Cultivating Quality Interactions on the Event Show Floor
Not all events are the same, but a few attributes all events should have in common are positive community building experiences, conversations that increase knowledge and breadth of opportunity, and positive ROI.
The direct path to ROI is one beset with quality interactions. When preparing for your next event, plan to engage with your prospects. What is your plan for brokering new conversations?
What impression would you like to make as a company?
Here are a few takeaways to help you make the most of your events:
1: Give people a reason to visit your exhibit space.
Is your booth attractive? Good! You’re halfway there. Is it engaging and staffed with a well equipped events team? Now we’re getting there…
Let’s talk engagement:
Event activations are becoming the new norm for enhancing interaction at in person and hybrid events. Activations, also referred to as Gamification, connect attendees with activities that combine fun with education and brand impression. Activations launch anywhere, including on personal devices, so they can go anywhere providing incentives to visit sponsored booths and important locations, attending sessions, reviewing presentations and more.
All this activity and involvement nets increased event revenue, additional intentional interaction, and as a result – more conversations leading to business transactions. Captello’s suite of over 60 event activations helps event organizers and exhibitors drive engagement at their events and provides exhibitors with better lead capture processes. The intuitive Activation Builder makes it extremely easy for anyone to customize games with branding of any kind.
2: Be inviting
Now that you know how to draw additional traffic to your booth, remember to invite conversation once they arrive. Smiles and good body language are well received and can increase opportunities for conversations.
3: Flex your customer service muscle
Oftentimes you will have booth traffic that won’t lead to a direct sale. That doesn’t mean you should cut down on your customer service skills. An attendee could have questions that require you to refer them to someone else. Offer a quality experience and they will remember that. If they know how good you are at taking care of them, the positive experience will provide an opportunity for future word of mouth referrals.
4: Listen
Customers come to trade shows for the opportunity to have conversations. They want to truly explore your products and services. The in-person conversation is the most valuable sales tool there is. If a prospective customer is at your event and stops by your booth, they have something to say. FIRST, LISTEN to their questions, understand their needs, and give them your time. Sales take time, this is just the reality. The more listening you do from the start, the better. Create that positive experience on your first meeting!
5: No PDE (Public Displays of Exhaustion) allowed!
Sit only if you can do so out of public view. When prospects walk by a booth, they expect to see energy and excitement. Nothing is more deflating in the eyes of an attendee than walking the floor to see people sitting behind a table at a booth showing no energy.
6: Have fun!
If it takes an extra cup of coffee or a candy bar, find energy to have fun. Look, staffing a booth at a trade show is tough. Travel, setup, long days, we know it isn’t always glamorous. Why go through all that just to be upset on event day? If you need it, give your booth staff a break or two during the day to recharge. It is so important everyone in the booth is in good spirits when any attendee drops by, even on day three of an event.
During 2020 so many of us missed the in-person experience when we had to move to online events.
Today, in-person experiences are back in full force with tons of attendees excited to make those in person connections again. Appreciate every opportunity, and always look to build upon every handshake or fist bump.
We hope these simple tips were helpful to you as you plan for upcoming events. If you need creative ideas and resources to make your next event more engaging, contact Captello!
We’re here to help YOU make every event a huge success.
Captello is a multifunctional event platform that provides: Universal Lead Capture, User Customizable Gamification, Marketing Automation, CRM, Lead Management, Sales Enablement, Leader Boards, Point Rewards & e-Gift Cards, Waypoints for Sessions & Scavenger Hunts, Player Profiles, and more with over 3,000 integrations for all common CRM and Marketing Automation platforms.
To see how Captello’s growing library of digital activations (games), universal lead capture, and reward-based solutions can help your company generate more leads at your trade shows, contact us today!
