Welcome to the Blog for Professionally Personalized! Discover how to expand the identity for your business and get it's name out there. " 'Cause getting noticed is only logical".

Monday, June 22, 2009

They don't recognize time wasters!

This is the most important part of trade shows in my opinion. You only have a set amount of time at a trade show- and most likely you have paid to be a part of the show- so you better get the most bang of your buck, and don't waste your time with people who are not interested in your products or are not your potential clients. Some people have no intention of doing business with you, but they love to chat and they love whatever it is you are giving away or they love whatever products are on your table. This is a qualifying issues- you need to learn to quickly assess the value of a visitor before investing too much talk time. You need to ask qualifying questions, "could you see yourself ordering 500 of these?" and show them a product. This may seem like you are pushing away smaller orders, you can still spend time with the smaller orders, but don't let that take all of your time. Get their card and call them the next day to talk. Or if you have someone that has a lot of questions explain that you would love to talk with them, and set up a time to either meet or just say I will call you tomorrow to continue this conversation. A trade show is not the time to have a 30 minute discussion with a potential client. Trade shows are a time to get leads, you follow up on those leads after the show, not during!
So remember QUALIFY FIRST, PRESENT LATER!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Know whos running your booth!

Many booth workers are assistants or adminstrative people who are being paid a flat hourly rate to simply work the show and man the booth. Guess what happens when you put an hourly paid employee in your booth? That's exactly what you get! Someone who watches the minutes tick by until they can leave?

If you must have an employee in the booth who is an hourly employee give them some incentives for working the booth. Give them a bonus for every qualify lead they bring in. Give them a reason to talk to the visitors and sell your products.

A little hint that I learned is to put attrative people in the booths. As sexist as this may sound- it works. If you are going to be a construction show, the visitors will be mostly men, so put good looking friendly women in the booths. If you are going to be at a home good show you want good looking rugged men who can woo the happy housewives as they look around the show. Just remember you want to put your best foot forward- this booth is your customers first impression of your company. So put your best people in the booth and let the rookies watch from the sidelines.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Do not ask "can I help you"?

A general rule in sales is to never ask a question that can be answered with a simple "no". You want to ask unique open ended questions that puts the visitor at ease, like "What unusual things have you seen at the show?" or "what have you seen that interests you?" These types of questions invite conversation. You want to converse with the show goers not bark orders and questions at them.

Or if you really want to be snazzy as open ended questions that quality the visitor, like "what types of promotional products are you using right now?" This allows you to determine if you can help them, that way you can not waste your time and their time speaking with someone who does not need, use, or want your products.

If you incorporate this with our booth positions tools you will give yourself the room to talk to your perspective new customers- by pushing your table back and standing in front of it you allow yourself to be in the mix of people without being on top of your fellow booth mates.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Booth Design

You know how in real estate the key is LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! Well booth design at trade shows really isn't that different. Some homes are just designed wrong, and so are trad show booths! Is selling about building walls or is it about breaking then down or going around them? If, on an ideal sales call, you want to sit next to a prospect rather than having a desk between you then why would a trad show booth be any different?! Why would you design a show booth that sends the wrong message the thousands or trade show visitors?

One of us MUST cross over into the other's territory before anything good is going to happen. Remove ALL barriers, get out from behind the table, chair, display, whatever you have to. Interact with the people.

Your booth should be secondary- people sell things, not displays. Displays and booths grab attention, but people sell! Stand in front of your booth- actually the best thing to is is push your table back- and don't use the chairs and stand in front of your booth. This way you are not invading others space- everyone paid for a space- be considerate of your fellow trade showers. You should be handing things out- this is where promotional products come in handy. If a prospect has a question and you need some space or some peace and quiet you can step back to your table and talk one on one with the prospect.

So get out from behind your table and be one on one with the show goers!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Think you know how to work a trade show?

This will be a several part series that goes over the do's and don't of trade shows. Trade shows are a key to your business success, both attending a show as a guest and being an exhibitor is a must. You need to find out what shows are best for you to show off your product with a booth and which shows are better for you just to attend, the only way to know this is to actually go to the show and check it out- it's a bit of trial and error, but either way your presence there is necessary for your business to succeed.

The most important element of a trade show is to remember to sell- do not leave your sales shoes at the door- and do not be lazy!
But somehow most people tend to get lazy when attending a show- they expect people to walk up introduce themselves and throw money at them. Let me give you a big tip- THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN- you need to work a trade show, just like any other client. Sales reps die at trade shows all day long, so do not make that mistake. Selling in a booth is totally different from selling in the field. Most shows are not for selling, but for visits existing clients and qualifying new ones. Actually its more about generating leads, then actually selling anything.

But anyway you look at it- trade shows are full of bad sales techniques- so I am going to take a few parts and explain them to you and how to not fall into that category of what not to do.

The first DO NOT at a trade show and this is a biggie!
DO NOT sit in the booth!
This is the biggest no no! Usually the sitters are the people who were forced into coming and they are not the sales staff- either way there is no excuse for sitting in the booth. You should not even use your chairs- and in no way should you have your butt on the seat. Push your table back and stand in front of it- and invite people into your space- that way you can have a more intimate conversation with them that is out of the way of the other guests. The easiest way to invite people into your space is with a promotional product, and even better- something that is sparkly and will catch their eye. Even something basic as a pen, calling people over to you and saying "here is a pen" or "have a notepad" gets people to come over to you- do not be the booth that has promotional products sitting on the table- hand them out people! Come on don't be lazy- you are working the room. If someone is not a qualified lead- the give them your product and them them on their way- don't waste your time or theirs. If they are a qualified lead then you have a minute to get their card and give them yours. It's a win win situation, and now they also have a product with your name on it, and remember- people who receive a promotional product will remember your business longer.