Trade Fair Training

Structured conversations at trade fairs

Although companies spend enormous amounts of money on their trade fair stands, they tend to cut corners where the stand personnel is concerned. No participant in the Olympic Games would enter the competition without training/coaching, preparation and clearly defined goals. Sales staff are expected to perform excellently for a period of 3 to 7 days even though they are often given no training/coaching.

Surveys show that more than 50% of trade fair contacts are not established because the stand personnel has not been trained for this assignment. Only every fifth trade fair visitor feels that he has been helped properly. This means that only about 10% of trade fair contacts are effective. The biggest and best trade fair stand is of no use if the stand personnel does not do its job, because it is not up to the requirements.

Trade fairs are the best platform for companies to present themselves to the trade public, suppliers and competitors. The stand personnel has a key function in this context and decides whether the company's involvement in the fair is successful or whether the company was merely there. Conversations at trade fairs cannot be compared with routine sales talks. This means that sales staff need to be entirely focussed on their work and make visitors curious within the shortest possible time. Deployment at trade fairs is not sales personnel's normal job. It is not enough for them to gain experience at trade fairs that only take place once or twice a year.

Concerted training with practical exercises is the right way to participate in a trade fair successfully. The objective is to make stand personnel aware of how they can use the trade fair as an important sales instrument. The subjects include not only the strengthening of relationships to existing customers but also the use of trade fair contacts to obtain new customers. The focal points are how to establish contact properly, precise analysis of requirements, purposeful presentation, the arrangement of further activities and trade fair follow-up.

Take the opportunity of your trade fair involvement and the trade fair consulting services to maximise the benefits. Contact us.