For those in health care marketing, we are fast approaching the trade show season.  This is a great time to network, catch-up with clients and friends, and learn about new services and technologies emerging in the industry.  It is also the time to begin stressing out about getting your information to prospective clients and how you are going to avoid the annoying sales rep in the booth next to you.  With all of this in mind, here are a few thoughts I would like to share:

·         Tradeshows should be FUN.  No one is interested in listening to the teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off lecture about cost savings measures or a new software program.  You need to spice up your presentation and make it interactive if possible.  Humans are social animals that like to interact – and if you are in marketing and/or sales and this is not the case, I suggest you look at a different career – and forge social bonds and relationships.  This is how most sales are completed, but if your product is so awesome it doesn’t matter who is selling it, feel free to act like this guy.

·         There is nothing wrong with passing by a sales booth if you are not interested in the product or service.  Granted, you may not really know much about it, but if you know you will not be buying anything or don’t have enough pull in your company to take the information back and present it to someone, keep walking.  The vendors at tradeshows pay a ton of money to rent a booth, and that number doesn’t even reflect the time and money invested in preparing for the event.  The worst thing you can do is take up the vendor’s time if you have no interest in the product.  That time could be spent by the vendor meeting with a potential client who does need information or a question answered.

·         Swag!  Some think trade shows and conventions exist solely for this purpose.  While most people enjoy a gift, try to think of the consumer when putting your giveaways together.  Unless you are paying them, most people don’t want to feel like NASCAR drivers with logos plastered on every inch of their being.  Everybody likes a pen, but it is just going to get thrown in the holder with all of the others unless you hand out interesting designs.  Other office supplies such as mouse pads and thumb drives better have something entertaining on them.  Think about what you would like, and actually use, not necessarily making your logo the centerpiece.  Or you can just steal an idea from here.

·          Speaking of vendor swag, it is not o.k. to take some from another vendor.  If you have struck up a conversation or two and have something of equal value, you can ask to make a trade.  And it is definitely not cool to enter into another vendor’s prize drawing or money give-away.  True story: at a convention last year, our firm had a money booth – the kind that looks like an old telephone booth with money flying around.  A vendor asked if he could take a turn in the booth and grab our cash.  While I would have loaded the slot with the tiny glitter that sticks to everything, alas the person operating it that day is nicer than I am and politely said “no”.

·         It can be a long day for a vendor working a convention.  Remember, they are there hours before and after the attendees to set up the booth and tear it down.  Getting to know your booth-mates can make the day go faster and possibly open up opportunities to new clients.  However, it is not cool to walk behind someone else’s booth without being invited.  And whatever you do, don’t interrupt when they are talking with someone. 

·         Don’t take it personally if your booth is slow.  There are a lot of reasons why this could be, so try to look at the problem from the view of the attendee.  Is your information confusing? Are you giving off negative vibes through poor body language?  Are you offering a service or product that doesn’t fit with the trade show or convention?  Whatever the case, try to figure out the reason from the perspective of the person who you are trying to sell to, as this will save you hours of self-doubt and probably a lot of money.