What are the best practices for networking and lead generation at a trade show?

Start with clear objectives and targeted prospects. Design an eye-catching booth with engaging demos and interactive elements to attract attendees. Equip your team with concise pitches and marketing materials. Use social media to announce your presence and schedule meetings in advance. During the event, actively engage visitors, ask insightful questions, and listen to their needs. Collect contact information and follow up promptly with personalized messages. Post-event, analyze your results and refine your strategy for future shows.

Booth design is important. Be sure that you have enough place to welcome people. Also, traditional snacks or drinks from home can bring joy to your conversation.

The Dental Industry has a high number of SME businesses, and therefore cost/ benefit ratio is always present. In case you attend only one exhibition or a small number, and travelling/ transport is not an issue, you might want to get your own booth (furniture). This helps visitors to identify you and your brand. In case you attend many (smaller) events in many places/ countries (like in Europe) you might want to book the "exhibition package" from the organizer. Here you need to be sure that your design, i.e. the displays/ big stickers (for the "walls") are attractive and immediately show what you stand for. "Less is more" in this case - avoid long texts as you need to attract passersby when they take a quick glance.

I have an observation that people will always be people. I’ve consistently noticed the highest number of participants at booths offering alcohol and snacks. Most attendees travel from distant countries and seek to add some variety to their time at the event.

what is the goal of the show ? meet people you have set up meetings with? be attractive to people who walk by? spend time with your existing distributors ? I like to set up 3 areas - a demo area, a meeting area and a "lounge" for my distributor sales people. I want my distributors to hang out in my booth, it is the best investment of money i can make, it drives mindshare which drives sales as to attractive - assume nobody knows who you are. can you explain a 5 words what you do so everyone you want to stop does but nobody that ou don't want to stop does?

Instead of static displays, create interactive experiences that allow visitors to test-drive your product. Consider using gamification elements to make it even more engaging. Showcase positive mentions and reviews from social media on a digital display in your booth. This builds trust and credibility with potential leads. Design your booth to be attractive and informative with international appeal. Train your staff to understand cultural sensitivities and connect with visitors through storytelling. Utilize interactive demos and consider unique tactics like gamification or business card raffles. To stand out, consider partnering with a local influencer, offering VR experiences, or hosting mini-events.

every minute of the show is costing you a fortune. every minute is about 12-20 bucks. so you want to make sure everyone is focused and working at what they are supposed to be doing. I also use a "message board" to make sure that all the messaging is in sync - we know what we want to say and how to say it.

Choose the staff that has a good vibe. Do not forget that it is just to meet with people. You should not force anyone to sell. Sales is the second step.

To amp up your trade show game, train your team in the art of "storytelling small talk" – encourage them to share interesting, relatable stories about your product or their experiences. This approach not only breaks the ice but also creates a memorable, personal connection with potential leads, paving the way for smoother, more effective sales conversations.

To attract participants to your booth, you should involve charismatic sales managers supported by junior staff. Your team must be both personable and knowledgeable. I believe the primary goal of attending a trade show is to build trust through interaction and demonstrating expertise. This trust translates into sales after the event.

Before any international event or negotiation, make a list of potential questions from potential clients and partners, not only basic, but also difficult and non-standard ones, and answer them in advance. This way you and your team will be more prepared for the unexpected.

These days, digital material is more useful. You can say that we will send you the catalog after the event. It can be also a good reason to keep in touch after the show.

One of the best ways to promote your company at trade shows and events is to secure a speaking spot. This is one of the best ways to get face time with your potential customers and gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and earn trust.

Walk the show! Don't get stuck in your booth. Make the conscious effort to get to know as many exhibitors as possible in order to: Have a better understanding of the market Gather more information about the event itself and the ROI for every stakeholder Identify opportunities for partnerships Have nice different chats to break the day And maybe find your next client or employer

It takes time but I believe that the development of a personal brand is worth investing time in that. It's a long story that matches the best long-term business development. While you become a speaker - you get attention and your the target audience comes organically.

If you want to promote yourself, don't start by talking about you and your qualities first, but try "social listening" – instead of pushing your pitch, tune into conversations at other booths or during breaks, and chime in with helpful insights or stories related to your expertise. This low-key, socially savvy approach not only positions you as a knowledgeable player in your field but also naturally draws people to you and your brand without feeling salesy, because you're sharing your knowledge and experience, not selling them on something. Just don't forget to get their contact info to continue the conversation after the event, and then you can discuss sales more directly.

