Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Tradeshow Selling: 4 Key Questions You Must Know

The tradeshow floor is a selling environment.  Given you've chosen the correct show, there is a high percentage of people walking the show with whom you would like to speak.  This is why tradeshows are such a good marketing vehicle:  large numbers prospects in one place at one time.  There are also people there for reasons other than buying what you are selling, hearing your presentation or viewing your demonstration.  Both numbers are big and both walk right past your booth.  But how do you find the good ones, the prospects - your future customers?  How do you know if you should spend time with this person?  All good salespeople - and booth staffers - know they must get the answers to these 4 basic qualifying questions:

1. Do you have a need?

A good qualifying question which is also a nice icebreaker: "Hi! What brings you to the show today?"  This will let you know if you have something they need or want or if instead they are looking for another company, another unrelated product or the nearest bathroom.  If you do have a product or service they are interested in, you will want to spend more time with them and drill down to their more specific needs, finding out their time-frame, their budget and who has the authority to buy.


2. What is your timeframe?

Everyone with a need does not necessarily have a current need.  Others may need it yesterday.  You need to know this in order to know if this is someone you want to spend time with now, or to followup with in 3, 6 or 12 months.  It will also tell you if you want to deal with them at all; some time-frames do not fit your production schedule or are otherwise too demanding.  Time-frame qualifiers are straightforward "when" questions, like:

When were you planning to implement the new program?
When do you need these new widgets installed?

3. Do you have a budget?

What good is it to find someone with a stated need and timeframe, but no budget?  One of the best ways to approach this question is to give a range: "Based on the information you have provided me, your project should cost between X and Y.  Is this in your budget?" or "Similar projects we have done for other companies are in the X to Y range.  Will this work for you?"  No budget today does not mean no budget ever and may become a time frame issue. But how do you know if you don't ask?

4. Who is the final decision maker?

It is good to find this out as soon as possible lest you'll be spending alot of time with the wrong person.  Ultimately, you'll need to sell to someone who has the final buying authority or at least buying influence. The final decision maker may not be in attendance, but they are the first person you'll want to followup with if the need, budget and time frame questions have been met. A good question to ask, "Besides yourself, who will be involved in the decision to purchase?"  

The answers to all four questions must  be known before a sale - any sale - can be made.  Good salespeople simply have conversations with people and let the answers reveal themselves in a natural way.  Some call this active listening.  But because time is at a premium, especially at well-attended shows, keep the small talk to a minimum on the show floor.  Capture all the information on a lead sheet or electronic device and follow-up.

A good strategy is to have staffers in the booth who "meet and qualify" (these are not the quiet, reserved types) and others with your company who can take care of "hot prospects" with a definite near-term need, purchasing authority and budgeted monies. This may be someone with technical expertise who can give a demonstration or an executive in the organization with deal-making authority.  If you are working the show alone, these qualifying questions can help you talk with greater numbers of attendees.  Wherever part of a larger booth staff or alone, the post-show followup is key to your selling success.

CEIR, Center for Exhibtion Industry Research, offers exhibiting research and reports on this topic (http://www.ceir.org/find-research/instant_research).

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