5 Steps to Make Your Fall Fairs More Fruitful

As the air turns crisp and the
leaves change, fall presents many seasonal opportunities to work trade shows,
events, booths, fairs, and festivals. Adding a booth or fair to your marketing
mix can be very beneficial and help you grow sales, especially if you have a
direct sales, home-based business. Selecting the right booth or fair that
attracts your targeted market can be a tremendous opportunity to generate leads
and to book parties or find potential recruits. You get to meet new prospects
face to face, and see people who might want what you provide.

According to the Center for
Exhibition Industry (Source: CEIR.org),

  • 46% of executive decision makers made a purchase
    while attending a show
  • 77% of executive decision makers found at least
    one new supplier at the last show they attended.

Here
are 5 steps to help you have a successful show experience this fall:

1. (30 sec) Engage

Draw people to you by making eye
contact, smiling and inviting conversation. Make a connection with the person.
People connect with people first.

2. (2 min) Qualify

Not all attendees will need or want
your product or service. Acting like what you have to offer is a fit for
everyone is both disingenuous and turns off visitors. Present your product or
service with a healthy dose of enthusiasm and a decent measure of objectivity.
It is respectful to give people the choice to take advantage of what you have
or not. Ask a question to help you decide if they are a qualified lead and part
of your target audience. Your goal is learning quickly if the person has a
need/desire for what you offer, can make a buying decision or if they can
influence the person who makes the buying decision. Try to find out their needs
by asking some strategic questions.

For example:

  • “Tell me what brings you to the show
    today?”
  • “What’s your main goal regarding…?”
  • “How would you feel if..?”
  • “Can you tell me if …?”

Once you ask a question to learn
more about the person in front of you, LISTEN.

  • 42% of attendees felt that the booth worker did
    not understand their needs because they did not fully listen – not because
    the attendee did not try to express their needs (Source: EIRE).

This requires concentration on your
part because typically there are lots of stimuli and distractions during the
event.

3. (5 – 7 min) Present

Give a brief overview of your top
services or products that match your leads interest. Watch their reaction in
order to determine their interest or resistance. By paying attention, you will
be able to gauge how much information to share. For
instance, look for signs of possible disinterest: if they seem
distracted or begin to disengage with eye contact, give short answers, or
physically back away. These are clues which may signify they have
heard enough.

Visitors attend events for different
reasons:

  • For recreation
  • To get ideas
  • To keep current
  • To solve a need or problem
  • To purchase
  • To identify resources
  • Because their job requires them to

While you are presenting a quick
overview of your products or services (fashion show style-share the
highlights), ask your prospect to complete a lead form or exchange business
cards.


4. (1 min) Close

Thank them for their time. Determine
what is the most appropriate way to respectfully follow-up with them. This
provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your ability to keep your
promises and pay attention to their individual needs and wishes. For
example, “I will call you tomorrow before noon and send you a link
to my web site prior so that you have a chance to see our new items (or sales
specials, gift ideas, new programs etc.).”

Depending on the number of people
gathered around your booth, read their email and phone number out loud to
confirm their details, if you can. This one step helps me to remember the
conversations I had with leads and connect their business card (or contact
info) with them. It is a reminder to make sure you have the
contact information you need to provide service.

If they hesitate to give you their
phone number, look them in the eye and say, “May I please have your
phone number? I will be courteous with your contact information.” You
might even add if there is further hesitation…”and if at any time, you
prefer not to hear from me, please let me know and I will take you off my call
list. I want to provide service on your terms.”

You might want to conduct a drawing with your leads. You will find it easier to follow
up if you make notes about their interest level, (Use a score 1 – 5, 5
being high interest), and anything you want to remember about a warm-hot
prospect.

5. (Within 48-72 hours after the event) Follow-Up

When you complete an application to
participate in a booth or fair, block your post event follow up
time in your planner. Make a firm appointment with yourself for
follow-up. By connecting shortly after the event, you will make a memorable
impression in their mind. Remember, they met a lot of vendors at one time. To
set yourself apart, follow up by phone, mail, or email.

  • 80% of attendees receive no follow-up! What
    a waste!

Follow these five steps to make your fall festivals, shows, and booths
more fruitful.

1 Chicago: Why Train?,
http://www.creativetraining.com/train/docs/WhyTrain.pdf (accessed October 6,
2009).

_____________________________

Barb Girson Original Work