How to maximize your presence at tradeshows

Since I joined my current company -Numus Cash- one of my duties have been to attend tradeshows to showcase our cash payments automation solution for retailers, with the main goal of generating leads. I have been traveling to Dusseldorf, London and Paris to attend the main european retail tradeshows.

I personally enjoy attending this kind of events. I find enjoyable to get out of the office, travel to a different city and taste different food, while strengthening bonds with your work colleagues. Additionally, from the business perspective of a sales proffesional who knows how hard is to get interest from potential customers…it is a golden opportunity for lead generation! At no other place I have found the chance to talk with so many decision makers. I guess this is the main reason why the price to be a exhibitor at this kind of events is so high.I still get surprised of how expensive they are considering all the expenses involved. Companies that attend must pay a huge price per square meter, build the stand, relocate their teams, among other expenditures make these initiatives only suitable for companies with a substantial budget for sales and marketing.

Normally at the tradeshows my company attends also count with the presence of all the big names of the tech industry: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Salesforce,... showing their power occupaying the best spots and the flashiest booths. So, as the Business Development Manager of a startup this competency made me think that if we want to attract some attention from the visitors, we have to do things differently. Since my first tradeshow, the main aspect that has surprised me the most has been the little proactivity I see from the exhibitor’s sales personnel. Normally most of the sales people are checking their phone, talking among themselves or apparently doing some office work. So, the visitors passing by the aisles normally do not have incentives to start talking with them, expect if they know the company already and want to extend the understanding of their products. But is it not the goal of tradeshows to get new customers? Why are sales people not doing anything about it?

 In practical terms to make things differently and optimize the results for my company I came up with a method that has proved successful by increasing the amount of leads generated. Basically I proactively initiate conversations with the visitors who pass by our booth but do not stop to get to know our service. The method is divided in 3 phases:

1-     Starter

To initiate the conversations you need a sentence that you can tell to everybody who is passing by your stand, we called it 'starter'. In this step the goal is just making the people stop and listen. I like to use a question that is a bit shocking and make the people question what this is about. When promoting the services of my current company I use the conversation starter: ‘Do you accept cash?’

This brief sentence makes people wonder what I really mean, also open the possibility for them to come up with a funny answer which would make them feel great about the interaction. Also, it is an easy-going sentence that you can say to everybody with low emotional and energy investment. If they do not want to stop or answer simply ‘No’, you can just simply move on to the next one.

2-     Filter

At this step we need to figure out if the person we are talking to is somebody valuable for our company. But we do not want to sound as an artificial or pre-planned script. We want to have fun talking with the visitors and helping them with our solution in case they fit in our target. At the end, if our interlocutor is not a potential client or partner, we want them to retake their path with a smile on their face. So after the starter I wait for the reaction of the person, and according to it I build up a conversation that is meaningful for them. When they are ready I ask them the questions to filter them, but out of a legitimate interest and looking forward to show them something interesting. When promoting Numus I normally ask the following questions:

-Do you accept cash payments in your business?

-What kind of business do you work for?

I allow them to develop their answers, as people like to talk about themselves with these two simple questions I normally get all the information I need to decide if I take them to the final phase.

3-     Lead them to next step.

If you have reached this point you are now talking with a person that potentially is interesting for your company. At this stage you want them to get to know your solution better and make them impressed with what it can offers. At fairs people normally go to discover the novelties of the industry and look at the future technologies that will disrupt the marketplace. So, at this exact point you should invite them in a low threshold way to see the future of the sector.

Normally at Numus booth we set up a full demo set creating an attractive next step that allow us to show our solution in a fun and interactive way. At Numus we know that after watching our demo the potential clients will get impressed and they will get their minds working on how our solution might fit into their businesses. The job is done!

As final consideration, to make this method a success it is mandatory to select the right team and train them. At Numus we normally place sales people for doing the ‘starter’ and ‘filter’ phases, while we prefer a consultant performing the product demos. If you do not have good socially skilled personel that feel comfortable talking with strangers, you should probably look for other strategy. The team factor is essential for the success of this method as you should put in front magnetic people to make it work.

Therefore when facing your next tradeshow consider the following quote of Pablo Picasso: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist” – analyze what the competitors do, consider how you can improve your outcome and be brave to try different approaches. I wish my experience and model may work in your environment, so you quit being part of the team of companies whose sales representatives are waiting for customers to come, but instead they are proactively initiating conversations. Be the artist your clients expect you to be!