Trade Show Display Marketing Tips and Advice

The term "sales pitch" might be a little old school, but the concept is not. At its core, a sales pitch is just a way to explain your product or service's value to the buyer. Call it what you will, but educating prospects on an offering's worth is still central to sales.   What has gone out of style are sales pitches that are long, product-focused, and boring. In fact, we have a separate article all about the essential elements of a sales pitch. 

In his book To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink presents six types of modern day sales pitches that act as updates to the classic elevator pitch.  Translate your product or service's value proposition into each of these six formats so you can whip out one or another when appropriate.

Major industry events are all about entertainment, motivation, and connection, right?  Well, sure.  But they’re also great opportunities for salespeople to build relationships and generate revenue.  So how did “I closed $50,000 of business at an industry event.”  Even at a trade show event while in your booth you can use these tactics to help close a deal!

We've all heard the claim our attention spans are shorter than a goldfish's -- and shrinking by the minute. The thing is, that's not really true. In fact, "Goldfish can perform all the kinds of learning that have been described for mammals and birds," says Professor Felicity Huntingford, who's spent more than fifty years studying fish behavior.

She continues, "They've become a model system for studying the process of learning and the process of memory formation, exactly because they have a memory and because they learn."  Your prospects might have the ability to focus more than eight seconds. The problem is, they just aren't willing to give most salespeople more of their time and attention without them having earned it. So, like the best bull riders, saddle up, and use these eight tactics to grab a prospect’s attention in eight seconds or less and send better email.

Success in selling belongs to those who can balance the roles of analyst and storyteller. Doing so requires the ability to source, organize, and communicate data in a way that connects the salesperson’s solution to the buyer’s challenge. In short, salespeople must be master storytellers with data. But where to start?

Here are three steps to improve your team’s ability to craft compelling sales narratives that differentiate your company’s solution and advance the sale.

We’ve all heard it before. You’re deep in conversation or on a demo, being sold to, and the sales rep asks you, “Does that make sense?”   You quickly agree, “Absolutely!” But what you’re really thinking is, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I can’t wait for this call to end, so yeah, sure, it makes sense.”

What’s worse than hearing this phrase is saying it. And I know you’ve used it too. Asking “Does that make sense?” comes from a place of innocence – maybe even a place of compassion. You want to affirm that your prospect understands what you’re saying, so you ask the question and mean it. Unfortunately, it actually just confuses the prospect, which is the opposite of what you were going for.

Here are three reasons why it’s such a horrid phrase, and three new ways to ensure your prospect is adequately informed.

When you attend a trade show or another live event on behalf of your business, it's important to be able to show the rest of your company that the investment in sending you was worth it. Because it can be challenging to determine the ROI of your presence at live events, leaving the event with a closed sale or two under your belt can really help to immediately demonstrate the worth of your presence. On-site selling can be extremely difficult, so before you attend your next trade show or event, here are six steps you can take to increase your chances of successfully executing on-site sales.

Sales promotions aren’t always necessary to close business. In fact, salespeople shouldn’t get in the habit of regularly using promotions when mastering essential negotiations skills.  For sales leaders, promotions either make the customer’s decision easier or motivate the salesperson to work a little harder. Both scenarios require a something extra from the seller.

So, are sales promotions necessary in 2018?  Oh baby, they sure are. When constructed correctly and deployed intelligently, they should enhance, not disrupt, the sales process. Here’s some advice on how to make your sales promotions kick ass instead of a pain in the ass.

While working in your trade show exhibit - you probably are not trying to close a deal.  In a perfect world, all prospects would love you starting the moment they shook your hand -- and then they’d eagerly sign on the dotted line. Unfortunately, deals are almost never that easy to win. And it can seem nearly impossible to close when you’re dealing with tough customers who make everything harder than it needs to be.  If clients try to push you around, or they waffle indefinitely over their next steps, deals can drag on for weeks on end. And, chances are, these interactions won’t even end in a sale.

While you can’t control prospects’ attitudes, you can control your responses. You can take productive steps to increase your chances of closing the sale -- even when you’re dealing with the worst customers imaginable.  With these six keys to closing tough customers in sales, you’ll be more prepared to deal with bullies, noncommittal prospects, and just plain difficult people. Implement them now, and start to crush your competition in sales.

Even at a trade show event - you want to create a sense of urgency with the person in your booth.  Your product could be a great fit for your prospect. It's within their budget, you've offered them the perfect discount -- it should be a slam dunk. But unless they feel a sense of urgency, your prospect won't buy.   So, you should create some. Right?

Ask the right questions -- like the ones below -- and get your prospect to realize they’re unhappy or dissatisfied. And if your questions don’t lead them to those conclusions, accept they’re still in education mode and let your marketing department nurture them until the time is right.

We’ve all been through the same sales training and coached on the same sales playbook. When it comes to qualifying high-potential sales opportunities, salespeople look for:  senior decision-maker involvement, buying authority, customer consensus, approved budget, and a clearly articulated need.  However, in a world where customers learn far more on the their own and progress further along a purchase path before reaching out to reps, yesterday’s winning playbook is today’s losing recipe.

Why? These attributes are symptomatic of “Established Demand” -- meaning customers have not only figured out exactly what they need, but how much they’ll pay. The more boxes your opportunity checks, the less likely there’s anything left to discuss but price. Sure, the likelihood of a win might be high, but the likelihood of a great deal is incredibly low. In this world, the sales team is little more than the customer fulfillment team.   What’s a better alternative for effective opportunity qualification?