I’m about to go check in to Dreamforce, one of the biggest tech conferences in the world. Since I usually spend the majority of my time on the Expo floor I’m also preparing myself to be accosted by the booth vendors who seemingly all think the goal of their time at the booth is to scan as many badges as possible in the shortest amount of time. I understand this approach from the “booth babes” who get hired by companies to attract guys to the booth but don’t actually work for the company and have no idea what the company actually sells. It’s unfortunately companies still use this approach but I get it and I can’t blame the women since they’re simply doing what they were hired to do.  What’s really unfortunate are the reps who represent their own company, take four days out of the the last two months of the year and treat their time at the booth or the event as a Marketing task, not a Sales event.

I went to Dreamforce a few years ago not only as a Partner but someone looking to invest in an LMS. I was an active buyer, had money to spend and wasn’t shy about telling people. What did I get when I walked up to EVERY SINGLE vendor who sold an LMS? “Hi, welcome to our booth, can I scan your name tag? Would you like to see a canned demo from one of our Solution Architects who will barely ask you a qualifying question? Make sure you put your card in the fishbowl for your chance to win an iPad. Thanks for coming by.”  I actually sat down and wrote a blog post in the middle of Dreamforce and titled it “Will Someone Please Close Me?”  It was and still is amazing to me how many Sales reps go through the motions at these types of events and think just because they stood on their feet for 8 hours and scanned 5,000 badges they accomplished something. Make no mistake about it, a trade show (especially Dreamforce) is a selling event, you just have to have the right approach and know what you’re trying to accomplish.

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your time at the booth or at Dreamforce.

1.      Develop your Attention Grabbers

And I don’t mean your Elevator Pitch that usually starts with “We’re the leading provider of…” and goes on for longer than I care to listen. I mean, what can you say in the first 5-15 seconds of the conversation to get me to say “What?” or “Tell me more.” A good Attention Grabber is usually one sentence, talks about results and is focused on the target’s role or industry.  One of mine is “I show my clients how to triple the results they get from their prospecting efforts immediately after my training session.” One of my clients said that about my training so I now use that to get the attention of new potential clients. An even better one I came up with a few years ago at my first Dreamforce was “I train Salesforce how to sell.”  What kind of response do you think I got every single time I used that one at Dreamforce?  Come up with 3-4 different Attention Grabbers you can use and see which ones get you the best response and get people engaged in a conversation with you.

2.      Have 2-3 quick qualifying questions

The vast majority of people who stop by your booth are not going to be decision makers and are probably “just looking.”  You need to develop 2-3 quick qualifying questions to find out whether or not they are active buyers and have any type of decision making authority or influence. After I use my Attention Grabber to get someone hooked I usually ask about their role in their company and if they are actively looking at whatever solution I have to offer.  If I determine they are “just looking” and not in any type of decision making role I tend to scan their badge, show them the canned demo and make sure they entered the raffle.  However, if I can determine that they’re actively looking for my kind of solution and they have influence in the buying process, I immediately try to pull them aside, away from the crowd to close them on a next step (see #3).

3.      Know what you’re selling

And I don’t mean your products or solutions. You can’t sell your solution in a 30 second pitch or 2 minute demo so stop trying.  You’re competing with thousands of other variables when trying to get the attention of someone who comes by your booth, not to mention the thousands of e-mails they’re going to get afterwards saying “It was great meeting you at Dreamforce.”  Instead of trying to sell your solutions, sell the next step in the process, sell time. Use your attention grabber to get (sell) an extra 2-3 minutes and then ask your questions to develop and understand interest. Once you’ve determined interest and authority you’re next steps should be to stop and schedule a follow up call next week. We all have our smartphones with us when at the booth or walking around. Use it.  Say something like “Instead of us diving into the details now, why don’t we schedule a follow up call to focus on your needs specifically outside of all the noise and confusion of Dreamforce. Do you have your phone with you?”       

4.      Set your goals

Last but not least, set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) and please don’t set a goal for how many badges you can scan. With points 1 and 3 above here are two SMART goals you can set for yourself:  1) I want to try 3 different Attention Grabbers and see which one gets me the most positive result, 2) I want to schedule 10 follow up calls with prospective clients next week.

Again, a trade show and more specifically Dreamforce is a selling event. Make the most out of it. Good luck and happy selling. I’ll see you on the floor.