Posted by: Troy White
February 12, 2008
Issue #352

One Giant Trade Show Model
for Consistent Profits …

In this issue:

• 7 simple steps to generating quality leads, sales, and scripts at your next trade show, or on your website …
• The 82% rule – and the danger of getting lazy at the time when most of your buyers are begging to hand over their money …
• Is your website acting like the 2 buffoons I saw? The all-too-common formula that many companies fall for when marketing …
• How I sold saunas in 95-degree weather … and the unusual approach I took to making sales that is still working, untouched, for the past 5 years …
• And Much More!

Fellow business builder,

A new client of mine took part in a trade show this weekend. Gus is an inventor with a new product he is looking to market on a big scale. His product is a health-related product, and the trade show he was in was a health-related trade show.

Being that we are just starting to work together, I went to the show to see what was happening and how he sees the sales pitch sounding.

He didn’t have any time to work on scripts, signs or booths – so this was truly a bootstrap type of event.

First, no matter if you are taking part in trade shows or not, the content in today’s article DOES apply to you – and, near the end of this article, I am going to show you a major idea that will help you in your marketing.

When I showed up to see how it was going,
I was initially surprised with the lack of
… everything.

The booth was poorly set-up. The signage they had was awful and unreadable from a distance. They had blocked off the booth with a large table. The sign for the giveaway Valentine’s Day gift basket was small and almost non-existent.

Not good.

But we did a major overhaul of the booth and got it set-up to be more effective for lead generation.

Some of the areas that are important for preparation for a trade show (or any marketing type event):

• Position your tables in the booth so they do not block people from entering. Make it appear inviting and give them some reason to walk in (we offered a free massage if they had a seat in the booth – the product being sold was a hand-held massage type unit).
• When I first got there, they had the massagers sitting on the table – people had NO CLUE what the units were or how they worked. So, I had them stand up near the front of the booth, and in the aisle, with the massagers spinning showing how it could give them a shoulder massage. If your product has moving parts – show how it works – the motion will draw people in.
• We had to change the approach the inventor was taking in showing off the product in use. He was focused in on the spinning parts, how fast they moved, what they were made out of, and the FDA approval he received. These points are important – but most people DON’T CARE. They like the idea of the massage – which is a good excuse to get them to sit down for 5 minutes or so. That is the perfect amount of time to find out more about their needs (sitting at a desk causes shoulder and back problems – very common). Focus in on what they are interested in – not you. Common sense, but many inventors turned business owners get this completely wrong.
• Let people see your booth and not be intimidated by where you are standing. At the booth next to theirs was an investor’s group booth. Two 30-something guys in suits were there to do their bit. It was funny watching them though – both in nice suits – both standing right in front of the booth – looking way too eager to rope in anyone who even glanced their way. People looked scared walking by as they knew these guys were on a mission. The amount of people who were actually willing to talk to them was negligible. No lead generation or reasons for people to give up their names and contact information either.
• Have some form of visual presentation running (if the product is the type that can be shown on video).
• Get the leads! This was a health show – a paid one. Anyone who was there was interested in improving their health. They may not be interested in buying right now – some did – but the majority aren’t there to buy every product from every booth. So you have to get their names and information. As mentioned earlier, I had them do a Valentine’s Day gift basket with one of the massagers in the basket along with chocolates, skin care products, and a teddy bear. A certain percentage of those leads will turn into paying customers!
• Follow up with those leads! 82% of trade show leads NEVER get followed-up on – sad but true. Everyone that entered their name will get a letter right after, saying if they won the basket, or not. Those that didn’t win will get a secondary prize – still to be determined. They will be entered into a follow-up sequence that sells them on the health benefits of the product and gives them numerous chances to get involved with the main product, or one of the others that are available.

Selling saunas in 95-degree weather …

I used to have a client who sold infrared saunas. Now, selling saunas in the summer, you would think, could be a difficult job. But I learned a very valuable lesson working with them during the summer months, specifically at trade shows.

I remember one show we went to was out at a Country Music Festival.

50,000 people were congregating outdoors to listen to some country, drink some cold beer, and enjoy the 95-degree weather outside.

Not exactly the perfect place to be holding a mini-trade show - or trying to sell saunas!

The script I had created for trade show selling worked really well for getting people involved with the saunas and sitting in them for 5-15 minutes … then ultimately a significant number of them bought one of the $7,000 saunas on site.

When I heard when the show was, where it was, and what the event was - I was not exactly excited about spending my weekend there. But I did - and did it EVER pay off!

Who would have ever guessed …
I sold more saunas in 95-degree weather
than in 30-degree weather!

It was a very profitable weekend for us all - and a great learning experience.

You NEVER can assume you know if a trade show will succeed or fail. Of course, there are tell-tale signs of good and bad shows … but if I had completely paid attention to the signs, we wouldn’t have attended and we wouldn’t have sold so many saunas.

Another thing I did for the sauna company, which worked exceptionally well, was to create a special report I called Sweat Secrets.

This detailed all the details on what infrared is, how the saunas use infrared, the medical benefits of infrared, and the sales pitch at the end to get them to order a $7,000 sauna from this report.

And they did - still do, actually.

The company that I did this work for is still handing out the report, and I am still getting calls to order saunas.

No matter what your business or industry is
– A free report can add huge benefit
to your sales process!

We will be creating them for the new client, and will be incorporating them into all areas of marketing, including trade shows.

So, you have no intention of doing trade shows
– So how DOES this apply to you?

Imagine with me for just a second here that the Internet is just like a giant trade show floor. Imagine that those that “walk by your booth” are potential buyers. Now look back at the list we went through earlier and you will see the importance of trade show style marketing in ANY form of marketing!

… Are you displaying your booth in the right place – are you targeting your marketing at the right niche?

… Can you be found? Or is your booth buried away in the back corner without any real signs telling who you are or what you do?

… Once they find you, do you make it somewhat enticing for them to spend time at your booth, or is your booth one of the ones they glance at and quickly run away from (like the investor’s group booth)?

… Is it difficult for them to decide what you want them to do when they first see your booth?

… Are you testing different approaches to get them in your booth? To get them to hand over their contact information? To get them to buy on the spot?

… Is there a good reason for them to give up their contact information?

… When they hand you their information, are you consistently following up with them? You know as well as I, most trade show vendors throw that box of contact information out the minute they leave the show. Why? Laziness … and lack of education on what they should be doing next.

… When you find an unusual approach that works well (like the Country Music Festival) – keep it quiet from others and keep doing it while the results justify it.

The Internet is very much
like a giant trade show floor.

Your challenge is to find the right part of the trade show that is drawing in people interested in your niche. It would be useless to be selling health-related products at a car show. You may find a few potential clients – but focusing your efforts on health- related trade shows is a MUCH better idea.

It is one giant trade show floor out there

But when you find the right place to showcase your wares, and you develop the right system that turns attendees into buyers and leads, you have a system to make consistent profits.

And consistent profits are what marketing is all about!

Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have any further topics on this you would like to see discussed.

To your success,

Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE

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A Final Note:

If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have seen here, please submit a comment below and I will see how I can help.

"Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”

–Napoleon Hill

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1 Comment »

1. Comment by Glen Kohlenberg — February 12, 2008 @ 1:28 pm

   Good advise Troy I am doing a trade show for condo management companys next week and I will use your tips. Thanks