Written by Ivette Flower.
Who remembers the old-school way of collecting leads at shows? Does a fancy fish bowl come to mind?
Do you remember how hard it was to qualify a lead on the back of a business card?
Thankfully, exhibitors got a little more sophisticated when they used the fish bowl and filled it with candy. As soon as someone put their hand in the bowl, you felt like you “caught one” and now you had their permission to go into your elevator pitch!
The way we engage and how we qualify event attendees is shifting because potential buyers are savvy and have more control of the buying cycle. They are well on their way through the buying journey before they even get contacted by sales or visit your booth space.
A well-organised event can be a great opportunity for attendees to learn and connect while enjoying the process.
While there are a variety of objectives to achieve as an exhibitor, most often the mission for exhibitors is to provide professional guidance to their attendees to ensure that they get the very most out of your event. When it comes to relationship building and gaining someone’s trust, there really is no substitute for person-to-person interaction. It is important that your booth staffers leave a great 1st impression with attendees.
One way Skyline Displays is creating engaging at-show experiences is through our discovery process where we create a custom solution based on objectives. We recently designed a 10’ portable solution for our open house. Our message was “Helping the World Trade” which communicated our global reach and expertise. Our objective was to create a game where booth staffers could educate and qualify attendees. We designed a world map back-wall graphic and created energy in the booth through an augmented reality application using gamification strategies. In other words, the world map graphic came to life and encouraged attendees to stop by.
If an exhibitor can successfully combine education and fun into their booth experience, then they are strengthening that relationship with that attendee. The end result for our open house was attendees who enjoyed interacting with our booth staffers, and booth staffers who were able to further qualify attendees as a prospect to follow up with.
Whatever your goals are for exhibiting, Skyline can help develop engagement strategies that align with your objectives for your show. A lot has changed in the events and exhibition industry, but having a trusted, experienced partner to help you will always be important.
About the Author:
Ivette Gonzalez Flower is a Sr. Account Executive and Booth Staffer trainer with Skyline Colorado. She has been with the Skyline family for over a decade and has been recognised as a top performer for the Skyline Network.
