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The 5 Biggest And Surprising Mistakes That Kill Success At Shows And Events

By Carl Davidson

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 29Jun2008 Word count: 565 Viewed: 461 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

The potential sales and earning from shows and events are huge and many companies spend a serious amount on shows. Some are extremely successful and some are disappointing. This article takes a look at the four biggest errors we have observed that reduce or can kill your success at shows and event.

Error #1 Using Non Sales Staff

As shows approach, many sales staff members suddenly remember appointments and presentations that have to be made during the show. This leaves that show understaffed. Many times a company is forced to use non-professional sales staff to man the show and that can lead to failure. If you must use non-professional sales staff, show training becomes even more critical to success. Never man a show with untrained staff.

Error #2 No Specific Goals

Before you book a show, you should decide the goal to be achieved from your investment. Are you there for "exposure"? Are you there to set appointments with new clients or customers? If so how many should each staff member achieve? Are you there to sell? If so, what and how much? Setting and monitoring goals makes a very big difference in results achieved at all types of shows and events.

Error #3 No Specific Activity Quotas

Each staff member should have a set activity quota for the show. Not having one turns the show into a lazy day for socializing. Pressure to perform keeps staff working and digging. For example, if your goal is to set appointments for future follow up, you might set a goal of one appointment every 10 minutes or 6 per hour. Having a quota for activities like sales or new clients or actual appointments tells your staff what you expect. Best of all, these goals are measurable in numbers. You won't need to rely on feelings like "It's going well, Boss".

Error #4 No Show Training

Shows are different that regular sales situations. Each area of show selling is not what your team is used to in non-show situations. They need to qualify faster, They need to present better, they need special show reasons to act and more. Training your staff on specific tactics and scripts for the show is critical. Without this training only natural born show salespeople will succeed.

Error #5 No Management Supervision

If you have assigned special activity quotas and scripts, managers need to work the show if you are serious about success. If managers cannot work the entire show, they should stop by unannounced to see what is happening and to measure results at random times. When they arrive, they should ask each member of the staff if they can see the results...client names and contact information, appointments set and sales orders. If these actual results meet or exceed the designated quota, the manager should praise the staff member. If they do not, the, manager should go over the scripts and goals and assist the salesperson in understanding and being able to achieve the goals. If this is done regularly throughout the show, each staff member will be a success and so will the overall show.

Take an inventory of these errors and see which ones you may be committing. We know from experience with hundreds of clients that a few changes in theses areas will make a huge difference to your show results without costing you any additional investment.

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