My career just had another milestone: presenting at NRF in our booth. For those who get lost in alphabet soup, NRF is National Retail Federation, and the show is _the_ event in Retail systems. Everyone who is anyone is there, and leads generated at NRF help kickstart ( or start to sink ) the year. This year, I was one of the sales engineers who met with our prospects and customers, and was on hand to give a demo or answer a question for anyone who walked by; I was, in a word, busy.
Now every industry is different, but most have some concept of a trade show, and the little lessons I learned at NRF can help the next wave of sales engineers who are getting ready to go to their first show, or give a comparison list to those who are veterans.
1. Bring supportive and comfortable shoes. I went with my standard "dress shoe" that I wear to meetings, and within a few hours was in a fair amount of pain. Next time: new shoes ( broken in a bit before ) with an extra layer of supporting gel!
2. Bring your own water. Since I was tied to the booth for duties, I couldn't break away to hydrate. And I was talking, a lot. The net result was that I had to ask friends who were heading off to other booths to bring me back water. By day two, I had figured it out and was brining my own water and tucking it away, but wish I had done it from the beginning.
3. Bring your extra power strip and extra charging cables. With all the craziness and commotion of the show, it was inevitable that someone would forget a cable, or that an outlet would be full and power still wanting. Having some extra cables ( iOS chargers, USB chargers, etc. ) can go a long way to helping the team move forward.
4. After every meeting, make a note. After the show, management is going to want to know "Who did you talk to." Suddenly you will find that all you can remember is a massive blur of activity and no details. To avoid this, make a note after each little meeting, even if it is just on a notebook or in a note app on your phone. I also saw lots of people taking pictures of business cards next to product, which was a great way to associate who the card was with what they were talking about.
5. Obey the marketing rules. At a show, there will be investors and press; your marketing department may have specific people designated to talk with them. But in the commotion, you could find that you are being asked questions by the press or investors, and the answer that you give off the cuff could have serious consequences for your company, your stock price, and your career. If someone is designated to be the "face", lead the press and investors to them, or ask them to come back later!
6. Take care of yourself. Make sure you are eating as appropriate for you; if you need to get away to get a bite, have someone cover you. Get as much sleep as you can. Avoid drinking to excess or at all. Common sense, but as always needs to be called out.
7. Have fun. As busy as I was, I was loving every minute of it. I made sure to take some time to get out and walk the floor and see our competitors and partners, and to just get of sense of how our booth was compared to others.
8. Try out new material. You will be giving a lot of demos, and the people you are giving them to are less likely to remember every detail, so this is great time to try a new presentation trick, or see if your theory that explaining the product in a new way works, or to just get creative. In a few hours, I gave the same demo 20 times over, and had a great reworked demo by the time I left.
So if you are getting ready for your own trade show, remember this: it is just like a sales call, except extended over several days. The same rules apply ( dress up, game face on, positivity ), except it is a marathon. If you prepare for it properly, you will thrive!
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