Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

I talked about it becoming convention season in the last post and that means it is back to setting up and tearing down your exhibit booth space.  If you are a small business it means probably getting the most bang for your buck in the area of a display that is easy to set up can be done with only one person and can be checked in as luggage when you travel.  I have been looking around recently at some of the display companies because I too will be needing to get a display booth that is for people on the move.

I spend about one week a month in the first six month of the season going to a couple of large shows and then a few small events and then a final large one before going in to work mode.  I am always looking for ease of use.  There are many companies out there that offer a portable display that is easy to set up and can make your company look professional and certainly won’t break the bank.  In today’s economy, the latter part of that equation is a must.  You can’t spend a whole bank account of your marketing budget only to not be able to recover that cost on the road.  I am actually in the market for a portable display that will fit nicely and look professional in the 10 x 10 booth space or in the corner of a small event.  Portable displays are a great asset and if you find a company that provide this service let me know I would love to speak to them.

In sales, confidence is a must have component to help you with your bottom line and how you close your customers. At a trade show the people that you have working in your booth have to have that confidence to engage your potential customer. I have seen it many times when working the floor at a convention, the booth staffer that is there taking up space and not getting engaged with the attendees.  It is a waste of time and effort, and most of all a waste of your money. The attendees are there to see you and your business. In many cases they have paid a ticket price just to get a chance to see your company and what you are selling. If you have a booth staffer that is confident and wants to talk to every single attendee on a face-to-face basis, your show will be a success.  You must give them that confidence.

The best way to increase the confidence of your booth staff is to have a dry run at the sales pitch and what your key points are about your company, what you are offering, and the overall pitch to the potential customer. If the person working in your exhibit booth has confidence in the script, it will be that much easier for them to close a deal. Of course, after that first lead walks up and you make a sale, that is the biggest boost to a staffer’s confidence. In addition, if other people working in your booth see how it was done, that too will provide them with a little confidence to pitch the next potential customer.

Exhibit booth sales for your company can be a very powerful lead generation tool. A little confidence in the process will go a long way to help the sales figures. Take some time before the show begins and practice with the team. If they have confidence going in, they will help your bottom line coming out.

As you can see from our last couple of months we have been showcasing many of the convention centers around the country and letting you know their offerings and how they might fit into your convention plan. No matter if you are planning a large event or a smaller conference, we want to be seen as the place to come for information. You can find all of the information on any city or center just by looking at the categories we have here, or perhaps making sure to visit Conventions.net for the latest information on any of our locations we have featured there.

I wanted to get back to some of the nuts and bolts of actually going through the planning of a convention, trade show or conference. I have been busy with a few of my own shows, one in Las Vegas in 2009 at BlogWorld & New Media Expo, followed very quickly by the Social Media Business Summit in Hawaii at the [re]Think Hawaii event, and most recently I have been working on the Modern Media Man Summit in Atlanta which will take place in September, 2010.  It seems I have a few plates in the air and have been doing many jobs over the last couple of years.  I am sure this will continue as I think it is a great way to gain experience doing a number of different jobs in different locations.

This week I am going to start talking about some of the things that go on behind the doors or events.  These are the things that might not be the glamorous things that occur and it might not be the things that we like to showcase as owners of events or conference directors or exhibit booth salespersons.  I have met a number of interesting people along the way and want to talk about a few of those as well so stay tuned while I start my brain dump of all the things that go into what I see as convention planning!

[photo via Retronaut]