Have you ever been working your company's booth at a trade show and noticed that everyone around you was a lot busier than you were? You watch for a while to see if you can tell why their booth is so popular, and yours isn't. Well, let's look at some possibilities.
First, I would caution that having a popular booth does not necessarily translate into solid leads or sales. I know it's easy to get caught up in the "show" atmosphere of a trade show, envying the trapeze artists and roaming robots drawing crowds, but the reality is that drawing a crowd presents problems. How do you sort through the crowd for legitimate prospects and have a meaningful conversation with them? Keeping your goal in mind will give you the strength to stave off the fear of failure.
Secondly, trade show leads should be about quality rather than quantity. If you have, as your goal for the show, finding 50 qualified prospects, then you don't need 1000 people to sort through. You only need 50!
Now, take deep breaths and let's talk about the reality of such a situation. If you do feel that you didn't get as much out of the show as you should have, consider:
Is this the right show? Are those qualified prospects even here?
Could I have done anything before the show to draw prospects to my booth? (Hint: Pre- show Promotion)
Do I have something interesting in my booth to draw in prospects and keep them from missing my presence among the crowds of booths?
Your neighbor may be missing a huge opportunity for making the most of the leads they get by not being able to talk to everyone about their needs, and not having a follow-up plan in place. They probably spent a lot of money on that trapeze artist that they won't get back!
Tony
First, I would caution that having a popular booth does not necessarily translate into solid leads or sales. I know it's easy to get caught up in the "show" atmosphere of a trade show, envying the trapeze artists and roaming robots drawing crowds, but the reality is that drawing a crowd presents problems. How do you sort through the crowd for legitimate prospects and have a meaningful conversation with them? Keeping your goal in mind will give you the strength to stave off the fear of failure.
Secondly, trade show leads should be about quality rather than quantity. If you have, as your goal for the show, finding 50 qualified prospects, then you don't need 1000 people to sort through. You only need 50!
Now, take deep breaths and let's talk about the reality of such a situation. If you do feel that you didn't get as much out of the show as you should have, consider:
Is this the right show? Are those qualified prospects even here?
Could I have done anything before the show to draw prospects to my booth? (Hint: Pre- show Promotion)
Do I have something interesting in my booth to draw in prospects and keep them from missing my presence among the crowds of booths?
Your neighbor may be missing a huge opportunity for making the most of the leads they get by not being able to talk to everyone about their needs, and not having a follow-up plan in place. They probably spent a lot of money on that trapeze artist that they won't get back!
Tony
