Trade show tips for introverts

They bought. Your law firm, architectural firm, or other professional service provider has decided to commit its resources to a trade show. Congratulations. Trade shows, conferences, conventions, and other B2B industry gatherings don’t deserve the bad reputation many have.

These are the red-haired stepchildren of business development. That is particularly true among professionals, who tend to feel that they are above all else. However, B2B events are incredibly efficient. Your clients and prospects flock there … in increasing numbers. Plus, events like these combine face-to-face selling and broadcast-style marketing, giving you a best of both worlds opportunity.

As long as you are smart. And, as long as you can overcome the legendary reluctance of professionals to be, well, social. What do you do, then, to make the most of these opportunities? How do you overcome the introversion of the professional? However, at least mitigate its effect?

‘You want me to do what ?!’

I’m going to tell you a secret. Profiting from your clients’ trade show or industry conference does not mean the impossible or improbable. There are many, many sanitized ways to profit from trade shows. Ways that don’t require a lawyer or architect to hold a booth, smile, and gossip for two and a half days. So when (not if) you get a rejection, relax.

Buying the microphone

For starters, there are sponsorships. These allow you to spend some money to get your name … from 30,000 feet. The more you spend, the brighter the neon will be. Or, the louder the microphone. If you are the title sponsor of a conference, that means your name will be printed on the registration material, announced from the main stage, and broadcast in other ways that will impact your market.

milking the mails

Sponsorships can take advantage of one or two asocial shipments. Imagine, for example, sending “Dear Customer: We look forward to seeing you at the Grand Conference next month, where our firm will have an exhibition, sponsor the Thursday morning coffee break, speak at the Wednesday afternoon business session. … “etc. If you’re a public speaker, do a little prospecting. Ask your marketing department to create a page on your website with your notes, a bibliography, a link to your bio, and the like.

In this way, your company’s speakers at the conference can offer their email address to anyone who wants the link to this special page. When there are hits to this page, keep track of them. It works. There is also a silver lining in those who don’t show up. Get a list of pre-registrants who did not attend. Then send them a note (“Sorry we missed you at the blah blah”). Offer to follow up with a set of your notes, if requested. In other words, milk this. Don’t just show up. Tell the world (or, at least, the pre-registered list) that you intend to present yourself, that you are there and that you were there.

everything is negotiable

Let’s say you are the general counsel for the conference organizer. Or, you are the chair of the conference planning committee. Or, you have some other most-favored-nation status. See if you can insert your company’s welcome letter into the conference package. However, offer to pay a premium. It will cost you nothing.

Foolproof display setup

Trade show displays have become super easy … to design, produce, store, move, etc. So easy that anyone can assemble and disassemble a desktop display. Most exhibition organizers, by the way, will set up their stuff and take it apart … for a price. And, usually, there is a member of your company staff who can handle this task.

Your artwork can be printed to match whatever print campaign you have at the time. Plus, there are free-standing three-foot-wide banner stands that can add a custom look and message in addition to your generic, company-wide tabletop. So there’s no excuse why you can’t look as good or better than your fellow exhibitors … including your competitors.

The best part about the setup is that you don’t really need to carry loads of newsletters or other company literature. Less is more in the world of fairs. Bring a handful of business cards, some trinkets (optional), and ONE display copy of a company brochure or newsletter. Don’t hand out literature. If anyone is interested in having a copy, ask why. Get to know them, get their card and offer to send them whatever they want. Perspective.

Sucker Punch

Sooner or later, it has to happen. The sacrificial lambs or “volunteers” who will fill the company position or work with the crowd at the reception will ask for your help. Or, they could give you that deer look in the headlights. “What do I say?” they implore. Have them do any of the following:

• Ask another attendee: “What parallel sessions did you attend?”
• Listen to what this person is saying and then ask, “Why these?” or, “Learn something?”
• Say, “Did you know someone from our company is scheduled to speak on a related topic tomorrow morning? Come on. Our company is even making breakfast.”

That will make the ball roll. It will also allow the people in your company to stay close to their comfort zone. Next time, you can stretch a little.

To be prepared

Most professionals, especially lawyers, have a touch of perfectionism. Use that to your advantage. Prepare a “study guide” for them. Offer some background. Tell them what is happening and why. Detail why the company thinks this is a good investment. Give them the icebreaker activities listed above. Offer a bibliography. Make sure they know that you are there to support them. Having something like this in writing will allow them to prepare for the exam they think they are about to take. And they associate being well prepared with getting an “A”.

Life after the concert

Many of the post-conference tasks are automated. Most conferences, for example, rent scanners that record the names and addresses of people who stop by your booth and offer you their conference credential. These machines can also capture and download follow-up needs, such as subscribing to their newsletter, mailing a company brochure, or receiving a call about a specific business issue.

There are also scanners designed to collect information from business cards that return with you. Or just hand them over to an assistant. The point is, do something with these.

Put some legs under this. Take advantage of the document you presented at the conference and paste it into the next corresponding newsletter (maximum 250 words, please). Label it “This is an excerpt from a paper recently delivered at the Grand Annual Conference. Email so-and-so for a copy of the full article.”

Remember that easy to set up cockpit? Hire a photographer to take a photo of you and a potential client at the booth during the conference, talking to each other. Put it in the newsletter I just described, near the article in question, with a nice, juicy caption. Isn’t knitting fun?

Why are we doing this

Add all this up. The booth, mailings, tabletop display, sponsorship, loot, newsletter, etc. When you do, you will see that everything you are doing amounts to making the intangible more tangible. Doing these and similar things shows your prospects and customers and your industry that you care. It’s not that you simply mean to worry. But that you care enough about them and their interests to show up.

When you show that you care, you start to gain enough confidence to become an advisor. And when they trust you enough to listen to their issues, you’re taking steps toward your next commitment. And that? Then do it all over again for the next trade show opportunity that makes sense. Because once is never enough.

Have you made the most of industry meetings for your marketing company, business, or client? Have you done it without being totally at the mercy of lawyers, architects, or other introverts?