It might seem that being an exhibitor at a trade show means that you will be sitting at your booth the entire time, hoping that passersby will stop by your booth to talk to you and that somehow, maybe, these brief and chance conversations and interactions will help build your business.

Seen in this light, it does seem wasteful to invest time, energy, and money into your next carpet cleaning exhibit. But seen from a different perspective, attending in and participating in trade shows like this can be as promising to the growth of your business as the organizers claim it to be. How so? Well, you have to understand that being an exhibitor means effective marketing, even if most of what you are doing is passive selling.

Here are a few tips that would hopefully help to draw crowds to your booth:

• Utilize social media

You can actually start ensuring people’s attendance to your exhibit, and begin driving traffic to your booth, way before the trade show exhibit even begins.  Social media is a great way to get people’s attention, to send out invitations, and to pass the word along. Hopefully, effectively utilizing the edge that social media can provide you will help to add more warm bodies flocking to your exhibit during the show itself.

Make those invitations as attractive an interesting as people. Are you going to demonstrate a unique way of cleaning a stain from carpets? Is there a new product or equipment you wish to market among potential consumers? Perhaps you can hold a contest of some sort, with a prize such as a free consultation or free carpet cleaning for a specific rug area as a prize.

• Make your booth or exhibit welcoming and visually interesting and appealing.

Having a booth at a carpet cleaning Salt Lake City UT trade show with nothing more than a few vacuum cleaners on display, and a table and chairs for people to sit, might not be the most welcoming atmosphere to draw guests in. They’re more likely to think that all they will get from a visit to your booth is a boring, sitting-down conversation where they would wish they can get up and leave before you have gone halfway through your written spiel. If you want to draw people to your exhibit and get them to stay, you’re going to have to do better than this.

Try staging a demonstration – perhaps ways and methods by which you clean different stains from different types of carpets. Make sure that you have publicized this demonstration, and given the date and time to make sure that people who are interested will appear. Try to market it as much as possible before the event itself to draw the appropriate target crowd.

Then make your booth welcoming and appealing to your potential audience. Provide adequate and comfortable seating, offer refreshments, even if it is just snacks like cookies and coffee or juice. Make sure there is enough space for your little demonstration, and most importantly, make sure that your speaker is engaging, knowledgeable, experienced, and will be offering invitations to the audience to talk shop with you if they liked your show.

Trade shows represent a magnificent opportunity for many people to build their business along with a wide range of potential growth lines. For those in the carpet cleaning industry, whether you are seeking to be recognized for a groundbreaking method, product, or development in the industry, seeking to build new partnerships or establish new clientele, or simply build a more impressive and recognizable brand, trade shows can present any growing business with wonderful growth and networking opportunities.

How can a trade show boost your business in more specific terms? Below are some of the ways by which a carpet cleaning show or convention can boost your business:

• Stay competitive by being updated on the developments in the field

It isn’t just networking with potential customers and clients, it’s also about building a network among those in the same industry as you are. You learn from the other fellow as much as they learn from you. As in the nature of any business, you try to make your company and the services you offer more unique and valuable than others, but perhaps you can also make valuable contacts with others in the industry, and establish partnerships or great sources of information and contacts.

And if there are any new developments that are quickly gaining ground within the industry, you would want to stay competitive, too. For instance, the environmentally friendly type of carpet cleaning services is fast gaining popularity among customers. In such a fast-growing trend, you don’t want to be left behind. What are others doing? What can you do that delivers the same environmentally friendly service while making your company unique among all the others? Trade shows are a wonderful arena to do your research on which growth opportunities you should move towards.

• Remember that the value of a trade show does not stop when the show ends

You might get new business during the show, or make wonderful contacts that promise to yield wonderful returns. Without these immediate advantages, it might be hard to justify to yourself the cost and energy you will be investing in being an exhibitor at a trade show.

But even if all you get is a potential client list, most of the benefits of a successful trade show lies in what you do afterwards. Will you follow up on leads? Will you make calls and cement agreements or potential contracts? If any lead seems open and favorable, how assertively will you follow up? If anyone wants a demonstration of your methods on their carpets, will you be willing to give it to them?

Most of these are work to be done after the event itself, and the carpet cleaning convention and trade show is merely the springboard or the starting point for whatever growth seems promising to your business.

• Don’t forget to build your brand

You will want to make a great first impression right from the very beginning, and you can do that best by building a recognizable brand, one that effectively stands for your company’s vision and goals, and one that potential customers will eventually remember and trace back to you. Don’t waste the opportunity to cultivate your reputation and brand during these events.

One way to measure the success of your exhibit at a conference or trade show is the network you leave with after the event. Are you richer in terms of the people and contacts that you know? One of the great things about carpet cleaning conferences and trade shows is that it brings together people with a common interest in the industry – whether they are offering their services, looking to hire a company’s service, looking to get a job, or even looking for a potential investment. You won’t get so many people sharing the same interests within the same room at any other time so that there is no better opportunity to expand your network.

But how do you network? In the babble of voices among attendees and exhibitors, how do you make your voice be heard, and find the spaces in between to make fruitful connections? A lot of it has to do with your own approach and attitude.

• Practice common courtesy

Yes, the business world is tough, and competitors are likely to be snapping at each other’s heels. But as the old saying goes, you get more flies with honey than with vinegar. Just because the competition is tough is no reason for you to lose your cool. Be kind, respectful, polite, and friendly. You’ll find that people are drawn to these universal values more than they are too pushy, aggressive and demanding people. In a way, the best approach is not to be too aggressive to get what you want.

