16 Ways to Better Prepare for
Trade Shows

Trade show, my oh my, it’s a big ticket price and takes SO MUCH prep. We’ve put together this list of ways you might not have thought of to help you prep better and convert more of your target retailers at Expo West (or any other trade show).

Good luck and see you there!

The Sales Workflow You Might Not Realize to Set Up

1. Getting On-Site Sample Orders

Most people are flying in to attend the show, so if your product is liquid, refrigerated/frozen, in glass packaging, or not an instant consumable, people may be hesitant or unable to take a sample with them. For these instances, be sure to mark “SAMPLE” on their business card so you ship that out immediately after the show (bonus points if you write down the specific flavors they liked!).

OR an even easier approach is to post a sign with a “Request a Sample” QR code that directs attendees to a landing page where they can input their info (name, company, position, email) to request for samples to be sent to them post-show. Then you get the chance to email those people to follow up and get their address!

Both of these options provide a second touch point for you and an opportunity to impress (again) with a nicely curated sample kit!

2. Prepping for Follow Ups

Put together your follow up email sequence now. Then automate it with a tool like Symbo.ai. Try something like:

7 Days after Expo West: Email 1 & LinkedIn Connection
12 Days after Expo: Email 2 & Call 1
17 Days after Expo: Email 3 & Call 2
24 Days after Expo: Email 4

When you’re at the show, try and record one “connection point” that you can lead with in your follow up email.

3. Prioritizing Follow Ups

You may think that there’s no way you could possibly forget the details of an amazing interaction with a prospective buyer or vendor partner, but after a grueling three days of non-stop pitching, your brain will be fried and your memory a little less reliable than usual. In order to filter the dozens of business cards you’ll receive so that you can prioritize your follow ups after the show, write a quick label directly on the card as soon as you receive it.

Write one of the bolded words below on business cards for easy sorting:

• Green: Sales - High potential of conversion or target retailer/distributor
• Yellow: Sales - Potential of conversion, worth a follow up
• Red: Sales - Low potential of conversion or not a fit
• Orange: Operations (Copackers, Freight, Ingredient Suppliers, Certifications, etc)
• Blue: Marketing (branding agencies, influencer platforms, swag vendors, etc)
• Pink: Influencers, content creators, bloggers, and registered dieticians
• For the miscellaneous cards, like deduction management software, that don’t quite fall into any of the categories above, jot down the name of your team member who would be responsible for following up with the lead.

Trust us, organizing your leads now will save your brain after the show. 

The Relationship Building Work You Might Not Have Thought About

4. The “Are You Attending, Would Love to Connect” Email

If you’re exhibiting or even walking the show, send an announcement email to all of your current sales and vendor partners, as well as retail prospects to see if they’ll be in attendance. Tell them your booth number and which hall it’s located in & invite them to stop by the booth to connect or to pre-schedule a meeting with you for during the show.

5. To Save Your Swag (and Budget)

Avoid having all of your branded swag visible to the public. For one, New Hope sells a sponsorship to have your logo on their show bags so other tote bags are “technically” banned (not really, no one will say anything as long as you don’t have your bags on display - swag is swag). And two, the show (especially at the end of the day/week) will be full of people just looking for any and all free stuff, and we all know how expensive swag is. We recommend having swag organized (by shirt type for example) for quick and easy grab and go.

6. Your New Elevator Pitch Script

How to prep your elevator pitch so you don’t just babble on when David Sandusky comes by your booth. 

The Yes/No Qualifier: We have X flavors of our amazing [your product]. Want to try? Which flavor sounds most irresistible to test first?

The Product One Liner: We’re [your product] for [your customer base] looking for [whatever makes your product stand out, what your customer base is looking for].

What You Might Not Have Realized About Your Sell Sheet 

6. The Right Email Address

Never, ever, ever have your personal email on a sell sheet or hand out. You will get added to a million and one spam, i mean “newsletter”, email lists. Always have a generic hello@ or info@ email listed instead.

For buyers you want to connect with, you’ll then staple your business card to the sell sheet so they do have your direct info. For influencers/dieticians/service providers (70% of your traffic), they can have the generic email listed on your sell sheet/hand out!

The Business Card Hacks You’ve Never Heard Of 

7. The One White Side 

Make at least one side of your business cards white because EVERY buyer or distributor will want to write quick notes on it and they can’t do that if the card is too dark.

8. The Business Card No No

Never just take a pic of someone’s badge if it’s not scanning. Also never let anyone say “oh I’m out of business cards, let me just take yours”. You have no usable info for follow up from either of those. Either take a pic of their “last” business card or write down their info on sticky notes and put it in a business card bag for safe keeping.

Or use LinkedIn to Save the Day. Use the LinkedIn app QR code to connect, or print out a scannable LinkedIn QR code and add it to your booth.

The Special Samples for Those VIP Dream Buyers 

10. VIP Swag Bags

Have approximately 10 pre-made “swag bags” with 1 sample of each flavor, your sell sheet with a business card stapled to it, and any additional collateral or branded swag you have so those are easy to grab to give to those very, very VIP buyers.

The Packing List You Might Not Have Thought Of

11. Save the Day Cleaning Supplies

• Paper Towels
• Clorox Wipes
• Small trash bags 
• Tide Pens (trust us, you’ll be a hero for the buyer that spills on his white shirt) 

12. Get Deals Done Office Supplies

• Acrylic business card holder Acrylic sell sheet holder (keeps the sampling counter clean)
• Mini Stapler and Extra Staples
• Fine point black sharpies (to prevent any smearing when writing on business cards - bring lots, these will get stolen)
• Large Black Sharpies (for writing on boxes + etc when packing)
• Handful of ziplock baggies for anything from business cards to extra screws 
• Post It Notes (people always ask if you have something to jot down a quick note on)
• Business Card and Print Collateral Zipper Pouches - these are amazing: https://a.co/d/60keEDv 

13. To Keep It Electric

• Small power strip (nothing worse than a dead laptop and an outlet buried behind your backdrop)
• Portable battery charger + extra charging cable for Android and iPhone (be a hero to a buyer or your own hero) 

14. For Building the Empire

• Box Cutter or Scissors
• Zip Ties (endlessly handy)
• Packing tape
• White gaffer tape (for any pesky corners of your booth carpet that just won’t stay down)  

15. For Your Own Sanity

• Mints
• Pepto Bismal (enjoy endless samples and avoid an upset tummy - win win)
• First Aid Kit (I like to add Moleskin padding to mine to protect my heels while I’m walking all of the halls!)
• Hand Sanitizer (stash a few around the booth and upfront for those taking samples)
• Bottled water (don’t just bring an empty bottle, you won’t have as much time to run out as you think) 

16. The Branded Assets to NOT Forget

• **DON’T FORGET YOUR BUSINESS CARDS, YOU’D BE AMAZED AT HOW MANY DO!
• Sell Sheets
• Trifolds/Informational handouts for the many dietitians and social influencers 
• Coupons for the thirsty people wanting samples
• Swag
• Sampling cups and gloves