David Lomas, CEO of M3 Media Group, explains how one exhibitor changed the way she spoke to visitors on her stand, and discovered the value of getting the next conversation into the diary.

David, you often say that exhibition success is about conversations. What do you mean?

Companies spend considerable amounts of money exhibiting, but sometimes very little time thinking about the conversations their people are going to have once somebody arrives on the stand.

I saw a great example of this with a lady working in compliance. She knew her subject extremely well, but like many technically knowledgeable people, the temptation was to start explaining what she did.

I suggested something different.

Instead of telling visitors about compliance, start by asking them a carefully crafted ‘thought leadership question’ that makes them think about a specific issue in their own business.

The objective wasn’t to sell anything there and then. It was to have an interesting conversation in order to justify a follow-up meeting.

What happened?

She followed the approach remarkably closely.

Rather than overwhelming visitors with technical information, she showed more interest in their businesses and their challenges. She asked questions, listened and identified where her expertise might be relevant.

Then, when there was genuine interest, she referred to some independent published content we had created around the particular subject. This provided her with a very natural next step:

“I’ve recently been interviewed about exactly this issue. Let me send you the article. It might give you food for thought.”

But here’s the important part.

She didn’t simply collect an email address and promise to send something. As part of my instruction, she put the follow-up meeting in the diary, there and then.

Three particularly good conversations on the stand resulted in three follow-up appointments being booked for the following morning.

And did those conversations produce business?

Absolutely. Those conversations ultimately contributed to around £17,000 of new business.

That’s why I use this example when talking to exhibitors. It wasn’t about having a clever sales pitch. It was about changing the purpose and focus of your conversation.

The published article provided added credibility and a catalyst to help the prospect on their journey to you. The real breakthrough was using a relevant question to start the conversation, then securing permission to continue it.

What should manufacturers take from this?

I’d ask any manufacturer preparing for an exhibition two questions:

What three questions are your people going to have ready on what I refer to as their ‘Mindshelf’ when a prospect approaches the stand?

And, critically…

How many worthwhile follow-up conversations will be in the diary before your team leaves the exhibition?

Because perhaps the most useful measure of exhibition success isn’t how many business cards you’ve collected. It’s how many good follow-up meetings there are in your diary.