In my tradeshow training programs, I’ve always encouraged my clients’ exhibiting team to be 100% scripted and 100% flexible when it comes to interacting with booth visitors. What I mean by this is, you need to know what questions to ask to get the end result. For example, if your goal for the show is to find out more about how the economy is affecting various projects your prospects or existing customers are working on, you need prepare the right questions to ask, to collect that information. However, I have always advocated that despite how prepared you are, you also extreme flexibility, because the trade show floor is very unpredictable. You can never foresee 100% what’s going to happen, as no two shows are identical.
This weekend I attended a very special program conducted by Eric Lofholm, sales trainer and script writing guru. Eric advocates the opposite philosophy. He believes that, with thought and pre-planning, you can anticipate almost all the situations and questions surrounding your prospects and customers. Eric teaches that script writing is the key to help get you through any good, bad, or ugly situation.
Until this weekend, scripts, for me, conjured up visions of those telemarketers, who love to call during dinner time, and robotically spew out their script, which, in your mind, you can see them reading. In other words, it was a totally negative exercise, which I’ve resisted like the plague. How wrong could I be? The Eric Lofholm system prescribes script preparation for every possible scenario. Then, when written, internalizing your words to the point where they become a totally natural part of your conversation. When you listen to the master exercising his skill, it’s totally mesmerizing and utterly believable. On the flight home from San Diego, my pen was flying across pages in my exercise book working on the numerous scripts I need.
Now, I realize that for many sales professionals, this concept isn’t new. They use scripts in their field selling all the time. However, does your exhibit team prepare scripts for the time on the show floor, or do they wing it? Because visitor interaction time is extremely limited, often 3-5 minutes, according to tradeshow research, sales reps need different scripts from the ones they use day-to-day. The question is, do they have them? If not, I highly recommend they do, especially if you want to maximize prospect time in the booth.
Oh, I forgot to mention that once your scripts are written, they’re done for life. Editing and adding to your script book (another of Eric’s recommendations), is always allowable.
Back in a couple of days. In the meantime, I’m busy writing my scripts.
Related Posts
Connect with Susan
Recent Comments
Another very valuable aspect is to coach the speak...
Yes, your display is important. It needs to look p...
Those are some very good tips. I think it's partic...
Take advantage of any opportunity to poll your mar...
Susan how would you suggest exhibitors use Polls a...
Midori Connolly on Prevent Virtual Event Nightmares: How Producers Prepare Speakers, Exhibitors & Attendees