Friday, February 6, 2015

5 Tips to thinking strategicially about your 10x10

Failing to plan is planning to fail.
 - Alan Lakein

So your sales guy comes to you and says, "My customer gave me a free 10x10 at their show!" "Fantastic!" you say. "What are you going to showcase?" silence....

Trade shows are a great way to showcase your brand to attendees. Or they're not. It's really up to you. The most frustrating experience for a conference goer is to walk around a trade show floor and see a bunch of exhibitors sitting behind a 6' table typing on their phone. I.Would.Never.Stop.At.That.Booth.

The second most frustrating experience is to BE an exhibitor standing behind a 6' table, smiling at people who just walk by, hiding their badge from your scanner. "Aren't these people here to learn about new things?", you think to yourself.

So how do you make the most of your 10x10 booth on a crowded show floor?


  1. Know what success looks like. So your booth cost you $5k, and you spent another $4k on travel, branding, and giveaways. If one customer brings in $3k, then you need three new customers to break even on the event. If your close rate is 20%, then you need 15 hot leads from the show to make it break even. Aim for 30 and show real ROI!
  2. Plan ahead. Most conferences will give you at least a list of companies and titles of attendees who are coming to the show. Use it to bounce against your target prospect list from your sales team and reach out before the show. Make sure your top targets know you are going to be there, know where your booth is, and are planning to come by for a demo or conversation.
  3. Plan for drive-bys. The majority of conference goers know who they are going to look for before they step foot on the show floor. If you've done step 1, you are already on their list. But some conference goers may not know you're going to be there and are looking for products or services like yours. So plan for them. A branded backdrop and a smile may not be the most effective way to get someone to stop and talk to you. Take it a step further with an open-ended question. If you're selling widgets, try, "What's the best (or worst) think about widget today?" Even better - have something engaging in your space to draw this out of them: maybe a giant whiteboard where attendees can write in their favorite (or least favorite) thing about widgets. This will open the conversation and get people engaged. 
  4. You don't have to give to the trick-or-treaters. Everyone loves a good pen. But handing out pens is less likely to help your sales pipeline. Get attendees to USE a pen to write an idea on a post-it note or write about their favorite thing about widgets, THEN they can keep the pen. That makes it more memorable for them when they see the pen again later while cleaning out their conference bag, and allows you to only give out pens to people who have actively engaged with your brand. 
  5. Have a follow-up plan. How will you capture those great conversations? Will you take business cards? Will you scan badges? Whatever you intend to do, ensure that they are getting scored as leads for follow-up or leads for nurture and being put in a database/CRM back in the office... then make sure they are followed up on! Maybe your "nurture-only" leads don't need to waste sales resources, but they should definitely receive some sort of email follow-up thanking them for stopping by, and asking if they'd like to opt in to a newsletter or future communications. But most importantly, ensure those leads were scored at the event so you can follow up on the hot ones and book some sales. After all, that's why you went to the show in the first place!