You stand there, in front of your great presentation material, wearing just the right suit or logo shirt, handing out some gimmick with your company name on it, wearing just the right smile or look of professionalism. You might even have a fishbowl at the table - or some type of contest material - to collect business cards of passers by for later use in your sales process. But the worst part of doing a trade show is losing your voice.
Each visitor that stops by your booth gets your pitch. You feel compelled to tell each person why your product is great, why it's different from the competition (which might be located directly across from your booth and getting a lot more attention than you're getting). You've learned the elevator spiel and how to do a pitch in 30 seconds, so the person passing by will 1. be captivated by your information, 2. stop, and 3. make a purchase. And you do this for each and every person passing by.
Why?
WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE?
Let's start with figuring out why you're even at the trade show. You're probably there to get some brand recognition (sales are usually not completed at trade shows) and get your material and pitch into the hands of buyers. The visitors are, after all, self-selected hot prospects.
Or are they? In reality, you have no idea why a person is walking by your booth. I've walked around trade shows just to see how people are selling. And each time I've come within a few feet of the booth, I get barraged with a pitch, data, and more information than I know what to do with. Do the sales folks know why I'm there? Nope. Do they ask? Nope. They just pitch and pitch and pitch. And are they cheery!
If your objective is to brand your product, just being there with a great presence is carrying your visual brand forward. For that you don't need anything more than to stand there and look professional.
Why else might you be there? To sell product? OK. Let's take a look at this. Odds are that you're not going to make a sale at the show itself. You might walk away with business cards, but that doesn't mean people are buyers.
HOW TO SELL AT A TRADE SHOW
If you want to sell, pitching to people as they come to your booth is not the way to do it.
Here's a truth: people do not make purchasing decisions based on information. I know this comes as a shock to those of you who regularly stand at booths at trade shows and pitch your hearts (and lungs) out. I'll say it again: pitching product, making data about your product available, will not make a sale. Oh, it will help close the sale once the buyer is at that point in the sales cycle that s/he needs data to complete his/her picture. But it will not make a sale.
A sale gets made when a buyer decides to make a purchase. Selling and buying are two different activities. For some reason, sellers believe that if they sell, buyers should know how and why to buy. But that's not true.
Sellers concentrate on finding buyers who probably have a need, and creating some means to present their product in a way that well-chosen buyers might understand or recognize a need. In other words, it's a crap shoot.
Buyers focus on finding solutions that will optimize their status quo. To do this they must recognize any outstanding issues that are getting in the way of an optimized work space, seek to easily correct what might be lacking, and to manage whatever changes will occur once a corrective solution is discovered.
Pitching a product will address none of the above - unless the buyer has already completed all of the above actions and is seeking out a solution with parameters that will match their unique dynamics. In other words, when you focus your sale on product information, you're playing a numbers game.
Why are people at trade shows? Let's see if I can count a few of the reasons:
1. they are in town for the day and had nothing better to do;
2. they are in your field and want to see what the competition is doing;
3. they are deciding to buy a new company and want to garner promotion ideas;
4. they think they might have a problem that a product similar to yours might solve, but aren't sure what a solution would look like and are running around the trade show to collect possible solutions.
None of the above reasons would close a sale for you.
HOW TO USE YOUR PRESENCE EFFECTIVELY
Trade shows are wonderful opportunities to ferret out prospective buyers (usually in category #4 above) and teach them how to decide what a solution would look like.
As a visitor approaches your booth, as a facilitative question that gets them to determine what's missing from their status quo that, if corrected, would create an optimal solution for them. For #1-3 above, they will shift the conversation to something more personal, and you'll have saved your breath since you won't have to pitch.
When someone comes by that actually is seeking a solution, use facilitative questions to lead them through their solution-discovery process. Help them discover what's missing in their current environment, how they can fix the problem with familiar resources, and how to make sense of all of the systems issues that need to be managed before they can allow a solution into their culture.
Then, you are only asking questions while they are doing the talking - and you make pitches to those people who understand that they need you, specifically, to solve their problem.
You then not only create a customer, but you save your voice.
