Trade Show Selling Techniques

Reach the right people with the right message for maximum impact

By Frances Sharpe, freelance writer/editor

Trade shows are great places to collect free merchandise and schmooze with industry bigwigs. They're also great places to sell merchandise. But many business owners forget this fact in the whirlwind of activity that surrounds most shows. With the right sales strategy, trade shows can help you:

Increase your market share among existing customers.
Successfully launch new products and services.
Introduce your business to a new market.

Create a trade show sales and marketing plan

Draft a marketing plan for upcoming trade shows that includes your sales goals and outlines specifically who you want to reach and how you want to reach them.
Try: Find out how trade show exhibitions can help your marketing efforts by browsing trade show research and trends online courtesy of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).

Announce your attendance

Prior to attending a trade show, create a buzz with existing clients and potential customers by informing them-via e-mail, direct mail or press release-of your show agenda. Preview new products, tease show discounts and push other promotions that will drive traffic to your booth on show day.
Try: Send formal trade show invites to current customers and prospects. Touchpoint will help you design, print and distribute professional invitations.

Train your sales team

Trade shows offer unique opportunities for making large sales to new customers. As such, your sales team should be specially trained to flourish on the trade show floor.
Try: Learn the fine art of trade show sales from trade show experts Christine Corelli and Susan Friedmann, who regularly counsel small businesses on trade show sales techniques.

Make your booth beautiful

Your booth is among your most important sales tools. Use your space at the show to make a strong statement about your brand and your products.
Try: Get tips for solid booth design from EXHIBITOR magazine or enlist design services from companies like ExhibitQuest and Nomadic Display.

Offer incentives

The most successful booths at trade shows lure in potential buyers with free tchotchkes, special giveaways or on-site discounts.
Try: Purchase promotional products and gifts branded with your company logo — such as hats, T-shirts and pens — from CoolPromoProducts.com, Empire Promotional Products or Motivators Promotional Products.

Follow up on sales leads

After a trade show, pursue potential sales leads promptly by phone and e-mail in order to seize opportunities while they're still fresh.
Try: Following a show, send handwritten thank you notes — NISA offers customizable corporate cards — to customers who did business with you there. If you collected prospects' e-mail addresses, send them an e-card from BigDates.com, which has a selection of greeting cards designed especially for trade show follow-up.

Don't wait for customers to come to you. If you see attendees walking down the aisle near your booth, approach them with a simple greeting and invite them to browse your merchandise.
In conversations with attendees, be able to quickly determine who is a potential customer and who isn't; spend your time and energy on prospects rather than fellow exhibitors and salespeople.
Be willing and able to make sales on the trade show floor; it's not bad etiquette, it's good business.
Trade show attendees have short attention spans, and selling to them requires you to generate fast, reliable leads. Being clear, concise and confident will sell more products than any gimmicks you might have up your sleeve.