Go to Your Customers’ Trade Shows

When you set up an exhibit at trade shows for your industry, you face the challenge of differentiating yourself from your competition. As your customers walk past row after row of vendors, differentiation tends to blur, and customers come away with a sense that there are several options that might meet their needs.

If your company sells to other businesses, try attending your customers’ trade shows. There are several benefits to doing this. First, as few companies put forth the effort to do this, you can easily differentiate yourself by being one of the only firms to make the effort to go to meet at these venues.

You can also observe how your customers interact with their customers. Depending on what you sell, this can be valuable information indeed. And your customers will certainly recognize and appreciate your interest in helping them achieve their sales goals.

Keep in mind the reason why your customers are there in the first place. This is their opportunity to reach their own customers, and sell their own products. Therefore, it is essential to make your entry in a respectful and non-intrusive way.

The best way to do this is to make the rounds late on the opening day of the show. Your objective at this time is simply to introduce yourself and “press the flesh”. Let them know why you are there, tell them that you will drop back in to see them at the end of the show, and wish them a successful show. Then get lost for a few days.

When you go back to visit the customer at the end or the show, spend the first few minutes discussing the show itself. Find out if your prospect met their objectives, and how this event compared to events at which they have exhibited in the past. This will help get you in alignment, and make your actual sales call much more productive.