After the event, I would always look-up every lead on LinkedIn and try to connect with them so I know I can reach them with my content on LI and maintain contact even if they move to a different company.

Following up is the crucial step that most of the salespeople fail. Follow-up by all mediums. By email, Linkedin, etc. Let people see your consistency and determination to work with them.

One simple but surprising way to follow up that I've tried is to send a personalized video message recapping your conversation and highlighting how your product or service can solve their specific problem – this unique, engaging approach helps you stand out in their inbox and keeps the momentum of your initial meeting going. Keep it short & simple (1-2 minutes max!). Loom is a great tool for this, and you can hammer out a lot of videos in a short time, for maximum impact & results.

The interesting thing about follow up is that it is the most logical and important part of what happens at a trade show and yet it is most commonly not done or done wrong. Of course in order to follow up correctly you need to take notes about what you talked about. That should be the beginning of your follow up. People at a trade show meet so many people and starting with what you spoke about, especially if it is something personal, will get that person to remember you and be more interested in reading the rest of your follow up. A common way I like to follow up is to say "You had interest in finding out more about X. Is that still the case?" Also remember to connect with those you meet on social media. If not for now then for later.

Everybody talks about following up leads, there is also a key work getting leads and customers ready to visit you on the expo. Don't wait for the event itself to promote your self. Communicate where you will be at the show and work to book as many meetings as possible before.

This applies mostly (but not exclusively) to high-ticket sales. While a few meetings have depth, most don't. The very noisy and busy environment is not conducive to real conversations. By now you're thinking I'm going to say you should do "follow up." Yes, but. Following up with an email or a LinkedIn request is not enough, it's just another box to tick. Introducing CAFE- Contact After First Encounter. That is the phone call or Zoom meeting that happens after the event. Track the time between the meeting at the event and CAFE, and then extend that over time to the main stages of the sales process and you will find a very high correlation between a quick CAFE and an eventual sale.

Depending on the situation you need to adapt different metrics. In a B2C environment your direct interation counts, possibly direct sales, Social Media traffic (during and after the show), etc. Sampling might also be a good KPI. In a B2B setting you need to separate between Distributors and Users. With Distributors: check your goals upfront of the event (sign new partners, meet existing partners, launch a new product/ service and collect orders directly, entertain customers who join your booth with the Distributor, etc.). With Users: direct sales (if possible/ available), number of contacts, contact details collected, feedback (from existing Users), number of product demonstrations, etc.

It's important to remember that effective business relationships aren't built in 1 or 2 events, it's a long-term engagement with companies you're interested in. Therefore, the main work starts right after such events. Your business results depend on the quality of the subsequent contact, on the frequency of interaction. We have already moved into the human-to-human phase. Also study in advance the mentality of the country where the event takes place. Since, for example, in the Middle East, to leave immediately after the event will be a mistake. It is important to extend your stay for a few days after the end of the event for personal meetings (formal and informal) with all your target contacts.

Make it easy for visitors to provide their contact information, by having a clear and simple lead capture form. Train your staff on how to effectively collect lead information and enter it into your system. Follow up with leads promptly and consistently, using personalized and relevant messaging. Use technology, such as a CRM system, to track and manage your interactions with leads. Continuously evaluate and improve your lead capture and follow-up system to ensure that it is effective and efficient.

Participating to a trade show is usually an expensive investment so you need to make sure you will have positive results. Do you have interesting contacts now? Have somebody asked about your product / service after meeting you at the trade show? Did you have enough visibility? Did you manage to change your contacts into new clients? Have people connected with you on Linkedin and follow the company on social media? Here are some of the many questions you need yo be focusing on to see if your participation to the trade show was worth it and if you should whether do it again and change or not your strategy or not participate anymore to thos events.

It's great to identify key persons from the event that help your business to grow and invite them to dinner the same evening. It will help to develop opportunities and make your connection better from a business view to a more personal level.

While we launched easy-graft+ in Middle East we had an oversized product display (a syringe filled with the Bonegraft) which we used to take pictures. Every person who took a picture and uploaded it on selected Social Media channels (and using pre-defined hashtags) had the chance to win AirPods. This was a great chance to activate these persons networks and go far beyond our own connections. It was a great story and gave us much higher visibility - much better and much wider that what we could have reached by our own. So "activating" the virtual networks of your customers/ users/ business partners during an exhibition can really bring traffic to your booth and attention to your presence.