A salesman’s perspective on what makes a great trade show booth
by Sean Sweeney

I have been selling professional services for almost 18 years, and in that time I have attended many trade shows. In the last few years I have been selling PubFactory, iFactory’s electronic publishing platform solution; and my trade show attendance has increased exponentially. Regardless of where I go, the type of show or the time of the year, I see the same mistakes being committed in both the set-up and manning of trade show booths.  So, to help our current clients, friends and associates, I have assembled a list of do’s and don’ts for your booth…

1)

DO…
Have a warm and inviting booth where people can see and sample your product easily—and without crowding one another. If you have digital products, have multiple computers to run the software so that it can be interacted with and sampled by your visitors.

DON’T…
Have your collateral set up in the back of your booth with your round table and chairs in front, thus forcing your prospective customers to climb over you, your table, and your bag in order to see what you have to offer. Nothing turns people off more than their inability to see, touch and interact with your product.

2)

DO…
Staff your booth with pleasant folks who know the audience and, more importantly, know the product. They should be eager to talk to people and interested in discussing the different products in as much detail as the customer wants. Yes, people get tired, so reward your staff with a few days off afterwards to rest.

DON’T…
Staff your booth with people who sit in the corner and text or talk on their phone all day. Booth costs thousands of dollars, so why would you waste your time being there if your representative is not engaged? This is the biggest issue I see, and I see it more than 50% of the time.

3)

DO…
Have a second person to man the booth if you are setting up appointments as well as holding meetings. Nothing attracts a crowd more than seeing a group of people gathered at a booth; and nothing is worse than having those people walk away because all of your company representatives are busy. People don’t come back; it just doesn’t happen.

DON’T…
Set appointments and meetings in your booth if you are not prepared to have additional ones scheduled by this second person. If you are holding meetings then you should have a schedule available and people should know when you are free.

4)

DO…
Business at the conference; but never forget you are there to engage with people you don’t know, and to discuss business opportunities that you don’t yet know about. Confused? See #3, above.

DON’T…
Lock down your day with appointments you can have at other times; i.e. over the phone, after hours or through client visits.

And for all you managers out there,

DO…
Set realistic goals for your booth staff in terms of leads, opportunities and sales – depending on the business you do. Track the number of leads from show-show, year-to-year. You should know the value of a trade show before you agree to do it, and you should have a reasonably accurate estimate of the results of the show.

DON’T…
Assume that if you give out a handout and a business card that people will call you. Unless you are selling amazing and one-of-a-kind products, people will forget about you. Plus, who goes through their collection of brochures and cards and actually goes the next step and makes contact with you? Very unlikely.

That’s it. Do these few simple things and your trade show efforts will be well rewarded with more business from new and existing clients.