Walk Like a Politician: Trade Show Edition

Like all of us, I have politics on the brain—my text messages

and spam calls have been reminding me about the election for weeks! However, we can learn a few valuable lessons from politicians, which apply to trade shows and conferences. 

Yes, it’s trade show and conference season. While some folks are busy counting down the days to Christmas, others are looking down the road and realizing the NAED Eastern meeting is coming up in January. It is not advisable to do all your holiday shopping on December 24, just as waiting until early January to prepare for the upcoming conference is unwise.

Let’s discuss the best practices for trade shows and conferences so you aren’t doing the last-minute scramble. 

Job 1: Plan and Strategize

Job 2: Network and Take Notes

Job 3: Follow up

Job 4: Debrief your team

Start planning early. Your conference is in January, in this example, so you had better start planning in October or early November. 90 working days before the event is the ideal time to start. You and your team are attending, and everyone is registered. Now what?

Strategize. What message do you want to convey? Which customers would you like to meet? Are there specific objectives for specific customers, or is there a general action item, such as a new product launch or the introduction of a new team member to introduce? 

Either way, assign a point person to start scheduling meetings. This guy or gal will respond to meeting requests, but also handle outreach and scheduling. Take time to go through the list of attendees. Who are your top wish list targets? Reach out to them first so you can accommodate their schedules. Can’t get on their dance card? Arrange to meet them during a networking session, or before or after the official meetings. Ten minutes will at least get the conversation started and you will, of course, follow up later.

A word about the networking sessions. This is where you make like your favorite politician, shake hands, and kiss babies—with intent. Work the room, deliberately, starting at the 12:00 position, and make your way clockwise around the room, then down the center. It is ok if you prefer a different approach. The key message is to cover the entire room, greeting those you know, introducing yourself, or being introduced to those you don’t know. What you won’t do is hang out with your buddies, hang out at the bar, or act like a wallflower and look at your watch waiting for dinner. Speaking of dinner, this is a great opportunity to invite a customer or another person you’d like to know better. It could be a consultant, a guest speaker, or a non-competitive colleague. Plan accordingly. 

Plans should be confirmed with all attendees to message on point. Did you have a re-organization? Everyone attending should know how to handle questions, especially about who is now responsible for what. Even if you don’t have any major events, you should have key takeaways you want your customers to remember. Have a prep session before the meeting and an elevator pitch for everyone on the team.

Take notes during meetings and make notes after the casual meetups at the bar. Use the note app on your phone, every brand has one. No matter how smart you are or how good your memory is, you don’t want to drop the ball on any promises made.

Those notes are key to your follow-up strategy. The conferences get the conversation started, but the follow-up after is where the real work begins. At the bare minimum, connect on LinkedIn if you haven’t already, and you send an email thanking the person for meeting with you. If you promised to send a brochure, a website link, or a sample, DO IT. Your reputation as a professional with a high say/do ratio will follow you throughout your career. Never forget a promise and if you cannot keep it, communicate with the customer, and tell them why. 

It’s also a good idea to debrief internally. What went well? What could have made the event more productive? Discuss objectively and learn so you will be even better the next time. Your company invested a lot of money in sending you, so let them know what you learned, who you met, the next steps, and if you uncovered any opportunities. Even gathering competitive intelligence is worthwhile. Share it with the team so everyone knows you spent your time wisely. This is also a chance for your team to learn what you learned.

Lastly, if you could not meet with everyone you wanted, contact them and ask for time on their schedule after the event. It will be more productive than being squeezed in between other commitments. 

While we will all be glad to have election ads and outlandish claims behind us, we CAN learn a few good lessons from those professional politicians. Plan your message and your meetings, work the crowd, and follow up promptly. Unlike campaign promises, you will keep yours. That way, you’ll win the vote for “most likely to succeed.”

Desirée Grace is a coach, advisor, consultant, and mentor with 30+ years as a senior leader in the electrical distribution and manufacturing sectors. She builds brands, grows revenue and motivates teams, facilitates strategy and execution, and offers special expertise in helping offshore companies enter the North American market. An experienced professional who enables win-win outcomes for organizations and their partners, find her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/desireecgrace.

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