Dear Colleague:

    My Associate, Dave Mattson, recently attended a Trade Show at the Hartford Civic Center.  Dave reports the following to be consistently his experience from Trade Shows he has attended:
    As I approach each booth, one of two things happens -- either an attendant walks up to me and silently hands me an expensive brochure, or a loud, "Can I help you" salesperson asks if I would, at least, like to sign-up for the free gift they are offering.
    Let's not concentrate for now on the silent person who hands out expensive literature to unqualified suspects.  Instead, we will take a closer look at the salesperson who gets a business card by way of an entry into a contest, and thinks he or she is doing well at the show.
    There are two problems with this common practice.  A fish bowl filled with business cards contains no more information -- in fact less information -- than what you can get from a business directory.  The business card was received for the wrong reason, with no qualification to back it up; thus making the name on the card no more than a Cold Call -- an unqualified suspect.  It would certainly be more profitable to obtain fewer cards containing information about a prospect's need for your product or service, than to determine the success of a show by the quantity of names collected.  With the appropriate focus and approach, pre-qualifying a prospect takes no more time than the patronizing "get their card for a drawing" approach that many companies presently use.
    The second problem crops up after the show, when it comes time to follow-up on all these suspects in the fish bowl.  At a previous Trade Show, I dropped my card into every fish bowl I could find, and gave my card to at least one person in each booth.  I also noted the names of each company where I did this.  Over 80% of the companies never followed-up after the show.  The companies that did follow-up, called to tell me I did not win their prize.  They wanted to know if I would be interested in receiving some literature or making an appointment to see them.  To say the least, their premise and approach was weak, and it certainly didn't stimulate my interest in their product or service.
    If a company didn't call on the telephone, they sent me a photocopy of a form letter that thanked me for stopping by their booth and requesting the enclosed literature.  Literature collectors probably love this -- it saves them carrying the papers around at the show, and it gives their secretaries something else to file.  The letter also stated that a representative would be contacting me soon.  I must say, they never called.
    After a Trade Show, the "leads" are distributed among the salespeople.  Management wants these leads to be contacted, and it is the intention of the salespeople to make these calls as soon as they get the time.  Only one problem, they usually don't find the time to make COLD CALLS.  Cold calls are not fun, they are tough to do, and they often do not produce business.  Those salespeople who do start the follow-up process, become quickly discouraged after the first few prospects do not receive them with open arms.  What happens to the other hundred "leads"?  All too often -- nothing -- they become stale.
    It might appear that the salespeople are not doing their job.  That is not the problem; that's what we call the symptom.  The problem started long before the Trade Show opened.  In most cases, the only preparation on the part of the salespeople is to find out when they have to be in the booth.  There is never any discussion on the goals for the show, how those goals are to be attained, and what adjustments must be made for Trade Show selling.  Is it no wonder that salespeople don't understand their roles at a Trade Show, and do nothing more than "put in their time" at the booth.
    Let's not just blame management either.  In large companies, the Trade Shows are coordinated by specific departments that have been formed to provide this service, and the salespeople become a resource to fill the booth time.  The responsibility to develop the type of human relations skills necessary to insure a successful Trade Show floats somewhere between the two departments, with neither knowing where to turn, or who has this skill to administer.  In smaller companies, Trade Shows are usually a part time, after regular working hours, project.  The "who to" and "how to" are not visible to fulfill this need.  In both cases, the people skills are just not part of the plan.  Since a company does not participate in Trade Shows on a daily basis, such plans are often overlooked.  Be it the owners, or managers, or the salespeople themselves -- once a company becomes aware that it takes these adjusted skills to insure successful results at Trade Shows, it then becomes the responsibility and obligation of those involved to seek out and develop these talents.
    Dave suggested to me that we begin offering a new service to companies who want to continue collecting cold calls at Trade Shows.  This service would provide those companies with a list of all the leads they could want.  A service like this would save money because there is no booth expense, and there would be no lost selling time.  I told Dave that I would prefer to see companies invest more in their people to increase the effectiveness in their booths, making Trade Shows a more profitable investment.  With the cost of individual sales calls approaching four digits in some industries, more and more companies are recognizing the value that Trade Shows can provide.  At one time many companies continued to display in certain shows merely to maintain their visibility in the marketplace - if they didn't attend, customers might think they were out of business.  Today, that increased exposure means capitalizing on the opportunities to meet new prospects and create new business.  With specific objectives, the ability to differentiate suspects from prospects, and the knowledge of how to adjust outside selling skills to Trade Show selling, the people who work in the booths at Trade Shows can enjoy it more and produce more business and profits for the company and themselves.
    So, if your "fish bowls are full, but your cash registers empty," why not seek out the resource to provide you and your people with the skills to make Trade Shows profitable?

Cordially,

Steve Taback