiser’s return on investment is also zero. High contrast between message and background equals higher recognition which equals higher advertising value.

4. Advertising Everything Advertises Nothing – This blunder is usually committed by advertisers who feel that a billboard is a big investment. And because it’s big in size, too, why not fill every available inch? Unfortunately, by dumping everything onto the billboard, they’ve lost all ability to quickly and effectively present their message to their swiftly passing audience. Limit the message to a few words and high impact graphics.

As the billboard world transitions to more digital screens, these principles are going to become even more critical. With almost limitless digital image capabilities, it will be very tempting for advertisers and designers to envision something outrageously beautiful on screen that will not translate well at high speed and long distance.

Another area when these same principles apply is tradeshow signage. Though show visitors will not be going past a booth at 55 miles an hour, they are spending mere seconds to determine if a booth is worth visiting. Like digital outdoor billboards, video screens at tradeshows are also becoming popular, requiring exhibitors and designers to be mindful of how an on-screen image or presentation will translate in a show visitor’s visual perspective.

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5 Ways to Ditch Dreaded Tradeshow Promotional Product Thieves

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shoplifting graphicShe’s hovering around your booth. Big bags. Zero eye contact. In fact, eyes are focused about three feet off the floor, scanning your tables and displays. Eureka! Found your stash of promotional products. Then the dreaded question, “Is this free?” You’ve just been approached by a tradeshow promotional product thief, a show attendee who is there only to collect your promotional products and not your business card.

Every tradeshow has them, but some more than others. These thieves are more prevalent in consumer shows, but have been spotted at business-to-business events as well. They are there to swipe as much “free stuff” as they can for their personal use and usually have no intention, authority, ability, or need to buy. Plus, it’s likely they wouldn’t refer business to you either. Some of these petty thieves are courteous enough to ask for the items, as in the scenario above. Others grab bunches of giveaways, stash them in a bag, and dash to the next booth.

Tradeshow promotional product thieves waste your money! They are also a distraction that can keep you from identifying and spending time with valuable tradeshow visitors. But how can you ditch them? Try these strategies:

Click Here to Watch Tradeshow Thieves Video on YouTube

SWAG How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business by Heidi Thorne1. Make ‘Em Earn It – Post a sign that show visitors will receive a free item if they fill out a survey, participate in a game, listen to a presentation, etc. Make them do something that helps you such as collecting survey data. Chances are they are not going to want to waste time doing what you ask and move on.

2. Make ‘Em Wait – Think about offering a freebie that you send after the show. Like with making them earn your giveaway, this delays the instant gratification of grabbing the goods. As well, it gives you a great follow-up opportunity for those show visitors that are truly qualified.

3. Prep Booth Personnel to Weed Out, Not Give Out – Booth personnel, especially if sales is not their main job or they haven’t been trained properly, fall into the habit of giving a freebie to everyone that wanders in the booth. They feel that giving out all the giveaways that were shipped to the booth is doing the right thing and getting the word out. Train your booth personnel to qualify, qualify, qualify! Preparing a script or list of questions to quickly qualify booth visitors will help. If the visitor qualifies and provides complete follow-up information, he’s eligible to receive a giveaway. If not, train booth personnel to politely send the thieves on their way.

4. Don’t Put a Table in Front of the Booth – Not only does a table in the front of a booth discourage interaction with valuable show visitors, it makes promotional product theft a crime of opportunity. If you have a stash of giveaways just sitting on the edge of your table, what’s to stop a tradeshow thief from grabbing a bunch and stuffing them in a bag? If you use a table, place it at the back of the booth with your booth personnel stationed in front of it. Similarly, don’t place giveaways in a bin at the front of your display. Too easy for a thief to grab and go.

5. Only Exhibit at Shows that Reach Your Target Audience – When considering exhibiting at a particular event, take time to carefully evaluate the target audience and how show visitors will be invited to the event. Highly qualified attendees are there to do business; the freebies are just a bonus, making thieves less prevalent. If it is a free event open to the public without qualification, you can expect more tradeshow promotional product thieves in attendance. If the type of business you are in requires attendance at public events such as home shows, utilize the above strategies to reduce loss.

For more ideas, SWAG: How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business

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