QUESTION: My company's primary objective for trade shows is making sales. However, our salespeople complain about how difficult it is to get prospects to commit to buying at a show.

ANSWER: There are several things you can do to improve your chances for closing sales at a show. 

Do your homework before the show. Know where each prospect is in the buying process. Bring them as far along as possible before the show, so they're ready to close at the show. By the time they get there, you should be finalising details. If you're dependent on someone walking by the stand and saying 'Gee, I think I want to buy', you're in trouble. You want to make sure that you are on your prospect's agenda before the show.

Create the right 'closing' environment in your stand. This will vary depending on the type of show. For example, at a booksellers' show, everybody is elbow to elbow on the show floor; however at a telecommunications show, people don't want others to know they're buying, so they meet in smoked-glass offices for privacy. Check out the selling environment at the shows in which you're participating so that you can create the right mood for closing sales.

Make sure you have the tools you need to close. This includes product, literature, contracts, financing information and key personnel. For example, if you have to dicker with a buyer, someone has to OK any deals you make. So you better have a decision-maker in the stand. You don't want to say to a hot prospect, 'I'd like to close this deal with you right now, but I have to discuss it with my manager and he's not at the show'.  Say that, and you just missed a closing opportunity.

Article by Marc Goldberg, Marketech Inc., USA appeared in Exhibitor Magazine

 

 

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