Do insist on booth
etiquette. Marketing directors should insist on proper booth behavior when
attendees are in the hall, such as no eating at the booth, limiting time on
devices, avoiding sitting, and so on. It’s easy to revert to these behaviors,
particularly when hall traffic is slow, but attendees certainly will not engage
with a rep when his attention is on appetizers or his iPhone.
Don’t display your
best giveaways. Most exhibitors have some sort of trinket at their booth to
grab attention. Unfortunately, sometimes a vendor will display a high-priced
item (relatively speaking) that attendees will often take when their
representatives are engaged in conversations or not at the booth. Instead, I
recommend placing higher-priced giveaways under the booth and presenting them
to attendees who have a meaningful conversation with a rep. For example, an
insurance company might have branded umbrellas at the booth as a nod to their
coverage, but such relatively higher-priced giveaways should be reserved for
attendees who take time to learn about the company’s policies.
Do attend sessions.
If your reps have time, it’s always advisable to attend a session or two,
particularly a keynote. Attendees are engaged in content, and to be able to
reference their main reason for attending the conference helps build dialogue. For
example, consider this conversation starter: “I saw you in this morning’s
keynote. Wasn’t that comment on the babies in the river startling?” (This is in
reference to an actual panelist’s comment during an addiction treatment
conference last week.)
Don’t focus only on
friends. For reps on the road frequently, it can be comforting to fall into
a habit of hanging out with friends in an exhibit hall, having dinner together,
etc. Networking and relationship nurturing is certainly good business, but it’s
always important to be finding “new friends” at conferences. A rep’s time might
be better spent answering e-mails over takeout in the evening in his hotel room
rather than hanging out with peers for the fourth time this year, if dinner
with “new friends” isn’t an option.
Do use social media. Many
conferences do not release a pre-event attendee list, but that doesn’t mean
prospecting can’t begin until a rep is onsite. If a conference has a Twitter
hash tag, keeping an eye on who is attending and who is “making noise” can lead
to onsite meetings. Many larger conferences have Twitter display boards, and a
few quick tweets can provide you free advertising at the show. Outreach through LinkedIn to prospects in the
area provides a rep a “good excuse” for stopping by while in the area—and hopefully
the targets will be at the show. If not, why not offer them a pass on you?
These are just a few dos and don’ts I’ve noticed over the
years. I’d be delighted to read your own in the comments section.
