“Conversations are gold,” and “Your presence is a must. I quote this to tell the importance of socialising in person at a large event or trade show where conversations seed relationships. This is the place where you can go all out with prospects, from the discovery phase to the demo, with the advantage of showcasing your live products or solutions.
It is a live-selling place to show personality, brand, image and value.
Think about a scenario where you have gone to an exhibition. You may have wanted to buy something for a long time, but either you did not take the decision or did not find suitable solutions and now you have 1 or more that are exhibited, and you have the choice to select.
This is the platform for sales teams to navigate with decision makers and prospects who are in search of something and curious to know all that is displayed.
So, if you are planning to attend an event or a trade show, be it your company sponsored trip or a voluntary effort from your side, then read along. Here is my experience and advice for you.
Do some groundwork for the event
First, take stock of the event organiser. Who is the event organiser? What is the source of the event or industry on which these organisers focus? how such events have been done in the past and go through the portfolio, event titles, and topics they have covered. Figure out the events related to your domain.
My recent experience –
I have gone through the portfolio of the Time internet L&D conference; this is their 4th edition, which is majorly focused on L&D learning and development departments and professionals who share thoughts and best practices to improve the learning of employees in their organisation to retain talent and improve the quality of the workforce.
This event was titled “How Important is Upskilling and Reskilling the Workforce in an Organisation?” The attendees of this event were mid and senior executive managers and leaders. So, I took the list of attendees, panellists, and speakers from the organisers. Researched their position and role in their organisation.
I prepared two different types of conversations that I can hold with the prospects on that day basically like plan A and Plan B and practised them thoroughly. This is to ensure that you catch the pulse of your prospect in the first few sentences and use the conversation plan whichever suits for them. For example, someone likes straight to the point talks and someone likes high level conversation on how the event is going on as per them thus avoiding your sales discovery questions at least in the first few seconds.
Booth or No booth ?
Have a booth –
Having a booth always helps. Some prospects make it to your booth for the branding you made and the cool goodies you handout. Then how do you identify those potential opportunities? You could ask these questions- Which is the best part of the event as per them? Did they find any takeaways from the event? If yes, how do they plan to implement them in achieving their organisation goals? Did they find something likeable in the event? Ready for a quick demo of your product or service that could solve their problem?
At the end, do not forget to exchange your cards and take a selfie for sure to tag it on LinkedIn. Post it on LinkedIn that you met a great gentleman and a wonderful professional and what you heard about his best practices that he is implementing and helping his organisation.
No booth –
Start your conversation about the sessions at the event and what you intend to solve here. This is straight jumping on areas and challenges that you are addressing with your product or solutions. Engage your prospects, and then move on to probing and asking questions.
Send a LinkedIn request instantly with a message or take the email ID to drop a quick email. Prospects meet many at the event, and he or she will remember when you follow up later and take the conversation ahead.
More at the Event –
Show some collaboration done by your organisation
Prospects always want to see your press releases and partnerships with some enterprise or corporate brands in the industry you are catering to. Talk about the case studies and show some testimonials.
References from your clients who are attending the event
Nothing can be overwhelming when you talk to clients who are part of this event and take references. You may have met your relationship POC; ask for some help to get introduced to his fraternity or group. I am sure word of mouth will be effective in conversing with more prospects.
Converse like a friend and a consultant and not like an aggressive seller
I have seen salespeople who want to steer the conversation with an aggressive sales pitch, trying to close or offer something over a conversation. Stop that, and do not make your follow-ups difficult with no response.
BONUS Tip –
- Quickly gather key points from the speaker led events so that you could use them as attention gathering points in the first few seconds of your talk with your booth visitors
- There are many events in your city where your company may not be a sponsor , but you can buy an attendee ticket and start building connections and prospects.
