Article

Top 5 Trade Show Myths
-Linda Musgrove
-TradeShow Teacher
-www.tsteacher.com

Hello readers, TradeShow Teacher here with your next "lesson"! In this lesson we will be discussing the Top 5 Trade Show Myths. Some of these myths are a direct result of traditional sales/marketing ideas that simply don't translate well into the trade show environment. Others are just passed on from "generation to generation" in a company and morphed into "rules" written in stone.

Of course there are a lot more than 5 Trade Show Myths out there, but these 5 will give you a lot to think about and the "reality" sections will help you better plan for future exhibiting!

Here is a list of the Top 5 Trade Show Myths:

1.) Raffles/"Fish Bowls"

Myth: Having a raffle will gather lots of great leads for the sales team.

Reality: The myth of using Raffles and "Fish Bowls" to collect business cards as an effective way to collect leads is the top Trade Show Myth of all. The only time a raffle is a strategy to consider at a trade show is if you are building a mailing list. If you are looking for qualified leads for your sales team to follow up with, this is not the way to go. You will end up with way too many unqualified contacts, making your sales force inefficient by wasting their time on follow-up while missing out on reaching the real prospects quickly.

2.) Promotional Items

Myth: You ALWAYS need to have promotional items readily available where attendees can pick them up to get them to stop at the booth.

Reality: Once again, if you are looking for qualified leads, this is not the way to go. Having a "general" promotional item that you hand out to all attendees will drive a lot of traffic to the booth, but will not produce qualified leads nor create specific memories of what your company does and why an attendee should do business with you.

A better approach is to either have the promotional items stored away, or at the back of the booth and only handed out after an attendee has had a conversation with your booth staffer. It can also work to have a higher priced promotional item that only gets handed out after a booth staffer has determined that an attendee is a qualified one.

3.) Lead Retrieval

Myth: Show offered lead retrieval is always the best way to capture leads.

Reality: While there are many good lead retrieval systems offered by many shows, they are not always the best approach for your business to collect the information your sales team needs for follow-up. An important part of the lead capture process is gathering information for your sales team to be used during follow up. This includes answers to things such as purchasing time frame, product interest, notes about the conversation the booth staffer had with the attendee, etc.

Next time you are offered a lead retrieval system from the show, ask if you have the ability to customize the information collected. You need to ask attendees questions and have the ability to take notes. If the device does not have this ability, consider other lead retrieval options that you can rent or purchase, such as LeadWizard, NewLeads, CardScan Lead Qualifier or simply print up your own lead form!

4.) Booth Staff

Myth: Our Booth Staffers don't need training.

Reality: All Booth Staffers need training, even "veteran" booth staffers. It is common for companies to "learn" their booth staff skills on the fly at the show and continue with this method year after year. This is far from producing the optimal results your company can achieve at a trade show.

Exhibitors who continuously want to get exceptional results from trade shows provide booth staff training for each show, covering items such as key prospects for that particular event, key VIPs' who will come to the booth, new marketing approaches, Public Relations goals, handling competitors, booth etiquette, engaging, qualifying and closing techniques, as well as Role Playing, etc. When "done right" Booth Staff Training can improve ROI at each and every show you exhibit at.

5.) Networking Events

Myth: Networking Events are a waste of time.

Reality: Networking events provide the opportunity to speak with other exhibitors and attendees in a more casual environment than the show floor allows. This gives you the ability to make deeper and more meaningful connections with them. Now I'm not saying it is necessary to attend each and every networking event, but it's important to attend the events where you can meet the targeted people you are looking for at the show. A good approach is to look at the event descriptions and determine which booth staffers would be a good fit for the various events; then split up the networking.

Hopefully this "lesson" helps to give you a fresh look at the most common Trade Show Myths and gives you ideas on how you can improve the approaches you take when exhibiting. And since we could only cover 5 myths here, keep your eye out for others. Question anything you take for granted, and you will find them. That's the "lesson" for this month; bye for now!

HomeWork:
• Review the myths from this lesson and re-consider the approaches you take at your show.
• Think of other areas of your exhibit planning that may be "myths" and consider other ways of carrying out those activities. You may find other "myths" when you think about the following habits:

o Always renting the same booth space; instead of trying different areas of the exhibit hall that may produce better results
o Always exhibiting at the same shows; instead of considering changes in the market and evaluating new shows on the market
o Always renting everything from the show; instead of purchasing items in the show city or shipping them
o Always shipping to the advance warehouse; instead of shipping directly to show-site and saving money
o Always getting double carpet padding to make booth staffers most comfortable; instead of only getting one layer. (Keep in mind, too much padding wears out the exhibitor's feet even more. One layer is plenty!)
o Just showing up at the exhibit; instead of spending time on pre-show marketing planning that can drive even more attendees to the booth
o Thinking that "anyone" from the company can be a booth staffer; instead of carefully selecting and training the booth staffers you send to the show that will deliver the best results

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