Turn Trade Show Contacts into Contracts
Trade shows can be a winning strategy to attract new clients or they can be a huge waste of time, energy and resources if all that happens is you build a eye catching display and say “hi” to people as they walk by. Do not waste this great opportunity to build your business. When formulating your trade show strategy for success use the following tips to make your connections count.
Look Like a Million Bucks
You want to always look your best when working a trade show. Looking professional makes people more receptive to speaking with you. Make sure you look the part of the successful firm representative. Press your suit, get a haircut and make sure your shoes are comfortable and polished. Where light colors, dark blue and black are more intimidating, go with the lighter colors in your closet for this event.
Get Out In Front
Put together a great display to really catch the attention of trade show attendees. Be sure to position the display tables in a way that allows you to easily enter into the pedestrian isle. Do not put a table across the front of your booth, since this puts a barrier between you and passersby. Keep your booth neat and uncluttered. Put out only a few materials at a time.
Show Your Smile
Show your teeth to everyone and make eye contact as people come near your both. This conveys warmth and makes it easy for people to approach you. Go out of your way to be friendly, energetic, approachable, and connect with all the trade show attendees.
Success Starts with a Great Opening
Rehearse your opening statement. Say something that gets people to stop in their tracks and spend some time at booth. Ask a question. “Are you familiar with (name of your firm)?” is a good one. If someone says “yes” ask what their experience has been, tell them about any services or products they are not aware of.
Offer a Show Special
Offering a show special and prominently displaying information about it can entice people to your booth. Show specials also create a sense of urgency to get people to make a buying decision right away. You can also introduce a new product or service and offer a show special for attendees to take advantage of this new offering.
Gather the Important Info
Make it easy for people to enter the drawing by dropping their card into a bowl. This creates excitement and ensures people will stop at the booth. If people do not have a card, provide a form people can fill out. Make sure people write all their information, address, phone, and especially email address. Gathering the contact information of attendees is one of the primary objectives of participating in trade shows.
People Love Giveaways
If all your materials look like sales materials, they will probably end up in the trash before the tradeshow attendees leave the convention hall. Give everyone coupons and innovative premiums with your logo. These keep the your name in front of someone long after the trade show has passed. Make sure to bring plenty of whatever advertising specialty you choose, Postnotes®, calculators and notebooks. You do not want to run out of goodies.
Your Fortune Is in the Follow Up
Within two days after the tradeshow send out a thank you email or letter with an additional special offer. Within two days is key otherwise they will not even remember you. If you wait two weeks or two months the tradeshow attendees will not even remember meeting and speaking with you.
Trade shows can take a lot of time and energy. When done well they can attract many new clients and expand the services used by current clients. Follow the ideas above and get the most out of your next trade show adventure.
Success Tips For Mompreneurs: Networking That Builds Business
Established Associates and New Associates often differ in their opinions about networking. The “old-timers” usually say that networking is one of their most important sources of business, while the “newcomers” sometimes complain that they’re putting a lot effort into networking and not seeing much return.
What’s going on here?
It’s Not Just About Business Cards Anymore
Let’s define the kind of networking that builds business. It’s not just circulating through a room exchanging business cards! A broader view of networking is creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information. Your business network can, and should, include colleagues, a wide range of business people, and personal friends, as well as customers and prospects.
Branching Out
Meeting people at organized events is one of the easiest ways to build an extensive network. The key is to attend the right kinds of events. Don’t spend all your time networking within your industry. Be sure that some of the events you attend are also attended by potential recruits and customers, and by other professionals who may be able to refer business to you.
Here are some popular choices for networking events: Chamber of Commerce mixers, workshops, and award ceremonies; service clubs such as Rotary and Kiwanis; trade and professional association meetings where customers, recruits, or potential referral sources gather; lectures, conferences, and fundraisers hosted by educational institutions, community organizations, and affinity groups; social, cultural, and sporting events that include receptions or other mix-and-mingle time.
Don’t forget about the private gatherings specifically organized for the purpose of meeting new people, either.
Join the Club
The way to get the most value from a group is to become a member of it. You will have more success if you go back to the same groups over and over than if you keep going to new groups all the time. Find two or three that seem to have the right mix of people, and keep going back.
