You worked so hard with your organization, event planning staff and the show manager to obtain the right position on the floor. You spent hours combing the best marketing materials and tchotchkes to provide. And last but not least, you spent thousands of dollars to fly yourself and staff to the 3-day conference.
When it was all said and done – what was the result? Less than stellar leads and staff that were bored out of their mind.
Before you go blaming the show manager or event planner, take a harder look at your booth, technology and staff. Trade Show News Network recently wrote a blog post about the reasons attendees don't trust booth staffers. Here are four reasons why you might be missing the mark and what to do about each and everyone of them.
Turn Off Tactics
Your Booth Looks Like it was Built in 1960.
When an attendee comes toward your booth, does it look clean, new and modern? If you don't have comfy seating, touch screen monitors and charging stations for attendees to charge their mobile devices, you are probably missing out. Digital is in, print is out. Sitting is in, standing is out. Modern clean designs are in, shabby overcrowded booths are out.
Your Staff Ignores Attendees.
It is critical that you have knowledgeable, friendly staffers that are "on" all the time. They need to pay attention to the flow on the floor. If they have iPad rentals, they can move around the floor and and engage the attendees wherever they are.
Your Staff Does All the Talking.
No one likes someone who talks all the time and never asks any questions. If your staff is constantly pitching your products without asking any questions, the attendee will cut the conversation off quickly. In addition, you don't know if the person they are talking to is a qualified lead or not.
Invest in a lead retrieval system to capture attendee demographic information. Train your staff to ask qualifying questions and then to listen for cues about what direction to go with the attendee. Remember, very few attendees are going to match up with your product offerings, so it is important to spend time with the ones that do and acknowledge the ones that don't.
Your Staff Doesn't Know Your Company Offerings.
"Booth Babes" are also a thing of the past. While they may still be effective for basic B2C shows, when you get into technical B2B shows a good looking man or woman who knows nothing about your products or services is a booth albatross. They offer nothing but their looks and attendees wonder why they even bothered to stop by.
Bring knowledgeable staff to your show and arm them with technology that will help build credibility to your team, company and most of all, garner you a better chance at closing new business.
SmartSource Rentals is a total technology solutions provider and a preferred vendor at many trade shows.Call them at 800.888.8686 to learn more about their offerings!