What causes a client to walk out the door? There is the generic better offer, great pricing elsewhere, promises of terrific service, and guarantees of much better quality. However – these are really not the reason a client goes to the other side. Truth be known, and whether true or not – the salesman is always to blame. Customers rely on their emotional encounter with salespeople more than any anything else when trying to come to a decision whether or not to stay with a company.

It’s vital for salespeople to recognize customer sensitivities and regularly collect feedback. Meeting their expectations is not enough. Customers want to know you are concerned. They want a positive response when they run into problems or have serious questions.

As a trade show warrior you have expertise and knowledge. You know what’s happening in your industry, and you know your customers’ needs. Try to help the customer get what’s needed. It will build their confidence and trust in you and your company. It is most effective to act as if no one knows you or recognizes the value you bring. Strive to prove it every day. Just because you have been around the block does not lead everyone to your door automatically.

Keeping hold of your worthiness in the minds of your customers requires determination and concentration. Clients’ needs change repeatedly. You must stay away from making assumptions. If you don’t have current, up-to-the minute answers to client’s uncertainties, you’re in no position to meet their needs. Always stay in touch. Use your contact management database frequently to find out what challenges customers are facing. Don’t wait to call until you think they might want to place an order – make an effort to call or email every 60 days.

You may be doing a great job taking care of clients’ troubles, but that’s not always enough. It is also the ideas, thoughts, information, assistance, and leadership that you offer clients that merits the privilege of doing business with them. Start discussions that center on their coming needs, new projects or areas of impending development. That is how to keep clients.

You just handed out your umpteenth business card on the trade show floor – what did the client or potential client do with it? For all you know he just tore it in half. That may offend you, but less than one in 500 is worth the ink and paper it's printed on. This probably includes you. Your business card is just your image, your identity, a reflection of you and your company, your product, your service. No big deal!? And that is the only item your client or potential client takes away from your exhibit space!

So let’s talk business cards – what they mean and how you can improve and/or give you staying power. Your business card is a reflection of you. It shows you've taken the time to market and position yourself. It suggests your company has a leadership position. It suggests you're a leader. It says "we're someone special," before you ever say a word. Your card is a sample of the kind of work your company produces. Great card, great work. Ordinary card, ordinary work. Shoddy card, shoddy work.

Give your card at a trade show and get a "nice card" comment, it sets the tone for a positive discussion or meeting. A good card is kept and shown to others, and it is a reinforcement to the claims of your other advertising. A great card will be saved. Not every card you give results in an immediate sale. If your card is great, people cannot bring themselves to throw it away. It will stay around a desk or drawer until the day it's finally used.

The right card captures notice, disrupts competition, and wins the battle for consideration and respect. Especially when two cards (your card and the opponent’s card) are in hand to make a decision. Your card makes a statement. It sends a message. Are you proud to offer it?

January 25, a Monday night, Todd Koren, president of Absolute Exhibits viewed a story in regard to the Eglise Messianique de la Grace Community church that resides at the First Baptist Church in Las Vegas, and is headed by Pastor Amors Prophete, on the local Las Vegas, NBC affiliate. This congregation, led by the president of the Haitian Disaster Relief Community, Kenson Desinov, had collected an enormous quantity of supplies for the earthquake victims in Haiti. Their problem – how to get all of this across the country to Miami to be ferried to Port Au Prince, Haiti?

Mr. Koren went to his office and arranged for Tim Brennan of GE Trailer Leasing to donate two trailers and Ryder Truck Leasing to donate a tractor to be driven twice round trip to Miami. Absolute Exhibits donated a team of Teamster drivers to make the two roundtrips. One tractor left the following Wednesday and the other was filled and ready to go upon the driving teams return the next weekend.

Mr. Koren then made one last phone call to one of his closest friends here in Las Vegas, Kevin Kelly of Kelly & Sullivan, Ltd. Mr. Kelly is a criminal law attorney here in Las Vegas, as well as a humanitarian. He wanted to help and offered to underwrite any further expenses for this trip.

Thanks to a local newscast – people were motivated and felt that they could play a part in helping. Donations are still being taken at the First Baptist Church for the Eglise Messianique de la Grace community. Mr. Koren has brought together a church congregation, community civil servants, local businesses, and the Teamsters. Forty eight hours well spent.

If you are new to your industry, or new to the trade show experience, it is best to attend one or two shows before you attempt to arrange or deal with your booth space and exhibit materials.. Consider spending a few days – if you are lucky enough to have a convention center nearby, you can plan to spend three –four hours of each work day devoted to this mission. First - get there early and watch the installation of exhibits, look at booth designs, and stick around for the dismantle, too. An example – you will now understand why you cannot take down the exhibit and get out of the convention center in two hours. In most cases you will not even see your empty crates for four hours! It’ll help you get a look at the strategic behind-the-scenes planning and an overall feel for how tradeshows work.

