exhibitor q & a |
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Booth Staffing
 My booth staffers are well versed on our products and company, but when it comes to opening a conversation with
strangers at trade shows, they’re completely tongue-tied. What questions should they ask to get the conversation started?
 The trick to effectively engaging attendees at a trade show is to be proactive, rather than just sitting in your booth and waiting for passersby to come to you. But in order for your booth staffers to properly engage attendees, they’ll need a few well-crafted questions in their arsenal. Here are some dos and don’ts to help you develop questions that will lead to effective and equally beneficial conversations between staffers and attendees.
 Don’t ask a question if you don’t want — or care about — the answer. When people ask, “How are you
doing?” do they really want to know the answer? Probably not, especially if they’re staffing a booth, because: a) the person will reply with “I’m fine,” and this answer will lead
you nowhere, or b) the person will launch into a lengthy explanation
of how not fine they are, in which case you’ve wandered into an uncomfortable social situation without a clear escape route. So before the booth staffer asks a question, make sure he or she is actually interested in — and prepared for — all of the possible responses.
Don’t ask a question if you don’t know what to do with the answer. For example, if booth staffers ask, “Have you heard about our new widget?” and the answer is “Yes,” staffers are usually at a loss for words. You can train your staffers how to create good questions, but you can’t train your visitors how to answer them. So think of all the possible answers and make sure you know how to respond to each of them. If you don’t have a follow-up
response for each answer, find another question to ask.
Don’t ask a question that leads to a sales pitch. Trade shows are filled with interesting facts and ideas; however, this also means that attendees are bombarded with information at every turn, and they struggle to sort, grasp, and retain the relevant nuggets. Thus, the last thing booth visitors want is irrelevant information. So asking, “Do you have a few minutes to see my
presentation on …” is only offering
them information they probably don’t want because you know nothing
about them yet. Plus, if they say “yes,” your presentation will be utterly untargeted, as you have no idea who they are, what they want, or what they intend to do with your information. Such a question is a colossal waste of time for everyone.
Start on common ground. An easy way to open a dialogue is to ask visitors about something you have in common, such as the show or its sessions. So try questions such as: 1) “What brings you to the show?” 2) “Which sessions would you recommend?” and 3) “How many times have you attended this show?”
Give visitors an easy way into the conversation. Sometimes people are just as nervous about opening a conversation as you are. So offer them something to comment on, such as your graphics or product or something else on the floor. Such questions also give you insight into how to direct the conversation based on their interests. Try questions such as: 1) “What attracted you to our booth?” 2) “What have you seen on the show floor that caught your eye?” and 3) “What have you found most useful at the show?”
Make it about them. Ask questions that demonstrate to attendees that you’re interested in them and their
individual needs such as: 1) “What does your company do?” 2) “What are you looking for from the exhibitors?” and 3) “What are your goals for attending the show?”
With some carefully crafted questions and a bit of practice, your staffers will be tongue-tied no more, and before you know it, they’ll be reeling in attendees left and right.
— Barry Siskind, president, International Training and Management Co., Toronto
Green Exhibiting
My company is finally taking some steps to Green its exhibit-marketing program, and I’d like our clients to know about them. However, I also don’t want to overstate our efforts and be accused of Greenwashing. How do I walk a safe line between promoting our efforts and getting burned by them?
No one wants to be labeled as a Greenwasher, i.e., a company (or person) that somehow promotes or describes its Green efforts in a deceptive manner, which is meant to encourage the perception that its policies or products are eco-friendly. Once you make a deceptive Green claim, few people will ever believe your Green-related utterings again, and all of your product- or company-related claims will be looked upon with suspicion.
But don’t worry; there are ways to confidently promote your Greenness
without opening yourself up to
potential Greenwasher labels or their negative consequences. The following tips will help you sidestep a PR nightmare, and proactively prepare for jaded journalists.
Avoid overstating your Green claims. A hybrid car might be less harmful to the environment than a Hummer, but calling it carbon neutral is an outright lie. When publicizing news of your Green efforts, opt instead for messages that promote your eco-friendly actions as comparably Greener than traditional alternatives.
Don’t take any single person’s Green word for granted. If the media labels you as a Greenwasher because the bamboo in your booth was grown in a pesticide-laden forest, harvested by Chinese orphans, and shipped to the United States on a pollution-spewing ship, the excuse, “My exhibit house told me it was Green,” isn’t going to be sufficient damage control. Since there’s no industry-wide certification program for Green exhibits or materials, it’s a tricky subject. But when in doubt, get a second — or third — opinion regarding any eco-related claim you intend to make.
Be wary of one-and-done efforts. It’s OK to celebrate how far you’ve come in your efforts to go Green, but be sure to let attendees and the press know that it’s just the beginning of your ongoing efforts. Otherwise, it’s a little like going to the gym once and calling yourself a body builder. Going Green is an evolutionary process, and you’re far less likely to be labeled a Greenwasher if you are honest about what you’ve done thus far, and make a commitment to doing more in the future.
Be ready for the questions that any kind of Green claim might provoke. That’s not to say you need to have a Green answer for everything, but be prepared to address some of the non-Green components of your company’s exhibit or practices in case a shrewd reporter digs up some nasty brown skeletons in your company’s carbon closet.
Going Green isn’t only good for Mother Nature; it can also improve or maintain the public’s perception of your business. The fine line between being a “Greenwasher” and being “environmentally friendly” is often a matter of the way you position your efforts and even the semantics you use to describe them. These four strategies, however, will help ensure you stay on the “friendly” side of that line.
— EXHIBITOR Staff |
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