The actual trade show exhibits that you take to an event are essential, but they’re not the only important things to consider. Before you pack everything up to ship your entire display to the venue, you should fully plan out your presentation. Knowing what message you want to convey and practicing that pitch until it’s perfect are ways to help ensure success. Lastly, make sure that you let attendees know when you’re doing your sales presentation by announcing it via social medial channels like Twitter or Facebook.

Know What Message Your Trade Show Stand Should Convey

If you’re planning on attending an event, it’s important to know what message your trade show stand conveys and tailor your presentations accordingly. Does your exhibit portray your company as a high-energy industry leader? If so, then you’ll need to adjust the energy level of your presentation. A dull, boring presentation won’t further your image of being an exciting industry leader and could harm your reputation.

Practice Your Pitch

You know the joke, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer is simple and you can use it to perfect the pitch of your trade show displays — practice! While some coworkers might feel a little silly doing role playing exercises, these exercises are some of the best ways to know how to deal with customers in a variety of situations.

Many companies make the mistake of not practicing until the night before the event. They think a quick run down will be sufficient enough, however this is a recipe for disaster. Instead, gather everyone around your trade show exhibits when you’re still at the office and have an ongoing training session in the few weeks leading up to the event. Doing this will help ensure that you won’t be at a loss for words when you’re standing in front of your trade show stand with a real life customer.

Promote Your Presentations Using Social Media

Lastly, your presentations won’t be effective if no one knows about them! If you’re planning a presentation at a specific time, use Twitter to let your customers know about it. Consider having a contest or sponsoring a giveaway to encourage customers to follow your company on Twitter or Facebook, however, that’s not enough! Nothing gives a worse impression than an unattended social media account so make sure someone in your office is designated as your ‘social media guru’ and that this person tends to the account at least once a day. If your page is full of customer questions and comments that go unanswered for days at a time, your customers might just wonder what else you’re neglecting.

Simply showing up at an event with your trade show displays isn’t enough if you want to make a big impact at the event. Instead, use these tips to prepare for your presentation. A killer pitch can mean the difference between making a sale and leaving empty handed.