"What brought you to the show today?" and other missed opportunities

Cara and I took the kids to a home and garden- type expo thing today at the State Fairgrounds. We've always got some project either on our minds or in the works at our house. Right now we're in the doldrums of a landscaping project and thought we might get some good inspiration at the show.

I would guess there was maybe 100 vendors at the event. Everything from trex decking folks and gutter companies to cookware and household cleaner hawkers.  I have no idea how much they paid to be there, but the man hours alone to get the booths set up and occupied isn't cheap.

As I was walking into the show, I was very curious from a marketers perspective. The nice thing about a "home and garden" show, is you know that just about everyone who attends is a potential prospect. When you have a booth at the State Fair, that isn't necessarily the case- there's a lot of people just wandering and killing time. But at this kind of more niche event, people show up for a reason, right? In fact, people even paid $4 at the door to get in.

As a marketer, if you're one that sells something in this space, this type of show seems like a great opportunity to meet people, start a relationship, build value, maybe even book some appointments to bid some work or go over a product catalog.

Unfortunately, the usual rules applied at this show, much like others I've attended or been a participant in. Here they are based on observation:

1. Be sure to keep your smart phone on you and reply to text and phone calls immediately.
2. Taking a lunch break away from the exhibition floor is a no-no- better to eat your food in front of passersby at your booth.
3.Don't stand up- sitting is less threatening to people that are "just looking".
4.Don't try to sell anything. You are just here for "top of mind awareness" purposes.

Alright, so you get my sarcasm. Why pay for a booth if you're not going to try and engage people. Especially when you know they are there for a purpose. 


As we were leaving the show, it occurred to me, no one asked "what brought you to the show today?". A perfect conversation starter if I do say so myself. Sure, it might not be the Purple Power cleaner you're selling, but if you're the landscape architect, you just might get a response that leads to a new client conversation.