Remember also that people will remember you – and it will either be as pushy and overbearing, or as professional and polite. What impression do you want to leave with people, whether competitors or potential clients?  What type of impression do you think will be most likely to have them returning your calls as you follow up with them after the event?

• Networking is about building relationships

Yet again another reason to remember to practice your social skills. After all, being at a trade show to build your network means that you are not there to sell your product or service. And these two goals each require a different approach.

You will want to introduce yourself and your business to people, showcase the unique services that you offer, make friends when the opportunity permits it, and if they become loyal customers of yours, they will serve you well in turn by passing on your company’s reputation to others.

• Don’t forget to follow up with your leads after the event

The potential that is built during a trade show or conference needs to be nurtured after the event itself. Don’t forget that you weren’t the only exhibitor there at the conference, and chances are good that other Utah carpet cleaning companies are giving you a good run for your money. If you want to draw in customers afterwards, what you do after the trade show or conference is critical.

But be mindful of your timing. It is more than likely that your competition will be just as assertive in following up with their leads afterwards, too. Try to find that opportunity when the potential customer is no longer deluged with follow-up emails, calls and texts by other carpet cleaning companies to make sure that your email or text is not drowned out by the crowd. It would also be good if you can personalize your follow-up emails to what you may remember of the concern that each person expressed during the show itself.

One of the most common challenges facing business startups, even in the carpet cleaning business, is breaking into the market. Thankfully, one great way you can help boost your startup is by participating in and attending, the next carpet convention and trade show.

This is a wonderful way not just for startups to grow their business, but also for more established Atlanta carpet cleaning companies to find new markets, new customers, and new clients. During a carpet cleaning convention or trade show, people and businesses interested in the carpet cleaning industry, whether as service providers, customers or clients, or distributors or agents, all come together to network, talk shop, learn more about the business, and hopefully, find new prospects and leads.

If you are exhibiting at the next carpet cleaning convention or trade show as a startup, you will want to make doubly sure that you present your business in the most attractive light possible. You will want to show both competence and professionalism, leverage whatever advantages you may have, whether in your training, your staff, methods, or equipment and products. Build your brand carefully and deliberately, and make that good first impression by planning carefully for your first carpet cleaning trade show. Don’t just throw stuff together, set up a table and sit and wait for customers. Chances are, they won’t come flocking around you. In the last convention we had pleasure exploring new methods of upholstery cleaning in Atlanta.

Make sure that you have read through the trade show’s guidelines and rules carefully, and take note of any technical restrictions, if there are any. You might also want to take the time to network around, see who the other exhibitors are, and try to learn as much from your competitors as you seek to dispense whatever expertise, training, and experience you do have to those who come and visit your display.

You might also want to hire a professional to prepare your signage. Get your best people to man your booth, and make sure to put on a friendly, professional and engaging manner, but without being too pushy. You never know who might come to trade shows like this one, and it just might be that your next big client is that person just making his way down the aisle to your booth. Don’t let him pass without some kind of acknowledgment. Get people’s numbers and contact information whenever possible, and be prepared to follow up with them later on. For now, just make sure that you do not let them go without an introduction to your business.

When you are starting out, you may not have the resources to attend all the major trade shows in the carpet cleaning industry, in the beginning, so you may want to do your research and pick the best option among the carpet cleaning conventions and trade shows coming up. Take your pick based on location, the prospective market and who are the competition that are attending, and your own level of readiness to showcase your business in the best possible light. Factor in the expenses of travel and setup, and you will certainly want to make the most of your exhibition by being as fully prepared and ready for business as possible.

As with most things, the success of your carpet cleaning booth in the next trade show exhibit will be directly dependent upon how much work you put into it. Attending these kinds of events is an excellent way to market your business, network with potential customers and personalities in the industry, stay on top of industry developments, and to put your best foot forward as your own unique brand.

In this article, we present a few tips and tricks for you to maximize the potential advantages you can get from being an exhibitor at the next carpet cleaning show or convention.

• First of all, define your goals

You won’t know how successful you have been at something unless you know what it is you are aiming for. So, take special care to define your goals long before the show. This way, you can plan your exhibit accordingly.

Do you want to drum up new business and introduce your company to the public? Do you want to introduce a new product or a new carpet cleaning method that will help leverage your business ahead of your competitors? Do you intend mainly to bring together and gather new prospects and leads?

Whatever your goal is, being as specific as possible is a great way to help plan and organize your exhibit way in advance, and is also the best way to evaluate how you’ve done.

• Freebies or giveaways can start the ball rolling

Chocolates, mints, a plastic bracelet, a pen, any type of giveaway will always draw some people to you who might otherwise only stick to the booths or products that they are familiar with. Offering people something for free is a great way to start a conversation, as it can put people at ease that they are getting something from you only for the exchange of an introduction, and a brief moment of their time.

• First impressions are everything

Unlike in social relationships, prospective customers likely won’t have the patience to sit awhile and take the time and the trouble to see whether you are worth their time. They’ll glance at you, perhaps return your greeting, and maybe listen to you for a minute or so. Within that small space of time, you must make the most of your first impression.  You will want to give them the impression of professionalism, friendliness, competence, and respectful attentiveness.

• Know your business

Any potential customers that do come your way will expect you to know your business inside and out, and that you will be able to answer any questions they might have quickly and knowledgeably. It is a great idea, therefore, to do your groundwork and research prior to the show. According to carpet cleaners in Huntsville – in an industry such as carpet cleaning, it is likely that prospective customers will want you to answer some specific questions based on the possibility that they might hire your services. They will ask you about different kinds of stains, carpets, cleaning methods, carpet surface areas, products used, and your rates. Knowing your business inside and out and being able to respond in a smart and engaging way might just cement that next contract for you.