When it comes time to actually strut your stuff, many companies contending for attention have found that it makes far more sense to invite the buyers to come by your booth and set up appointments. With thousands of people flooding the booth aisles over the 2-4 days of the tradeshow, you will need to look organized If you look disordered, how will you persuade a potential buyer or distributor that you can deliver the product?
Before adding a show to your exhibit list, you might contemplate attending as a visitor, which will give you a good idea of who is there, who your competition is and who’s on the attendee list. With the large number of shows that can touch on your industry, or even your niche of your industry, it’ll help you determine which shows are right for your company.

Look at tradeshow promotion as just one point of your marketing efforts. You just cannot settle on trade shows as your only form of marketing. However, spending time at a tradeshow either as an exhibitor or a visitor is a great way to meet a large number of potential customers and business partners in a short period of time. It’s a condensed experience: both your time and the amount of people you can meet is compressed.

Do your homework before you leave for the show, and spend a little of your down time updating and making notes. The key to success whether as a visitor or exhibitor is to be over-prepared. Know who you’d like to meet, know what companies you want to see, whether as a competitor or as a potential business partner or customer. It’s all about taking control. Take control and you’ll be a success!

Does your trade show exhibit function as it should?

To determine if your booth is designed with more than just pretty graphics and a ‘wow’ factor to draw in the show attendees, your designer should ask a lot of relevant and applicable questions about the function of your booth.

Typical functions you might need include product display areas, AV equipment, internet access, a serving bar, storage, private and semi-private meeting areas, refrigerated coolers or refrigerators, areas for interaction with games or software, and demonstration areas.

Function is getting down to the bottom line. If you need to sit down with clients or prospects and go over a product line or discuss aspects of business, you’ll need a place to do that. That will likely mean a small table that 3 or 4 people can sit down and chat at least a few feet away from the main traffic of the show or a private meeting room – or even an auditorium feature.

If your business needs to let prospective customers get their hands on a computer mouse and play with the software to see how it applies to their business, you’ll need to make sure there’s room (and power) for the computer. Do you need individual kiosks? Or an area with room for several people to be playing with your products at once – where everyone talks to each other, creating a lively atmosphere. Or perhaps your booth needs room for a demo that can accommodate a dozen or more people. That space and accommodations need to be worked into the design.

All of these areas are important considerations and no matter whether you rent or purchase an exhibit – if it does not have the right elements, the greatest look can still be a failure. If there is a vital element missing that impairs your overall function, the time to discover that is not on the show floor!

Go over your show objectives with your designer. A great designer will lead you down a path to a purposeful exhibit that incorporates all the essential functions that your exhibit will need to serve. And with a collaborative effort between your tradeshow team and your booth design team you will make certain that all of the exhibit’s function needs have been met.

1. Be watchful. Avoid talking shop on airplanes, in terminals or bars, locales where odds are the greatest that a competitor might be listening. If you have to discuss business, lower your voice and avoid top-secret subjects.

2. Be aware. When working on a laptop, never expose the screen in public. Avoid typing in an aisle seat or using anything larger than 12-point type.

3. Be on guard. People, on the exhibit floor, who are quite anxious to get strategic information on your company and new products, may surround you. If you need to have a meeting, consider renting a private room.

4. Be cautious. Remember, everyone can hear your conversation when talking business on pay or cell phones in public.

5. Watch your laptop. Don't let your laptop out of your sight. If your computer contains sensitive files, purchase a cable lock or invest in security software that allows you to monitor your computer's location at regular intervals. Consider encrypting your most sensitive files.

6. Keep sensitive materials to a minimum. Don't take more company documents than you know you'll need, and never read them in public places.

Trade shows are still the most cost-effective "face-to-face" marketing method available today. Trade show marketing allows an exhibitor to meet with hundreds of motivated potential customers. Trade shows supply a targeted audience of real buyers that either paid to be at the tradeshow at which you are exhibiting, or at least have paid to travel, stay at a hotel, and eat on their own company’s budget. You are sitting inside a building with not one, but hundreds of your buyers and potential buyers.

A tradeshow is the place where your buyer or potential buyer can actually handle your products – or see them in action. A picture of a baby bathtub on your website is not the same thing as picking it up and playing with it. A picture of a car is not the same thing as climbing inside it and feeling the space and all its amenities.
Today everyone has a website – they are a fact of doing business– however, the trade show gives clients a once-a-year opportunity to touch and feel the product. You need to be there – you just need to be certain you are at the right show with the right group of attendees. Once again – you must exhibit at a minimum of one tradeshow – not necessarily seven or eight – this is your exposure.

