One of the reasons many exhibitors are unsuccessful in their trade show sales efforts is because they don’t have the right focus. They tend to focus solely on their products or services and do not consider the perspective of attendees who visit their
trade show exhibits. If you want to have more effective sales strategies at a trade show you must understand how your booth visitors think, feel and make decisions.
"Offering value through cost savings is a proven trade show sales strategy because it encourages a purchase response" says
Bev Gray, a long-time trade show consultant. Attendees often do not place as much value on savings as the exhibitor thinks they do and as a result misjudge what they are willing to do to get them. For many booth visitors, the time and effort they need to invest to learn more about a new product or service is just as important as the financial investment. If you want to improve your trade show sales, offer value by reducing the time, effort and money your visitors need to invest.
Everyone who attends a trade show likes to feel the exhibitors are focused completely on them; that includes your customers, leads and random passersby. For your established customers and leads, let them know about the show and what special offers you are reserving especially for them well before the show. For attendees, it can be as simple as offering them a high-quality tradeshow giveaway and engaging them in conversation to discover their needs.
An entire day spent on a trade show floor can be tiring, attendees can become exhausted. You may have a sales presentation that includes product specs, purchase options and sales incentives; but if you want to sell to people who are tired, simplify your presentation. Remember, your product may be clearly better than your competitors and you may still lose the sale if your pitch is too complex for your visitors to absorb.
Trade show attendees are impatient and for good reason; they’re tired, distracted, away from home and are looking forward to relaxing after a day spent on the trade show floor. Most exhibitors don’t fully realize this and end up talking themselves out of a sale. Once you realize that a lot of your booth visitors are not thrilled about being at the event, you can use this to your advantage. You can focus specifically on how to help your visitors meet their needs easily and immediately.
You’ve invested the time, effort and money to draw people to your booth; you’ve used attractions to grab attention and generate a buzz on the floor and you have a well trained staff to qualify leads. Use this momentum by understanding the psychology of trade show attendees; realize not everyone is motivated by cost savings, learn to stoke their ego and offer deals that are simple, easy and quick. Incorporating these strategies into your trade show sales approach will result in increased sales and a greater return on your investment.
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