Sales tips for selling at trade shows

I’m writing this blog post from am altitude of 35,000 feet above sea
level on southwest flight 1905 to Las Vegas. My Business will be
exhibiting at one of the top industry trade shows. I’ve been panning my
sales strategy for the trade show and I thought I would jot this down.
I’m going to upload it to my blog when I land. Those of you that have
an iPhone will appreciate the complexity of writing a 300 word document on the touch screen keyboard. So let’s jump Into it!

Selling at a trade show is very similar to cold calling in a number of
ways. You pitch to a cold prospect and have generally the same amount
of time to make an impression. There are 3 ways you sell at a trade
show.

1. You sell a product or service from your booth to conference
attendees.

2. You sell a product or or service both to booth targeting exhibitors.

3. You sell to a group by being a public speaker and selling your
product or service by lending your expertise to a crowded room of
exhibitors an attendees.

Let’s focus on the first two options right now. These are the ones
that require the most skill. When selling to attendees who walk past
your booth you have to be animated. Give the prospect a reason to come
to your booth while combating the “no thanks or just looking” knee-
jerk reaction. I have a partner at my business now who has mastered
this art. Besides having good sales skill he is a natural born “carny”
with a talent for natural likability. We work great together at shows.
We actually split the  sales process. He handles bonding and relationship
building and qualifies the prospect. This is usually when I come in and
transition the sale to the negotiation/closing phases of the selling
cycle. We are able to move people through the sales process quickly
and efficiently while  maintaining the relationship. My partner also
acts as a triage officer moving the higher potential clients down the
line and identifying them early on. It truly is a sweet sales system
and I would recommend it to anybody. I’m sure most sales blogs would
discourage splitting up the sales responsibilities, but it works! I
have also written another sales blog post earlier about selling at
trade shows.

So.next time you are at a trade show try working with a partner and
split the commissions. There really is strength in numbers, try it!

Thanks for readingy sales blog and for visiting quick sales tips!

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