Why Event Selling Strategy is Important for your Sales and Marketing Strategy

 

Exhibitions have become a bit of a novelty of late. Lockdown has seen the doors close on opportunities to collaborate face-to-face with our colleagues (but remote working does have its perks), and networking with new faces to build out our brand awareness at trade shows. 

 

The Zint team has found that exhibition shows are vital for small businesses to gain brand recognition and authority, down to the simple fact that you’re among your customers, partners, and the competition. And our platform even helps us to make our exhibition strategy all the more rewarding through streamlining our prospects.

 

And as a start-up ourselves, here’s our top tips for you to get the most out of your exhibition pass – perfect if you’re wanting to make the most of your time there.

 

Prospect top companies

 

With expenses racking up on travel before you’ve even begun those crucial conversations, finding the right prospects is imperative. 

 

Here it’s all about effectiveness over efficiency. There’s limited time at exhibitions so it’s crucial to have conversations with relevant prospects that have a likelihood of buying. That’s why we say effectiveness over efficiency – It’s less about doing things right and more about doing the right things! If you’re attending in a bid to win customers, you can’t be effective unless you’re approaching the best companies on your prospect list. 

 

Follow your curiosity

 

This is the secret. It’s easy to fall into the trap of introducing yourself by talking about your products and services. While we do know a lot about our customer’s challenges and on-the-ground knowledge, it’s not going to be as successful as engaging someone on what they do. Look out for things that genuinely interest you about their stand or business. After a short while, it’s likely they will respond with their own curiosity about yours…

 

Choose timing

 

Time is money. Take note of how these different points in the day will impact your effectiveness in social selling:

We have found that people are most likely to engage positively earlier in the mornings and then later in afternoon, especially on day one of an exhibition. Avoid times when weary exhibitors are hungry before lunch, experiencing the post-lunch 2pm sugar-crash or pre-coffee the morning after networking drinks…

 

Identify top prospects

 

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. It’s easy to forget that time is of the essence at exhibition shows – being kept on your networking toes is great until you realise that none of those conversations were truly valuable to your strategy. 

 

Be brutal with your time. Once you’ve identified the top companies to engage, you now need to identify the most influential person to engage. This person will usually be at the back collecting leads and managing the bookings. Look for opportunities to engage the decision maker whilst other team members are busy talking to attendees. 

 

Want to learn more about how you can identify top prospects in less time? Book a demo with us to see how.

 

Book meetings promptly

 

Most exhibitions have dedicated meeting areas that exhibitors hire out, so make use of it. 

 

Delivering on an outcome on the day isn’t a pipe(line) dream. In fact, this is the moment when exhibitors have time to close deals. Talking business when it’s hot will bring you far greater success than waiting until afterwards – people are often difficult to get hold of after events.