Etiquette at Trade Shows: 5 Simple Dos and Don’ts

Trade shows are becoming a very popular in-person event amongst businesses today. Trade shows help companies to showcase their product line to new prospects, engage with customers, get a heads-up on what strategies the competitors are adopting to market their product, and also to build on the brand’s reputation. 

This said, trade shows are expensive events and require a lot of investment. Hence, one should host or participate in such a show only with a proper marketing strategy in place. 

Read on to know five simple, yet important, dos and don’ts that exhibitors at a trade show must remember so as to make it a successful one. 

1. Choose the Best Staff for the Booth

DO choose only the best of your employees when you are selecting the people who will be at the booth. Keep in mind that the staff:

• Are aware of your products and services and about their value proposition. 

• Can speak clearly and confidently - this will help them to confidently answer all queries - be it technical or functional in nature. 

• Know what the goals of your company are, the reason why you are participating in the show, and who the important attendees at the show will be

• Are equipped with the right tools and technology. For example, if they are all given a business card scanner app on their phones, they will be able to capture the contacts of all leads quickly and more efficiently. Since all contacts will get integrated with the CRM, sending follow-up emails will also become an easier task

Look good. Here are some tips:

• Give them an attire with your organization’s logo, or one that reflects your brand’s identity

• Make sure that they wear comfortable shoes as they are going to be on their feet for many hours on the day of the show

• Give them branded badges so that people can identify them and also know which company they are a part of.

DON’T allow anyone to show up at the show unprepared – whether that’s having staff who are unprepared or you forgetting to carry your brand’s merchandise, literature, and demos. 

Having staff at the booth who look nervous or tend to ramble while answering queries, create a negative impression in the minds of people. 

Also, ask your staff to avoid bad habits like picking their nose and standing with droopy shoulders. 

Another thing to avoid is improper staff attitude. Let them know that they should not:  

• Speak negatively about competitors

• Talk amongst themselves instead of trying to engage with visitors

• Engage in personal calls

• Sit behind the table with their heads hanging low - else visitors will pass by and prospects will be lost

• Look grumpy - after all, no one wants to talk to someone who looks irritable 

2. Gather All Important Information About the Organizers

DO remember to reach out to the organizers of the event well before the day of the event that you are going to be participating in. Ask them important questions so that you can devise your marketing plan accordingly. 

Some information that would be beneficial to know are:

• The footfall at previous events that the organizer has hosted

• If the venue can be easily reached and also important landmarks and directions for it

• The number of participants who have confirmed for the current event

• What promotional strategies the organizer is planning to adopt before, during, and after the show

• If there are important guidelines that a participant needs to adhere to 

DON’T disregard the space where you will set up your booth. 

Ask the event organizers for the layout of the event and then choose the location that most attendees are likely to get attracted to. 

The best spaces get booked soon after the event announcement is made, so reach out to the organizer early.  

3. Have Conversations with the Attendees

DO remember that one of the best ways to turn prospective leads into customers is to talk to them. When attendees visit your booth, engage them in a conversation. This will help you to learn more about them and it will also develop their interest in your product. 

• Ask them insightful questions so as to identify his needs. You will then be able to tell them how your product can help them. 

• Always remember to get their contact details. You no longer have to manually input the details into your phone’s address book - there are lead capture apps like ScanBizCards that will help you do it, both quickly and easily. The app will scan the contact information from business cards or conference badges and save it into your phone’s address book, or export it to a CRM.

• Always remember that there are chances that your booth will attract a large crowd. At such times, giving individual demos is not a prudent choice. Hence, always have a plan in place so that you can give a demo to a large crowd. For this, you can use display monitors, projection screens, or large TV screen computers.

• When you speak to a visitor, always keep a notepad and pen handy and note down what he is saying. When you send follow-up emails, this information will add a personal touch. In fact, you can use the app ScanBizCards to add personal notes for each contact and send them introductory emails, vCards, and your photo as well. 

DON’T try to over-sell your product to the attendees or even speak about those features that won’t be of any use to them. 

Rather, listen to them so that you know which features you should sell to them. 

Keep explanations about the features brief so that they can remember. The intention is to create enough interest in their minds that they want to purchase your product. 

4. Don’t Distribute Sales Literature to All

DO hand over literature and give demos of your product only after you have assessed the needs of the attendees. Also:

• While designing the brochures, pay attention to the quality and the design of it. You can have it designed by a professional and if you plan to do it yourself, then please use a professional template and make sure that there are no errors 

• Create a post-event page on your website. Share pictures and testimonials on it. On this page, also have PDFs of your brochure that can be downloaded. This will especially be beneficial to those who want to know more about your product but are reluctant to carry a lot of paper with them on the event day

TIP: Form-gate these online materials so they can capture lead information.

DON’T print a lot of sales literature. If you think that you will be doing the right thing by giving brochures to all who come to your booth, think again. 

Even if visitors want to hear about your product and watch demos when they visit your stall, very few want to go through the literature that you give to them - most, thus, get thrown into a trash bin.

5. Prompt Post-event Follow-up 

DO make the follow-up with the leads a prompt one. So that no time is lost after the event in drafting the follow-up emails, you can keep it written from before. 

Apps like ScanBizCards will be helpful because they would have already created a contact list for you. Hence, all you would need to do is to send off the emails to all on the list.

DON’T forget about the non-conversions. There will be those from the list who will not convert into customers. Don’t let that end your relationship with them. 

Keep them on your newsletter mailing list and call them once in a while. This way they will never forget about your brand and will reach out to you first when they need your product. 

Summing up

When the basics are kept right, everything else falls into place smoothly. Thus, the next time you participate in a trade  show remember these five simple dos and don’ts and the event is sure to be a successful one for you.