Engage Personal Connections And Earn Lifetime Clients

by Richard Avdoian

“I feel like you really understand our needs!”
“This has really been both a pleasure and beneficial!”
“I am so glad I took the time to stop by your booth!”

Have you heard these comments from your prospective clients as much as you desire? The challenge with attracting prospective clients at trade shows is making the connection more. More appealing. More engaging.

Remember:  It is about them and creating a memorable connection.

The key is to realize that people are quick to judge and that you have about 10 seconds to attract their attention and make them feel welcome. Here are practices to make your connection so engaging that clients don’t want to leave your booth, will revisit your booth and will bring colleagues by to visit.

It should be all about them – not you and your company.

Believe me: Business owners, CEOs and consumers in general really could not care less about you or your company. They care about them. They are consumed with their needs and concerns. They care about getting what they need for the best price, quality and customer service. So perhaps the best use of your prep time should be to make a list of all the things prospects could not care less about.

Think of it this way:
• Consumers do not care about you.
• Some people are simply “window shopping” with no desire or plan to buy anything.
• Some people are simply there to “trick-or-treat,” desiring only the freebies.

Try these probing questions and comments when interacting with clients and prospects:

• What are the biggest challenges your company/business is facing today?
• What has been tried before?
• How would the company/business condition improve if these were improved?
• How important are these needs (on a scale of 1 to 10)?
• Here’s the good news…

They want content.

They want relevant, practical, concise information and solutions to their needs and concerns. That is what prospects want. That is what companies, associations and business owners want. When they are reading your display text, viewing your video demonstrations and listening to your pitch, they need to be thinking to themselves: “We need this. This solves our problems. Tell me more.”

• Do your homework and be selective.

• Take the necessary time to research each event. Is it my niche market? Will key decision makers be attending?
• Ask yourself:
• Will participating generate a return on my invest?
• What are our measurable goals - sales, positioning or launching a new product or service?
• Select and assign the team.
• Sales force only – Mission: Sell, sell, sell. Decision makers and management level attending only.
• Ambassador(s) only – Mission: Establish relationships, strengthen your brand, promote your product and services. No decision makers attending event.
• Sales force and ambassador team. Decision makers/management and support employees attending. Send sales force back on the road once decision makers’ session is finished and have ambassadors staff the booth for remainder of event.
• Create a memory.
• Create a booth environment that taps the senses of the attendees.
• Make the booth interactive and playful – be cautious not to lose sight of your purpose at the event.

If you incorporate these practices and tips into your planning, you will create a more engaging, more interesting and memorable booth. Your clients and prospects will be attracted to your booth and never want to leave.

Richard Avdoian is founder/CEO of the Midwest Business Institute Inc., a business coaching, consulting and training firm. For more information about coaching and training, contact Richard at 618-972-8588 or Richard@RichardAvdoian.com.