Sharon Drew Morgen is the author of NY Times Best Seller - Selling with Integrity. She speaks, teaches and consults globally around her new sales model, Buying Facilitation.
She can be reached at:
512-457-0246
Morgen Facilitations, Inc.
Austin, TX
http://www.newsalesparadigm.com
http://www.sharondrewmorgen.com
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
Will you do just about anything, including sending out hundreds... Read More
There are hundreds of books available to teach you how... Read More
Health insurance lead generation systems provide a stead stream of... Read More
When I ask salespeople to define what a gatekeeper is,... Read More
This article is meant to inform. Please don't construe this... Read More
Steps - it is unrealistic for most salespeople to expect... Read More
This is an important and potentially profitable piece of advice.... Read More
Have you ever met with, or talked to a prospect... Read More
In the work place, the amount of good things that... Read More
Your prospect is in the market for a widget, just... Read More
Not all mannequins are made to look like full-grown adults.... Read More
WHY ARE YOU WRITING THIS BROCHURE OR SALES LETTER? A... Read More
Use Bundling To Increase Your Profits And Sales An effective... Read More
Could this be the worst moment in your selling cycle?You've... Read More
The need for good proposals - the business kind, not... Read More
Authors/publishers are great at getting their books written. Entrepreneurs know... Read More
Any selling approach that lacks a proven strategy, a practiced... Read More
Color psychology is the biggest question I receive on a... Read More
I would like to share a disturbing little secret with... Read More
One of my first internship jobs as a college student... Read More
Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that you include... Read More
As a business owner, I receive my share of sales... Read More
Former General Electric CEO and legendary manager, Jack Welch, nailed... Read More
? Go through the "no's" to get to "yes." ?... Read More
Over the years, I have been amazed at... Read More
For many of you the Fear of Selling is a... Read More
Once you have added a new customer to your book... Read More
I was a lucky kid when I grew up. Lucky,... Read More
The other day, I received the last issue of a... Read More
A lot of effort is put into getting new clients.... Read More
Selling is just a whole lot easier when you know... Read More
A challenge facing many businesses is how to maintain a... Read More
Would you like an easy way to track the performance... Read More
A sales letter is a document designed to generate sales.... Read More
Hi, I'd like to discuss the most powerful words you... Read More
Many mannequin manufacturers sell their mannequins in wholesale. This means... Read More
After our first half-hour telephone coaching session, when asked what... Read More
"I'd love to work with you, but?"How many times have... Read More
Sales is all about negotiating. You are negotiating from the... Read More
In the last article... Read More
Several years ago I worked with a CPA who wanted... Read More
One of my first internship jobs as a college student... Read More
Former General Electric CEO and legendary manager, Jack Welch, nailed... Read More
How much extra money could you make by closing just... Read More
Lead Generation is vital to all businesses. All companies try... Read More
Some businesses flourish while others slowly fade away. There's usually... Read More
Anyone that works in sales knows just how important it... Read More
Sean works for a major telecom company.During one of our... Read More
When was the last time you thanked your customers?This often... Read More
You've met a new prospect, accurately assessed their needs and... Read More
I am sure you are familiar with the phrase, "I... Read More
You arrived on time and completed your calculations. You worked... Read More
Now business owners and sales professionals can develop a Faster... Read More
WHY ARE YOU WRITING THIS BROCHURE OR SALES LETTER? A... Read More
There are many fund raising ideas on the market today... Read More
When I ask salespeople to define what a gatekeeper is,... Read More
Hypnosis has been a taboo word for far too long.... Read More
I went shopping for clothes today.My plan was to buy... Read More
John Di Lemme on "Miracles are your responsibility"Miracles are your... Read More
When it comes to effective selling, one simple fact never... Read More
"I am Sam. Sam I am. Do you like green... Read More
We all have people whom we find difficult. We don't... Read More
Selling is a tough job, and sometimes you may need... Read More
The purpose of a 1- or 2-hour seminar is to... Read More
It is important that organizations find other companies to do... Read More
? Go through the "no's" to get to "yes." ?... Read More
Sales |