Trade show booths can act as an excellent source for generating sales enquiries in the short run. Companies are able to demonstrate their products or services and get instant enquiries at the booth which on timely follow up can result in sales. Some of the tips on how to maximize the benefits of a trade show booth as a sales tool are mentioned below:

1. On-Spot promotion schemes: This is an age old trick which works well at trade shows. Firstly it makes the visitor stop at your booth for more than a few seconds. Secondly, a structured promotion method quickly puts the visitor through the benefits of the products (obviously in an attractive fashion) and then a decision making opportunity is thrown at the visitor introducing them to on the spot interesting offers. Offers can range from products sold on the spot at attractive pricing, free gifts with purchases, extended time period of services, lifetime warranty and the like. The more innovative the offer, more the likelihood of success.

Assuming that the product and the promotion offering are attractive for the users, the on-spot promos can recover all costs of the trade show plus earn the company a healthy profit. Quick checks with the organizers need to be done before the event to ensure that onsite sales are permitted.

2. Get your customers to speak to the visitors: Admitted that this might be a bit tough to execute, but if you have a large enough trade show booth, then it might be an excellent idea to schedule live interaction sessions where you have satisfied customers promoting the product. This can have fantastic results in terms of sales enquiries generated at the event.

A well known software company promoted the client's company during a well known industry trade show and developed content to display on how their software solution helped the customer's business. This 'gimmick' got the visitors to stop and take a look and interested visitors did take a seat and sit through the entire presentation. Needless to say, there is no better sales tool than satisfied customers.

Should getting customers to the event not possible, you should try using client references on your display material for maximum impact. You would of course need to get permission from the clients to be able to put their names on to the display materials.

3. Free coffee anyone? : Some sales personnel might feel that giving away complimentary food and drink at a trade show booth is a waste of good money. They may very well be right. However, if you have a good prospect in front of you, the chances of stopping him a couple of minutes longer are increased with the opportunity of offering him a cup of steaming coffee.

Another strange thing that happens at stands offering complimentary food or drink is that there is usually some people standing around the booth making it look busy. You will be surprised how people get attracted by seeing a busy trade show booth. It has something to with the human perspective of being attracted to crowds but does work to your advantage in a busy trade show.

4. Focused communication: Various steps taken towards focused communication at a trade show booth can enhance the chances of on spot sales and generation of genuine sales enquiries. Though this is mentioned in detail in another article, printed hand outs should be of good quality and carry all information about your product or service in a cohesive fashion.

The fact that trade shows are effective can only be further confirmed by noting the increase in the number of trade shows in the past few years.

Patty Stripes is an editor for The Trade Show Booth, check out her latest articles about using a trade show exhibit booth, used trade show display and advantages of a compelling trade show booth design