By EXPO Staff

Talk about booth sales at any industry gathering and you're likely to draw a crowd whether to commiserate with you or to pick up pointers. Such was our expectation when EXPO hosted its January Webinar, Selling Booths in an Economic Crisis, with booth sales trainer Helen Berman. And while 450 tuned in live, and another 100 or so have viewed the program on demand, still others have asked for a top 10 summary. While we couldn't quite get it down to 10, here are our top 13 takeaways.

Focus on the past.
Help exhibitors look back at previous dips in the economy. What trends can you call attention to? How fast did your market sector decline and recover? How did your show perform? (If the worst you ever did was a 10 percent dip in attendance, or if certain categories of products actually grew, find and share these stats with potential exhibitors.) How did major companies in your industry perform? Make the connection between companies that marketed aggressively during the last recession and how quickly they came back.

Create a survival toolbox.
Put a plan in place for how you'll weather the recession and implement tactics now that are different and more targeted than what sufficed in the past. Consider a media tracking service to get a sense of potential exhibitors marketing budgets. Have a list of what your show can offer that others can't. For instance, does your event offer a vertical market slice that no one else has?

Manage your time and territory.
Increase your commitment to sales by making more calls, micromanaging your sales efforts and ensuring there's a good account management software system in place.

Show how you plan to meet expectations.
Communicate to exhibitors everything you're doing to build and promote attendance, whether it's media spend, direct mail, e-mail or telemarketing campaigns.

Get creative.
How you sold in the past may not work right now. Think about varied payment structures and new value-added opportunities maybe session sponsors get two minutes at the mic now, for example.

Handle the emotional impact of selling.
Remember that a 'no' is simply a business refusal, not a personal rejection. You've got to keep shooting in order to score.

Start a new conversation.
Most of your pre-recession expectations regarding potential exhibitors can be thrown out the window. Use your planning and probing skills to find out what their short- and long-term goals are. When you know what they're building to, you'll know how you can help.

Talk recession marketing.
It might seem counterintuitive to highlight the recession when talking to exhibitor prospects, but there are upsides to marketing in a down economy, and it's up to you to make that connection. A few things to consider: Exhibitors may be able to minimize losses by getting in front of buyers. It's a great time to steal marketshare from reticent competitors. And staying the course at a trade show will give the image of corporate stability within a chaotic business environment.

Make phone calls more creative.
It may be tough to justify a large number of face-to-face sales calls in this climate, but that doesn't mean you can't make your sales tactics via phone more creative. Think about using PowerPoint presentations online while you talk, for example. This makes calls more interesting and informative without the investment of a face-to-face meeting.

Leave specific voicemails.
If you can't get a potential exhibitor to accept your calls, all hope isn't lost. Concentrate on leaving the most effective voicemail possible to encourage a call back. Go to their Web site first to analyze their business and then try to use that knowledge to communicate via voicemail that you understand their position. Additionally, a combined effort of calls and e-mails might be the most effective way to encourage a response.

Encourage exhibitors to re-think their criteria.
Your potential exhibitor has a set metric to determine whether or not the company will exhibit at a show, and maybe your show doesn't meet the standard. If you can't deliver based on their criteria, show them other metrics they might not have considered such as the number of subsequent sales calls they might get to make, or closing ratios.

Hold rates steady.
It's up to each organizer to determine whether cutting rates for booth space is the right call, but often, adding more value for the same price is a better option even if you give them extra booth space. Once you take someone off your rate card, you're going to spend years getting them back.

Offer incentives for early commitment.
Having trouble getting exhibitors to sign on before the last minute? Consider offering an incentive for signing up by a predetermined earlier date. It could be a bigger booth space or something else of promotional value. Exhibitors are more likely to wait unless there¡¯s an incentive.

Want to view and hear the Webinar in full? Use the link on www.expoweb.com.
 

Q&A Want more advice? Check out this question-and-answer session between our Webinar audience and booth sales trainer Helen Berman.

