Rock The Trade Show Floor

As Sales Professionals, we can’t think of many prospecting options that we enjoy more than a busy Trade Show floor. Why? Where else can you get so much practice? Where else can you interact with multiple prospective clients each hour? Where else do you have people approaching YOU about your products or services?

On the other hand, you must be really effective at engaging people in conversation, and in the RIGHT conversation, to assure your Trade Show success. In the fast-paced environment of the Trade Show floor, where people need to move along to walk all the aisles, you’d better know what you’re going to say when someone walks into, or even nearby, your booth. And you’d better not waste your time talking with people who could NEVER buy from you nor refer you to someone who can.

So how do we get this effective conversation started? Do we need a “30-second commercial”? How do I respond when they say, “So, what do you folks do here?”

Many sales professionals think the first step to qualifying a prospect at a Trade Show is to have their “elevator pitch” polished up and ready to go. They believe that by doing this they are ready for any prospect who asks the question – “So, what do you folks do here?” They hear the question and automatically break into their “pitch”, which may sound something like this – “We are a leading provider of health insurance to manufacturing companies in Connecticut, with 35% market share, and the largest portfolio of insurance options available.”

We strongly recommend a different approach. Try starting with a “framing statement”, a non-pitchy, factual statement about your company. When we say, “We are a leading provider of health insurance to manufacturing companies in Connecticut, with 35% market share, and the largest portfolio of insurance options available,” who do we sound like? We sound just like every other salesperson at the show, that’s who.

Continue reading at www.tps.sandler.com/tradeshows