Before you go to an exhibition it’s important to set your objectives and make some decisions about what you want to achieve while you are at the show. For some, it is all about sales, for others, it is about creating brand awareness. No matter the objective, set this out first before booking yourself into an exhibition.

Closing a sale is often one objective high on the agenda, especially if you have spent considerable time promoting your brand over the previous months and building its presence across a host of platforms. So, if this has become the prime objective that gauges the success of your attendance at a show, think carefully about how you are going to achieve it! Too much focus on one thing or not enough on another could hinder the chances of hitting that sales target.

Consider your stand design to generate maximum sales opportunities

The design of your exhibition stand needs to focus on the delivery of sales so giving your team and the event attendees sufficient space is paramount. At the same time, your stand design must be welcoming and engaging so that attendees want to visit it.

Sometimes, brand colours are more than enough but optimising the full capabilities of a display stand can encourage visitors to give it just enough of their time and attention for your team to be able to engage with them. A lightbox display, interactive screens and demonstration spaces are all worthwhile features to take into consideration. After all, you are wanting people to spend time with you and hopefully make a purchase or at least register an interest!

As there will no doubt be many other fantastic stands at the event, you will need to make it clear that a sales opportunity is there. Without that indicator, you may find many attendees seeing your stand as just a brand awareness exercise.

Think about ensuring your stand caters for the following:

  • How you want people to move around your display. Do they need time to browse before interacting with your team?
  • Do you need seating or a counter for the sales transaction to take place?
  • What technology or payment method is required to enable sales to be made?
  • How much space do you need to store products?
  • How will you display your products?

Once you have decided on your stand design you need to think about how you are going to attract and interact with visitors.

Closing sales at an event with the correct sales team

We have already touched upon some of the features you should incorporate into your stand above. In addition, you need to have the right staff on hand to answer questions and sell. You could have a fantastic team of telesales people, but can they transfer that skill to an event floor? Maybe you have some people that are great talkers but are not as strong at closing a sale or perhaps some have the confidence to demo a product to its best capabilities but just aren’t confident talking on a one-2-one basis.  Unfortunately, many companies often forget to get behind training staff for exhibitions and this can lead to lots of missed sales.

The best methods to close a sale at an event

So your exhibition stand is drawing interest, people seem to like your product and love the people behind the brand. All you need to do now is have them commit to a purchase. This can be hard but hopefully, the product itself has gone someway to giving those people confidence in what you have on offer. Undoubtedly whenever there is a financial agreement about to be signed there can be a degree of hesitancy but do not let this deter you. Sometimes, that is simply a play to see whether you can be open to a lower offer.

Below are 5 common methods of sale closing as a guide:

An adjournment close

An adjournment close is used when you can see that the interested party isn’t 100% sold on a purchase today. Instead give them what they want, more time. You can do this reassuringly by sympathising with their concerns. Think along the lines of:

“I totally understand, it is a big initial outlay and I wouldn’t want you to make a decision where you feel rushed. Let’s book a call for tomorrow and I can run through any finer details with you.”

An artisan close

This way to secure a sale plays upon just how much your product has received the premium focus from your team. In many cases, somebody interested in your product will buy into people and their efforts. Showcasing how much dedication and time has been put into making your product the best can go some way to securing a sale:

“Over the past 2 years, we have finessed this product to be the best of its type on the market. With a team purely employed to work maintaining and developing it, nobody else in the sector has dedicated so many people to one project.”

An Ask my manager close

This will be a common one across retail stores, hospitality venues and events. Each potential new customer wants a better deal. We can understand that. However, by instantly offering a discount or accepting an offer at a low rate, you may appear weak enough to accept further lowballing offers. Instead, show the customer that you are doing all you can for them. That you, personally are working hard for their benefit and not yours.

“Personally, I would love to say yes to being able to offer a discount like that, but unfortunately, I don’t have that authority. My manager though can, I will go and ask them if that is ok?”

You are then met with two possible outcomes, one where they ask if you can find out, or one where they accept the smaller discount you may have offered.

A needs close

In many cases, a product can tick a certain number of boxes for a customer but does it tick enough to secure a sale? By creating a list of their needs and running back through them with the customer you can confirm just how good a fit your brand is. Even where some needs may not be met, if the vast majority do, then you are in a strong position to close.

“So if we run through what you need, a mailshot service that can send messages to unlimited contacts, at specified times, relevant to the consumer’s interests with a reporting system that can be broken down monthly, weekly, daily or hourly? Well, we can do all of those.”

Cost saving close

Now, this could be everyone’s favourite as each business wants to protect its bottom line. In some instances, your product may have a more expensive initial cost but over time bring the consumer a huge saving compared to their competitor. Use this to your advantage if it is the case.

“Admittedly if you buy this today, it will cost approximately £150 more than the best competitor, however, we do not charge for tech support as they do. This means you can actually save £600 per year.”

Finalising the sale at an event

Once your team have executed the perfect sales technique you will want to make sure you can complete the sale. Ensure you have access to secure Wi-Fi to enable card payments and space to draw up any contracts and paperwork. Luckily with most processes being completed digitally, you should be able to do this with minimal concern. Just ensure you confirm details with your customer, so nothing is lost in transit!

In some cases, a lead may not convert to a sale very quickly so ensure you have a plan in place for converting event leads to sales this way you can follow up when necessary and help the movement through the sales funnel progress.

If you require help with designing a stand with the right flow to achieve success contact us today, our team can operate as designers as well as exhibition stand builders so we can help you achieve your event goals no matter what they are.