I do get into the spirit of a trade show; I enjoy playing to the crowd and that is just the kind of guy I am but as I don’t have the looks of Angelina Jolie nor the box office draw of George Clooney, I find that I have to attract my audience in other ways.

Sales people are the same no matter where you go – they play to their audiences even if the audience is made up of just one individual.

The trick is to find an audience and this is where I use my giveaways.

I tie receiving my promotional gift into a product display presentation; my audience wants my gift they have to put up with my performance and that means watching how my product or service works in practice; sitting through the presentation on how my company can solve prospect’s problems and satisfy their needs and desires.

It’s a quid pro quo – a straight forward exchange and it has never failed to get me an audience.

This just serves to underline what your giveaways are there for; they are not there to reward nothing; they are not a gift for attendees simply turning up to the show or your booth – they are there to get you noticed and get you business.

Never forget that!

I make sure that product and service trade show displays are strictly scheduled within the exhibition timetable we establish for our shows.  We also make sure that this timetable is communicated to prospects and customers as part of our show preparation and also to the event managers for communication to their attendee and exhibitor database and on the day we ensure the timetable for product ad service displays is prominently displayed.

We also make sure that everyone knows they get a freebie if they come along for the presentation.

It works every time no matter what the gift.