image via mediashower.com
It is important to attend industry trade shows either as an exhibitor or an attendee. Trade shows are a great way to keep up to date with trends in your industry. This will allow you to improve your product knowledge and assess the needs of customers in the market place.
Trade shows are a great place to interact and market your products & services to prospects in a relaxed atmosphere. The prospects visit the shows voluntarily as opposed to the traditional B2B direct Sales model and cold calling where prospects are not expecting to be called on by sales people.
Trade shows are a great place to generate leads because prospects go to them looking to make purchases either at the show or soon after. If you are an exhibitor, require attendees to give you their contact information to see a demonstration of your product. Your demonstration must engage customers. A good way to do this is to have prospects take part in your demonstration if possible so they form a connection with the product. This is similar to a test drive.
Another way to generate leads is to design engaging contents where customers have to fill out surveys about their buying habits. Surveys can be a great way to get information about prospects and customers. You can ask specific questions that ask:
1. What are you looking for in this product or service?
2. When are you looking to make a purchase?
3. What product or service are you currently using?
Questions should be open ended; allowing prospects to accurately supply information but simple enough to allow them to be answered in short amount of time.
If you are doing a trivia style contest, you make questions multiple choice.
You can offer small incentives such as branded merchandise such as pens, pads, shirts, gift cards etc.. in exchange for filling out a survey or performing a desired action or behavior.
Surveys can be completed through branded tablets & computer kiosks. The information from the survey can be stored in CRM software such as Salesforce or ACT! This can be the start of an informal conversation which you can follow-up on later.
These are strategies that you can use for lead generation at trade shows.
How do you generate leads at trade shows?
About the Author
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. He has worked on various marketing assignments that include a Start Up, Political Campaign & a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows & in the field through lead generation of Digital Technology along with large Dental Equipment.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital, Content & Social Media Marketing. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today 