Companies running the show may over-hype their event. Talk to other businesses who have attended several trade shows, then use this information that you have gathered to steer your trade show decision. In today’s economy everyone has cut back on their tradeshow attendance – so talking to attendees will tell you what shows are most important for what you sell? Make certain that you are reaching the key decision-makers of your target market. Remember, trade shows are unlike other sales environments. You receive only a narrow amount of time and consideration from attendees. This necessitates quick qualifying, and lead generation on your behalf. Make certain your staff is prepared and everyone is working with the same plan.
Last thoughts – your sales people often make the error of contacting trade show leads, months after the show. All leads should be contacted within weeks of your trade show exhibit. Don’t blow the immediacy of face-to-face contact at the show with a tardy phone call months later – the result is very disappointing R.O.I.

In the everyday hassle of doing your job and getting ready for a trade show simultaneously – things begin (or don’t begin) to fall apart. Trade show planning cannot wait until the last minute or something will be forgotten. In the preparation stage your marketing department must meet with your sales department and decide why you are attending a particular show – need more customers? A product launch? Have to be seen? Then the exhibit space is booked, the display is bought, rented, or refurbished. New graphics are coordinated. Hotels and travel are booked. And pre-show promotions are sent to your current and wannabe clients.

All along you must keep in your mind that you are going to your own personal Super Bowl where you are competing with hundreds of exhibitors among all the other booths in the show hall. You've got to insure that your trade show display will stand out from all the others, which means you'll need a stand-out, breakthrough design with thought provoking graphics. That said and done you must now take a deep breath – you are on your way to the show.

Day one, you are on the show floor, have you told your staff what is expected of them? Have you reminded them that it is not necessary to try to sell to everyone? Remind them to greet everyone passing by, and when and if they respond, QUALIFY them.

Quick questions – remember they did not come to the show just to see you – so, ask if they are in the market for your product or service? Do they have a particular problem? Are they working with a competitor? Then shut-up and listen - give them a chance to talk. Their talking will help you determine if they are a prospective client and if they are not, thank them, and move on. If they are, continue your conversation. Get contact information, and hopefully some kind of personal information as well and make a note of it. Now you will be ready for the follow-up call. Without this quick method of qualifying you lose valuable show time and even follow-up time back at your office.

So now … the follow-up. If prospective clients go back to their offices with 60 other business cards, yo-yo’s, pens, and catalogues – how long will it take them to call you? You must call them within a week. These are not cold-calls, you just met Jim, or Joe, or John. Take your little note you wrote with their personal information and go to it and don't stop with one call. Follow-up is allot of work, but with all the work you already invested it is ridiculous to squander a lead and to not finish the job. The follow-up is your payback – you have done all of the preparation and qualification – now get the client.

The first answer, no matter how small your exhibit – at least two people. Two knowledgable people – that is the key. If you do not have two people to speak towards your product or service – you might as well not go to the trade show. When an attendee approaches the exhibit and has questions and wants answers – believe me they are not going to wait around or better yet come back to your space. You must strike while the iron is hot. As I always tell everyone, you spent the money – now go the distance.

Here are a few more thoughts to keep in mind. Wear comfortable shoes. Stand, don't sit. Smile at everyone. If you have a table, put it on the side or near the back. Don't block the entrance to your space. Bring food and a bottle of water for the day. Don't eat in the booth. Don't leave the booth unattended. It is inevitable if no one is there, your biggest potential customer will stop by, and then go to your competitor. Walk the aisles and check out the competition - in the morning before the show opens.

Greet everyone, but then determine if they are a potential customer. If not, thank them, give them some literature if they want it, and then move on. Practice good personal hygiene. Dress good, smell good, look good. If the person you are talking to is a good prospect, give them your literature but plan on it getting lost. Get their contact info and follow-up after the show. It is always about the follow-up.

Designing good, clean exhibits and messaging for the trade show floor is simply a matter of common sense. However it seems that many trade show exhibitors miss the boat with their trade show design. An effective trade show booth display will entice potential prospects into your booth, where you can then convert them into customers.

Above all people must notice you when they walk by your booth. Your design must distinguish your booth from all the other trade show booths. You've only got a few seconds to grab the attention of the trade show attendees walking by your booth. Combining a full-color background image with a memorable tagline is one simple way to accomplish getting noticed.

Second and not to be overlooked, your booth design should make clear who you are and also what it is that you do. Your design must include your company name in big bold letters. You must also explain what your company actually does. If people can't look at your display and immediately know who you are and what you do, you need to start your design over. If your company name is not Ford, or Coca Cola, or even Joe’s Glass Cutting – your tagline better tell what you do – or you might get passed over.

The third part – and this is critical –the potential client must immediately recognize what is in it for them to bother to stop at your booth. It is officially the me generation – whether the prospect is 25 or 65 - prospects justifiably or not care about themselves first, and want to know what you can do for them. Just remember, to be effective, your design must explain how you can help.

Your design must stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Your exhibit design should have your company name at the top and what your company does. And most importantly, your design must maintain how you assist and facilitate customers. Make sure your exhibit design is effective and covers these three points, and you will be more successful with your trade show results.