Common Trade Show mistakes and how to avoid them

As founders of Captivate, we often visit trade shows to check that our brand ambassadors are in place and ready to bring in those all-important qualified leads. While we are they, we walk the floor looking for new innovative ideas that we can incorporate to give our clients the edge. 

However, we more commonly see exhibitors wasting the opportunity with a few easily fixable bad habits. 

Phones: 

Most of us are addicted to our phones, even if we don't like to admit it. An hour without checking social media or your emails can be an itch that is hard to scratch. As a delegate, walking past a stand where the sales team are engrossed in their phones is not a great look. If you are looking at your phone, you are not looking and engaging with the traffic passing by. 

Ideally, turn your phones off and put them away in a box. If that is not possible, organise regular breaks where individual sales team members can leave the stand for 5-10 minutes for a comfort break and to check their phones. 

Chairs: 

Ditch the chairs unless you have set up an area on your stand for meetings. If your sales team are sitting and chatting with each other, they are not engaging with the potential leads passing by. Being present and engaging is particularly important when the exhibit is quiet and is a perfect opportunity to stop and chat with everyone passing by.

Opening: 

If you walk the floor, you will come across one of the biggest mistakes made by most exhibitors at virtually every stand—the opening. A hearty "good morning" or "hello" is nice and polite but is a terrible sales opener. 

Make sure you follow the welcome with an open question that will instigate a conversation. 

"What's been the best thing you've seen at the show so far?" 

"Are you on the lookout for anything particular at the show today?" 

Whatever you ask, make sure it cannot be answered with a yes or no. Ask questions that will stimulate a conversation. 

Leafleting and giveaways: 

Brochures, leaflets and giveaways are a great way of reminding a lead of your conversation, but there are better ways to convert that lead.  

Handing out leaflets without engaging in conversation is wasting your marketing budget. Most delegates will have a bag full of flyers, stress balls, and God knows what else when they leave the exhibition, most of which will be heading for the bin within hours.  

A brochure or giveaway should add to a conversation we had at the stand. Maybe give them a branded writing pad where you've written a quote or jotted down the bullet points of your conversation. Write your direct phone number on the front of the brochure while chatting. Anything to encourage a call to action when they review their trade show treasure when they get home. 

Food: 

A day at a stand is a long, tough day, and you need to eat to keep your energy and morale up. Just do this away from the stand. It sounds basic, but you'll be amazed how many sandwiches can be seen half stuffed into mouths at trade show stands. It's not a good look. 

Exhibiting can be a substantial financial investment and a significant time commitment for any business. Following a few common-sense rules listed above can make a massive difference to the number and quality of leads you can generate. 

Focus all your efforts on engaging with every delegate you can. Each person passing by your stand could be your next biggest client. 

At Captivate, we use our skills as magicians and entertainers to stop, engage and inform potential leads and increase the traffic at your stand. If you want to maximise your success, then we can certainly help.