I'm against the use of gimmees (freebies, give-aways, junk, etc) in trade show booths. If you don't start doing it, you'll never have to stop. Just like smoking cigarettes. Both can be bad for your health.
I've had a dozen conversations like this one, but it serves as a good example. I'd had a booth at several B2B trade shows where I was near the same printing company. During this one, they were giving away pads that looked like melon slices. At the top was printed "Honeydew List." They had stacks of other pads out on display, but this was the most popular by far. People were coming by and literally taking away half a dozen at a time, without asking or even being talked to by the booth staff. Word was getting around, apparently, as I heard people coming up the aisle saying, "Those honeydew lists are around here someplace." By the middle of the afternoon, those pads were all gone.
At the end of the day, I introduced myself to the manager of the print shop, who was supervising the booth.
"Wow," I said, "those honeydew lists were really popular."
"Yeah," she said, "we ran out around 2:30."
"So, how many leads did you get by giving them out?" She glanced at me while she was folding up the table cloth.
"I dunno. None, I guess."
"Well, how much did the pads cost you?"
"I dunno. We give them away all the time."
"How much business can you track back to them? I'm just curious – I run a marketing company."
"Uh. . . none, I guess. I mean, how are we supposed to know?"
Now, I'm all for giving back to your public. Make sure you give your customers (and maybe potential customers) a warm and fuzzy feeling. But remember: TORTHASBITTAP. The Only Reason To Have A Show Booth Is To Turn A Profit.
This was the same trade show where I had tropical fish shaped sippy cups from the dollar store on my table as a decoration. I had show zombies (bag people, booth moochers, whatever you want to call them) come up and steal them off my table. I started out with 5 in the morning, and had one when I packed up.
Giving away candy, or pens, or cups with your logo on them – any cheap gimmee – is going to cost you money, and never get you anything in return. If your company is selling multi-million dollar air scrubbing equipment, I can guarantee you no executive ever pulled a nineteen-cent pen out of his pocket, looked at the name on it, and buzzed his secretary to say "Get me XYZ Air on the phone – stat!"
So if you've remembered the name of this chapter, you can guess that I'm going to advocate breaking the hard and fast rule I set for you above. Don't give away cheap gimmees to all and sundry. If you give out gifts, make them high quality, and give them only to qualified individuals.
Look, I get it. Some shows are B2B, and others are B2C. If you want to pull a flock of consumers to your booth, you give away a popular freebie. Since many shows discourage making actual sales on the show floor, you're hoping to get these consumers to visit a store or other dealer to buy your actual products. Okay, those gimmees are understandable.
But here's my rule that doesn't get broken: nobody walks away from your booth with a gimmee without giving up contact info. This goes for everyone from a CEO down to a householder killing time by walking the aisles of a free trade show. They sign up for your email newsletter, your print newsletter, whatever. You get some kind of contact info before they get your twenty-dollars-per-gross logo'd pen.
Of course, the facetime at a trade show booth is for qualifying prospects. Once you find a big fish, you want to show them how much their time, attention – and business – means to you. That's when you pull out the quality gimmee. I can't set a dollar amount for you – it all depends on how much profit you might get from one sale. But if you're shaking hands with someone who might generate even a few thousand dollars worth of profit, a two dollar travel mug with your logo isn't going to cut it.
Trinkets from a show booth are gimmees. Sending someone a hundred dollar gift in the mail afterward is a bribe. Be prepared with quality gifts you can hand out at the booth. If you're thinking pens, don't give the cheapies. Get some nice ones, in presentation boxes, that you can hand out to the big fish. You might spend $30 apiece on these. But if you gave out $30 of cheapie pens, how much business would that generate? Would Harold Homeowner give you his contact info for a nineteen cent pen? How much is his info worth, anyway? (Nineteen cents, that's how much.)
And be prepared for the whales as well. You may carry a couple platinum gimmees to several trade shows before you give one out. These might be something you purchased ahead of time, but it's better if you get to know the whale, find out what their interests are first. If they like sports, call and get them tickets to their favorite team, or a tee time at a private club. If they like to discuss business over food, book an exclusive dinner at their preferred restaurant. If the like watches, get them one of their favorite brands, or at least a significant discount on one. And this is the hardest part: do it with no expectation of a sale. Show them you and your company care about having them as a contact with a quality gimmee.
So here's the take-away from this chapter: If you give out high quality gimmees at your show booth, you'll find yourself engaging with high quality prospects.
