Did You Just Have A Moment In Your Trade Show Booth?
How do you know you just had a moment in your trade show booth?
You know because you made a real, human connection with your visitor. You clicked. You were in synch. You were moving on the same wavelength. They were picking up what you were putting down. That’s awesome, as making real connections with your clients is one of the hallmarks of face-to-face marketing.
So how can you create more of moments in your booth? Here are a few ways to make them happen:
Bring Authentic People
You can’t make a connection without your booth staffers, so bring staffers who not only know your products inside and out, but also have the human touch. They don’t have to be extroverts; they just have to be team players who care about people. Staffers whose first instincts are to help people will strive to find how your company can truly help each booth visitor, rather than tell the same story again and again. A big red flag to watch out for is booth staffers who don’t want to be there. That unwillingness to booth staff starts them on the path to negativity in the booth, which creates a nearly insurmountable barrier to connections.
Actively Listen
To better connect with your visitors, start by listening to them. And I don’t mean only listening for when they’ve stopped talking, so you can launch into your canned sales pitch. Instead, listen to uncover their problems, their needs, their dreams. Show them that you’ve heard what they’ve said by summarizing their main points, and verify that you truly understand what they are looking for. Then, personalize your presentation of your company’s advantages to match the concerns your visitor brought up. You’ll vastly increase your chances of a true connection.
Tell Your Story
The human brain is wired to like, listen to, and remember stories. So help visitors make an emotional connection with your company by telling the human side of your company story. Tell your attendees how your company was founded, and how your founder persevered to build a company to help others succeed. Or, rather than rattle through the bullet points of your product features, tell how your products solved the problems of a real customer who had similar needs to your booth visitor. Describe your company’s benefits or capabilities in an unusual and memorable way. Whatever story you tell, make it easy to understand and make how you help clients – in emotional terms — central to the story.
Create a Welcoming Environment
Most attendees have their guard up when they walk the show. So make them so welcome they let their guard down. Create an inviting trade show exhibit that clearly states what you do, so they don’t have to work to understand why they should bother to talk to you. Get them excited by boldly showing, through graphics, a demo, or a presentation, what you can do to solve their problems. And help them relax with a snack, a drink, or a place to sit down.
Your booth visitors are more likely to “have a moment” in your booth when you bring genuine booth staffers who actively listen, tell good stories about your company’s benefits, and host visitors inside a welcoming exhibit environment. Those valuable moments forge stronger bonds that lead to greater business for you.
By: Mike Thimmesch –
