I Have a Booth! Now What?

Too often businesses end up with a booth at an expo or trade show without knowing how they got it. Whether it is a show with a great salesperson and the business somehow bought a booth without realising it, sometimes it can be a contra deal for “really great exposure” or maybe the show is somehow related to the kids of the business owner and they wanted to support their kids.
Other times it can be a corporate employee who gets “that” phone call. You know the one. It goes something along the lines of, “Hi, it’s your boss here. I just wanted to let you know we are sponsoring the XYZ event next month and I need you to organise it.”
Here at the Exhibiting and Sponsorship Institute was are amazed at how often people contact us and say, “Hey I somehow got this booth, now what do I do?”
This is what you do:
1. Book out your diarySure, it is a real “Captain Obvious” thing to do but getting the basics right brings the majority of success in exhibiting. Not only are you putting the show in your diary, you are also putting the three business days directly after the show in your day. 
These days will be used for your follow up. Too often people revert back to their standard business day after a show and neglect to follow up with their visitors. The Centre for Exhibiting Industry Research in the US shows that approximately 70% of leads are not followed up. This means it will be easy for you to stand out above the crowd simply by following up each of your leads with a phone call. (Email follow up is one step away from being spam and is treated as such by your visitor.)
2. Set Your ObjectivesA lot of businesses consider exhibiting “expensive” or “not worth it”. You will find that most of these businesses had no idea why they were exhibiting at the time. The secret to successful exhibiting is knowing how you will measure your success. There are hundreds of reasons to be exhibiting; you just have to know what yours is. Before you quickly answer “Branding” you need to keep in mind that the hardest one to measure is branding. 
Branding is a good side effect of exhibiting. You are better off setting your objectives around lead capture, customer research, competitor research, staff recruiting, new product release, or sales and enjoy the branding impact that the event provides.
Whatever your Objective, make sure it is measurable so you can check at the end of the show whether you achieved it.
3. Booth DesignThere are many far better qualified than us who can assist you with specific designs for your booth, but strategically you need to ensure it does the following:• Attract your target market• Facilitate engagement of your target• Be on brand and on message• Support your show objectives
Remember, you are not at the show to attract EVERYONE, only your target market. The last thing you want is to spend your time with people who are not interested in you or your offering.
4. Set your staff up for successThe size of your team will depend on the size of your booth. The very minimum number should be two people. When selecting people for your stand, be sure to select the RIGHT people. Often, it is NOT the sales team. Sales people tend to be very focussed on closing the deal and that is NOT what the show is about. This is speed dating.
You wouldn’t propose on the first date so don’t expect to get the sale at the show. On a first date you would assess whether the connection was right and whether you had a chance to consummate the deal. This is the same. So often great people for your booth presence are account managers or even raving customers.
As well as selecting the right team, make sure you brief them well. Too often people turn up on the stand and their briefing is “You will be working on the stand from 9 until 5. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes.”
Let them know your key information. This will include information such as:• Acceptable booth behaviour• Your objectives for the show• How you will be measuring the success of the show• How to engage with people• How to move people on when they are not in your target market• How to qualify visitors to discover the qualified prospects• What information they need to capture• What to do with the qualified lead information 
It is also important to set realistic expectations with your team. If their average conversation with a visitor is 5 minutes, then they will only speak with 12 people an hour. For a shift that is from 10am to 4pm, that is 72 people per day. Sometimes they may speak to multiple people at once and other times the booth may be empty. But a target for each person on the booth talking with 70 visitors per day is quite realistic (excluding any unknown factors such as weather impact, event marketing and so on).
5. Use Pickup LinesWe are huge fans of a fun pickup line. As mentioned earlier, Exhibiting is speed dating and what would speed dating be without some good pickup lines.
The pickup line needs to pique the visitor’s interest and make them want to find out more information. A great example is the old weight loss slogan “Lose Weight Now, Ask me How!” It spoke directly to the target market (people who wanted to lose weight) and it gave them direction on what to do next. The subsequent conversation would qualify them and guide you in the best course of action.
Warwick used a very successful pickup line at the Pregnancy, Babies and Children’s Expo while promoting the Empathy Belly (a device designed to show non-pregnant people what it was like to be pregnant). He knew that most men would not want to wear the belly but their partners would want them to. So he would wait for a couple to walk past and he would say to the man, “Excuse me sir, can I make you pregnant?” Another client in wealth management used the line, “Excuse me but would you like to retire with incredible wealth?”
The line needs to appeal to your target market so you can stop them and engage in a more detailed manner. If you determine they are not your target market you can move them on so you can focus on the next prospect. So play around with some fun lines. If they don’t work, don’t worry – a new person will be along soon so try something different. It is worth spending some time with your team before the show brainstorming some different lines and then role playing them. It helps you to sound more comfortable and natural with them.
6. Have FunExhibiting is a ton of fun. It is a great way to interact with clients, prospects, suppliers, competitors and random strangers. It is a long time to be trapped in a massive hall if you are not enjoying yourself so make sure you always have some fun. A smile on your face and bursts of laughter will also attract others to your stand. 
Sure there are plenty of things that can go wrong, but there are so many more that can go right. Focus on the positive elements and enjoy yourself. You will find the success comes so much easier for you and the team.

While there is so much more you can do with your trade show, if you find yourself in the position of all of a sudden having a booth and not knowing what to do, these six key elements will set you on the path to success.