Remember those school exercises that started "Compare and contrast....yada yada yada". Well, here's an exercise to get your sales brains moving.

There are major differences between how you sell in a Regular Sales Call versus at a Trade Show. In other words, just because you can sell well, doesn't mean you can sell well in the trade show environment.

I've identified five major areas which cause concern for professional sales staff who have booth duty. This has nothing to do with the ability of the sales person, only that they often have to do a 180 to accommodate their concerns.

Above all this - note that many trade shows are not hard sell arenas but are marketing venues. If you make a sale, it's probably because of hard work before the show. The purpose of a show is to advance the sales process, so plan where the show fits into your sales cycle, and pass these tips along to your sales staff.

Face-to-Face Time

Regular Sales Call -
You set the schedule. You and the prospect determine the time necessary for you to explain and/or sell. It may be 30 minutes, an hour, a half-day or more, but you have control of the presentation.

Trade Show -
Unless you've made appointments prior to the show, or the prospect puts you on its short list of exhibits to visit, you're lucky to get three minutes on the show floor. Why? Time is short, and you're either an unknown or well-known.

Location

Regular Sales Call -
You may be lucky and have the prospect in your office or factory. Or, you're on his turf. Or in a favorite restaurant. In any case, it's a familiar surrounding and you feel comfortable.

Trade Show -
Now you're on neutral turf. You have your company's image around you - name badges, signs, brochures, handouts, give-aways, etc. Should be good news - you're in control. Until the visitor leaves your booth and walks over to your competitor. (Remember, that's the essence of a trade show - competitors coming together to build an industry.)

Who Initiates Contact?

Regular Sales Call -
Generally, you make the first contact, so you know the prospect's major details - name, address, how you can solve his problem, time frame for the sale - maybe you've even toted up your commission. And if the prospects calls you first? Great, the sales cycle is moved along even faster.

Trade Show -
Oops, here comes a stranger. With a name you don't know, a company you've probably never heard of - or if you have, probably not that department. Now your people skills come into play. It's faster and more professional than a cocktail party, more demanding than an interview and more tiring because you repeat it all day.

Prospect Information

Regular Sales Call -
In today's fast changing sales environment, you have good intelligence about your prospect. You can use the buzzwords - enterprise, cybercorp, partnering - and you can probably adapt your sales competencies to the prospect's requirements.

Trade Show -
Remember, unless you've set up appointments with prospects or clients, you've probably got a stranger standing in front of you. Now, not only your sales competencies come into play but your knowledge and understanding of your industry and marketplace are challenged.

Time and Money

Regular Sales Call -
The internet has allowed companies to reduce drastically the initial intelligence gathering costs and time frame. Make sales proactive, not reactive. It still costs money. It still takes time. And it's still face-to-face.

Trade Show -
The key is follow-up. You can't swipe a card, shake a hand and wait for the prospect to call. People attend shows because they're in the same industry as you, and stopped at your exhibit because they're interested in your product. Trade shows advance the sales cycle. This is a great opportunity - don't blow it!

When you understand that you make a 180 from your regular job and comfort zone. then you will be more effective at trade shows.

Julia O'Connor - Speaker, Author, Consultant - writes about practical aspects of trade shows. As president of Trade Show Training, inc,, now celebrating its 10th year, she works with companies in a variety of industries to improve their bottom line and marketing opportunities at trade shows.

Julia is an expert in the psychology of the trade show environment, and uses this expertise in sales training and management seminars.