Follow Up, Then Follow Up Some More
Follow up with the people you meet immediately. If you don’t, you’ve just wasted your time in meeting them. Call potential recruits or customers and reintroduce yourself. Describe what you’re offering, determine their level of interest, and invite them to take the next step by attending a presentation or party, or viewing your catalog. When you meet people in a position to lead you to more prospects or refer business in the future, call them to suggest coffee or lunch, or offer to stop by. In either case, after making contact, put them in your calendar to follow up with again in a month or two.
It is simply untrue that prospects will “call when they are ready.” The truth is, if people have met you only once, they probably don’t even remember you, and it’s even less likely that they will remember where they put your card.
The Keyword is Relationships
If networking that builds business sounds like hard work, you’re right—forming relationships takes time and effort. But those relationships are the core of networking. Your network should include people whom you truly enjoy interacting with, because if you’re doing it right, you’ll be spending a lot of time with them.
Being able to build successful relationships is what effective networking is all about. It’s what separates successful Associates from those who don’t make it. Networking doesn’t always pay off immediately. You need to put in the effort now, and trust that you will see results later. The Associates who followed that rule when THEY were new are now the successful “old-timers” who can testify that networking really does work.
Your Partner in Living a Purpose Inspired Life,
Louri Boilard is a Contributor to Diva Toolbox, visitor her website at www.youngevity4life.com
Success Tips For Mompreneurs: Networking That Builds Business
Established Associates and New Associates often differ in their opinions about networking. The “old-timers” usually say that networking is one of their most important sources of business, while the “newcomers” sometimes complain that they’re putting a lot effort into networking and not seeing much return.
What’s going on here?
It’s Not Just About Business Cards Anymore
Let’s define the kind of networking that builds business. It’s not just circulating through a room exchanging business cards! A broader view of networking is creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information. Your business network can, and should, include colleagues, a wide range of business people, and personal friends, as well as customers and prospects.
Branching Out
Meeting people at organized events is one of the easiest ways to build an extensive network. The key is to attend the right kinds of events. Don’t spend all your time networking within your industry. Be sure that some of the events you attend are also attended by potential recruits and customers, and by other professionals who may be able to refer business to you.
Here are some popular choices for networking events: Chamber of Commerce mixers, workshops, and award ceremonies; service clubs such as Rotary and Kiwanis; trade and professional association meetings where customers, recruits, or potential referral sources gather; lectures, conferences, and fundraisers hosted by educational institutions, community organizations, and affinity groups; social, cultural, and sporting events that include receptions or other mix-and-mingle time.
Don’t forget about the private gatherings specifically organized for the purpose of meeting new people, either.
Join the Club
The way to get the most value from a group is to become a member of it. You will have more success if you go back to the same groups over and over than if you keep going to new groups all the time. Find two or three that seem to have the right mix of people, and keep going back.
Follow Up, Then Follow Up Some More
Follow up with the people you meet immediately. If you don’t, you’ve just wasted your time in meeting them. Call potential recruits or customers and reintroduce yourself. Describe what you’re offering, determine their level of interest, and invite them to take the next step by attending a presentation or party, or viewing your catalog. When you meet people in a position to lead you to more prospects or refer business in the future, call them to suggest coffee or lunch, or offer to stop by. In either case, after making contact, put them in your calendar to follow up with again in a month or two.
It is simply untrue that prospects will “call when they are ready.” The truth is, if people have met you only once, they probably don’t even remember you, and it’s even less likely that they will remember where they put your card.
The Keyword is Relationships
If networking that builds business sounds like hard work, you’re right—forming relationships takes time and effort. But those relationships are the core of networking. Your network should include people whom you truly enjoy interacting with, because if you’re doing it right, you’ll be spending a lot of time with them.
Being able to build successful relationships is what effective networking is all about. It’s what separates successful Associates from those who don’t make it. Networking doesn’t always pay off immediately. You need to put in the effort now, and trust that you will see results later. The Associates who followed that rule when THEY were new are now the successful “old-timers” who can testify that networking really does work.
Your Partner in Living a Purpose Inspired Life,
Louri Boilard is a Contributor to Diva Toolbox, visitor her website at www.youngevity4life.com
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