How to Exhibit at a Trade Show

Or: why your booth probably isn't as effective as you want it to be

AI-generated: “Photo of a computer conference trade show booth in the 1980s, black and white”

This is a copy of a message I send our sales team every time we’re about to exhibit at a trade show or conference—hopefully you’ll find it useful too.

Do you want to get all the leads at a trade show? Here’s how:

Stand in front of the booth and be accessible

• This is the single most common thing that people do wrong

• When people are around, never ever be sitting behind the booth

• Be standing in front of the booth and talking to people

• Corollary:

  • Don't be on your phone

  • Don’t be chatting with your coworkers

  • You have to be accessible and proactive for people to talk to you. Make eye contact. Initiate conversation yourself.

Pull people in

• You need to initiate the conversation with people that are walking by 

• How do you pull people in? In this case, you’re holding the swag item in your hand and you’re standing in front of the booth.

• As they walk by, you look directly at them and say “Would you like a Tamagotchi?” (yes, this was a real giveaway of ours and it was awesome)

  • You are physically holding the item in your hand, extended towards them

  • They stop and say “yes”

  • You say “Great, let me just quickly scan your badge”

  • You scan their badge

  • You hand them the item

• And then you ask “And what does [company name] do for its accounting today?”, or they might ask “And what is Pilot?”

• Conversation proceeds

Always be closing

• Remember: this is the beginning of a sales interaction

• You must scan their badge for them to get the giveaway (nothing in life is free)

• Immediately make a few brief notes in the lead scanner’s software that will let you craft an intelligent, actionable follow-up email to them after the event

• If you're sharing the lead scanner app, start the note with your own name so that you know it’s your lead and so that you can preferentially work it

Post-event followup

• Do it in a timely way

• Make it personal. You talked to hundreds of people, but they probably didn’t, so they probably do remember who you are and what you’re about. Indicate that you do too, by leaning on your notes from above.

Reminders

• Stand in front of the booth

• Don’t be on your phone

• Initiate conversation with people as they walk by

Good luck!