by Matthew Valentine

Created on: December 03, 2009

Set Your Goal

Why are you doing this show? Is it to sell product, get leads, create top of mind awareness, or to preempt your competition? Be sure to have a very specific goal in mind, write it out and track your results as the show progresses. Without a specific goal in mind it will be impossible to determine if the trade show was a success.

Promote Your Trade Show Booth Before The Show Begins

One of the most important aspects to a successful trade show is the number of times you can "touch" your prospects. The general rule is that you must touch them at least 3 times prior to the show to generate top of mind awareness. Less than 15% of exhibitors do a pre-show promotion. Be in that group! Attendees only spend time at 15% to 20% of the exhibits so if you want their time, you need to invite them to your trade show booth before they get there. If you want to generate "guaranteed" prospects - this is how to do it!

The 1 Minute Pitch

Fact: You have 6 seconds to capture a prospects attention when they are walking past your booth on the trade show floor. If your booth design and message are great (we will discuss later) and the prospect stops- you must be prepared! Have a condensed 1 minute pitch that covers everything you need to qualify the lead and most importantly, a pitch that meets the goal you set for this show. Practice this pitch as many times as possible prior to the show to ensure you have it down cold and fire away! Remember your pitch should be all about the prospect - NOT YOUR COMPANY that comes later.

The invitation - Have a good Great reason to visit your booth

This is simple - come up with a reason for your prospects to visit your booth - then invite them. Whether it's your giveaway, raffle, new product, a demonstration, discount on services for all VIP visitors or an announcement of a merger or partnership, you must have a compelling reason to come to your trade show table. If your reason is compelling enough they will make plans to visit your booth.

Qualify Your Prospects

Many trade show exhibitors will use giveaways to attract prospects to their booth. While giveaways are good way to increase traffic to your booth they do not produce strong leads. A great way to qualify prospects and weed out people that are just there for free stuff is by doing a raffle.

To get the most out of the raffle you must ASK some qualifying questions. Qualify all entries - they must fill out ALL information on a form to enter the raffle. You should ask for E-MAIL

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