Our last show wasn't very successful, and now we've got the recession. How can I combat this?
You need to take an honest look at why your show suffered. Did you lose money? Can you sustain another loss? Have you damaged your reputation in the market? Was the market disinterested? Was it lack of exhibitors or attendees? Were the dates and locations well chosen? And most importantly, are you prepared and able to fix any and all of these problems? If so, you'll need to show exhibitors everything you're planning to do to turn the event around as a part of your selling effort. It may take some face-to-face calls with key executives from your organization and theirs.

How do I overcome the objections of exhibitors who are willing to pay for the booth space, but still say 'no' because they can't afford all the other costs the exhibit, freight, etc.?
So they're willing to make the phone call, but they're going to hang up before their prospect answers? Maybe they need to simplify their booth to lighten the direct costs. Maybe they're just looking for a deal. Continue to sell the value of your show and the buyers who will attend. Focus on the data you have showing the quality of attendees at the last show and the buying that came about during and after the event.

What's your opinion of virtual trade shows as an auxiliary to face-to-face events?
I think virtual trade shows can play a wonderful role for exhibitors and attendees, especially during this economic downturn. You want to create as many income-producing ways as you can to keep the commerce flowing between buyers and sellers.

In this economy, when is a 'no' really a 'no? It seems we get a lot of "no's" that are really, et's see what happens over the next few months.
You will face some attrition this year. Look for other ways to keep exhibitors involved with your buyers/attendees and your company. Perhaps Webinars a lower-cost, fabulous option will appeal to some of your clients.

What's your opinion of using mass e-blasts or mass faxes for selling booth space?
Take a look at your response rate including bounces and unsubscribes. It's the word mass that gives me concern. See if you can break your list into product categories so you can customize the message. That said, e-mail is the fastest, least-expensive method for communicating with large groups. Include some interesting content instead of a pure advertisement.

When asked what the attendance is, do I give them a straight answer or embellish? If the number is too low, how do you get around that question?
Honesty is the best policy. You have to face the music ¡ª they know the tune anyway. Look at how you'll improve the numbers for the next show if, in fact, pure numbers are what your exhibitor is looking for. Shows accelerate the selling process for your exhibitor. If establishing contact is your exhibitor's strongest need, then sell the numbers. But if building preference is where he needs help, talk to him about how your show can help in that area.

Why is it when marketing budgets are cut, trade shows are the first to go? How do we change that way of thinking? Why not cut direct mail or advertising?
First, unless you're tracking their exhibit schedule, be careful not to buy into this story. While trade shows offer lots of selling opportunity, the direct costs can be intimidating as compared with direct mail or advertising. As we discussed, however, nothing takes the place of face-to-face selling. Are they increasing their number of salespeople? Probably not. Sell the fact that shows give them an effective and efficient sales method.

My most common objection right now is, Why should I exhibit? No one's buying anything right now. What should I say?
Not everyone is not buying anything right now. Did they lose 100 percent of their business or does anything really mean 20 percent? Even if many people are holding back on spending, they may still be involved in the buying process ¡ª from consideration to decision.

How can I make my boss understand that I can't sell more booths this year?
Do a line-by-line audit of your clients and prospects. How much booth space did they take last year? What do you think you can do this year with each account? Do you have a 90 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent or no chance to close each account? Add your total 90 percents, 50 percents and so on. Take the document to management and discuss the numbers. Work together to come up with a sales plan and an honest forecast of what the market will yield this year.

Helen Berman can be reached at hberman@helenberman.com. This archived Webinar can be accessed from EXPO's Web site at www.expoweb.com.
 

Dig Deeper Into Booth Sales

WITH EXPO¡¯S NEXT WEBINAR SERIES:
Creating killer booth sales presentations June 2
Asking the questions that get exhibitors to 'yes' June 16
Managing exhibitor fear and resistance July 8