I say to my kids “God gave you two ears and one mouth, use them in the right order!” My point to them is the most successful interaction occurs when it consists of 20% talking or questioning and 80% listening.
At an exhibition you really have limited time to talk to a client. You need to optimise your time to see and connect with as many current and potential clients as possible. This way you can maximise the opportunities you have created for yourself and make targeted sales or collect qualified leads. Questions are an important tool to qualify your customers but too many questions can become annoying and intrusive – you want the visitor to become part of an open dialogue.
It’s human nature that most people will do everything possible to avoid initial eye contact with a salesperson. The role of the stand and products (if staged effectively) are to break the ice and slow the pace of the visitor to enable you to engage with them – the salesperson then needs to capture their attention and qualify them.
So then it comes down to how you deal with the many visitors to your stand. Ask yourself: How much time do you spend with each person? How do you qualify them? Can you talk to more than one person at one time? How do you deal with unwanted visitors?
This month I look at the top five ways to deal with/manage visitors for exhibition success.
1. THE OPENING APPROACH
Ask some exploring questions to establish rapport.
First impressions create strong impressions. Your initial approach to a visitor should establish rapport and enable you to begin qualifying them. Match your approach to what the visitor is already doing:
• If the visitor is browsing you could greet them with "Are you enjoying the show?" followed by "Is there a particular product that interests you?"
• If they are already looking at one of your products, your approach could be "Do you know that the product also..."
Other general openers include:
• "What type of business are you in?"
• "What is your function in the organisation?"
• 'Whose products/services are you currently using?"
Investigate what their needs are.
This is where you probe and ask business specific questions; they need to be open ended such as who, what, where and when. You need to hold their attention and have questions up your sleeve. Here are some examples:
• "Tell me about your specific scenario"
• "What are your major criteria for buying?"
• "What features are you looking for?"
• "What is your time frame for making a decision?"
Closing questions.
This is important part of ensuring you get to see as many clients as possible, as well as set up the sale. These are some ideas that can be used:
• "Who else other than yourself is involved in the final decision process?"
• "When are you looking at making the decision; is there a time frame?"
• "Do you have any budget constraints?"
• "When would you like me to contact you or how would you propose we get started?"
2. CONTROLLING YOUR TIME
Time is a luxury that few exhibit staff have. You need to think in terms of minutes rather than how many hours the event is open for. Presentations can consume a lot of time and really you should aim for between 5-7 minutes at most. Use appropriate questions during the presentation to determine whether you're on the right track. Not all attendees will want to see a whole presentation.
One way of cutting to the point is to lead with a question such as "What are the key points you would like me to cover?" This also converts a passive conversation into one where they can start to contribute and it becomes interactive. Once the attendee becomes hooked into the presentation you have some guidelines to work with.
3. MULTIPLE VISITORS
Often you may be making a presentation to one visitor, while others hover nearby listening in. Acknowledge them and make them feel that they can listen in and are part of it. Simple eye contact may be enough to acknowledge their presence. You could ask the visitor "Would you mind if I explained this feature to our new arrivals" and then include them in the presentation.
4. ASKING A VISITOR TO WAIT
It may not be possible to include other visitors in your presentation. Yet someone may be waiting to speak to you and you don't want them to leave. The secret is to negotiate with both the waiting visitor and the one you're speaking with. One proven technique is to ask the person you're speaking with "Could you help me out? I'd like to let the other person know I will be available later to help". You then briefly speak to the waiting visitor. Ask them to wait or arrange a time when you speak to them.
5. DEALING WITH UNWANTED VISITORS
Not all visitors are leads you want. Sometimes unwanted visitors will hang around your stand or you might be subjected to the complaints of a disgruntled customer. It is important you have system in place to break from people like this. Practice a signal where a staff member will call you to a telephone call or into another conversation so you can excuse yourself. If there are other visitors waiting simply excuse yourself by saying "I think I've answered all your questions. I really should speak to such and such. They’ve been waiting for several minutes."
|
