1. Be Honest/Real
People judge on first impressions and making eye contact and greeting someone who pauses in front of your table is crucial. Yes they may just carry on walking, but a proportion will stop and chat; you never know where that conversation could lead.
When you can’t find the detail of the information for what someone is asking for, it’s OK to say “let me get back to you”.
2. Be Comfortable
Wear clothes that are professional, suit you and you will be comfortable in all day (on your feet). I always take flats to walk to and from the expo – vital especially when setting up and/or breaking down. Yes I will often put on my heels before the doors open, but I know my flats are there if needed. There is nothing worse than being uncomfortable when you’re representing your business at a show.
3, Find Your Champions
We are very lucky in the North West to have https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-gallimore-fsbcheshire/
He’s someone that genuinely cares about you succeeding and will introduce you to people he thinks could help you on your journey as well as suggest business development opportunities for you to explore. It really does make a difference having a person like him who is there for you.
4. Watch Out For Predators
I was alerted to go over and keep a mutual contact safe from someone who was trying to sell them website skills. It was easy to spot the trend immediately: oh let’s have a look at your current site. Oh yes, see what you have – this should be here and this should be there and look at this website and when people come on your site, they just want to buy and go.
I stood and listened, then decided to cut to the chase: “How much do your websites cost?”
A bit of intro faff and bottom line pricing is £3,000.
“If you want an e-commerce site, then obviously it’s a lot more expensive”
#scamalert
For those of you who don’t know, adding a “plug in” for e-commerce usually is simply adding one of the standard shopping carts which you may be required to purchase (a one off fee, don’t be fooled into thinking you need to update this every year. Yes there will be updates, but these are usually supplied FOC as part of your purchase). Basically it’s a download and let the software install (while you go off and do something else) then basic configuration such as adding your payment provider information. It’s certainly not £5k worth of work!
5. Have Fun
Yes, an expo is an important business event; you’ve invested money to pay for the space and time in getting there and setting up but it’s also about showing you as a business owner as well as your services/product range.
As a visitor to an event, are you likely to want to speak with someone who either looks bored at their stand or when they speak with you (or even worse, keeps looking over your shoulder when they are speaking…). People are more likely to do business with people who have a sense of humour, so don’t be afraid of engaging with them as they walk past.