RELATED ARTICLES 7 Pitfalls of Using Email to Sell * Are you sending e-mails to prospects instead of calling them?* Is e-mail your selling medium of choice because it lets you avoid the rejection that you dread when you make real cold calls?* Do you wait and wait for return e-mails from prospects that will give you the green light to move the sales process forward?Sad but true, these days most people who sell for a living spend 80% of their time trying to communicate with prospects via e-mail instead of actually picking up the phone and speaking with them. Are you one of those people? If so, you aren't alone. Buying Mortgage Leads - Three Things to Consider The time comes for all mortgage brokers and loan officers to consider spending some of their hard earned money by testing the waters of mortgage leads.After all, leads are the name of the game. Make Your Trade Show Booth Popular So, you are taking your products and heading to a trade show, but this year you want to make your trade show booth popular in order to garner more business and have no idea how to do it. Actually, it really is quite simple to make a popular trade show booth as long as you put forth the effort. Why I Hate (Most) Benefit Statements Benefits are what motivate people to purchase from you, right? Not exactly. Just last week I was reviewing a rundown of product benefits with a client who is putting a new prospecting program together. Customer Service Revival Value is in the Eye of the BeholderSales today is filled with stereotypes. The "sleazy car salesman", the "annoying telemarketer", and the ever-present "pushy commission salesman". Are You Selling What They Want To Buy? Is It An Appropriate Solution? Let me tell you about my friend Peter who has four children. With a family of six, he finds buying cars rather trying. When the Nose of the Camel is in the Tent My new job was to sell Commercial Service Agreements. It was a fine company. The Benefits of Buying Used Store Fixtures The difference between antique or vintage store fixtures and used store fixtures is simple: antique fixtures have a classic look and style. In many cases they are brand new but manufactured in a style of the past such as deco or minimalist. Your Clients Buying What Youre Selling Linda felt like she had reached a plateau in her cleaning business. For the past 3 years, she'd run the same ads in the same publications with the same results. Picture Yourself a Winner In the work place, the amount of good things that happen to a person during the day far out number the amount of bad things that happen, so why do we spend so much time stressing over the bad things when we should be smiling about the good things.One reason being, when something bad happens, such as being berated by a customer, it shakes us up a little bit, maybe our pride has been touched up a little. 101 Ways to Improve Your Direct Mail Response 1.� Mail to your customers more often. Future Business Key Element In Sales A challenge facing many businesses is how to maintain a constant stream of customers in order to provide a regular cash flow.One method is to choose a location that ensures a steady flow of traffic past the door, creating a constant awareness of the business. Are You REALLY Listening? Being a good listener requires more than just keeping quiet while the other person is talking. Do you hear everything that is being said? Do you understand it completely?Here are some tips on how to become a more effective listener:FOCUS in on the basic message. Whats So Special About You? Defining Your USP Your prospect is in the market for a widget, just like the one you sell. She surfs over to Google (or picks up her Yellow Pages) and looks up "widgets. Do You Have Enough Prospects To Make Your Numbers? Several years ago I worked with a CPA who wanted 20 new clients. We came up with a great direct marketing campaign that brought in 10 leads per 1,000 letters. A Look at Store Fixture Parts Products for sale need to be displayed in a manner which best presents them in the customers' eyes. For example, clothing needs to be folded on shelves, hung from racks or displayed on mannequins. Selling Services Selling a service isn't the same as selling a product. Your prospect is buying an intangible. The Trusted Advisor Relationship: What Is It, and What Should It Be? For the past months, maybe a year, I've been hearing sales groups talk about the need to become Trusted Advisors (I'll call them TAs). I suspect that the problems cropping up in the sales arena these days - the increased length of the sales cycle, the increased levels of competition - are leading sales management to base their initiatives on being of true service to prospects, as a way to seem different from the competition. Create a Magic Connection with Clients, Leads, and Business Associates Part II Part I of this article explored how strategies of Neuro-Linguistic Programing (NLP) can be used to gain instant rapport with clients, leads, and business associates, and more specifically, how to use physiology, matching and mirroring, to create instant magic communications.Now, how can tonality and words establish rapport?TONALITYWhile physiology accounts for 55% of communication among humans, tonality accounts for 38%. A Pause For Thought You can have your cake and eat it.What is it that makes the sale of information products so appealing?Is it the fact that the only storage space required is a minute spot on your computer's hard disc.