Nine Ways Not To Greet Attendees

It is critical for your staff to create a welcome atmosphere that makes it appealing for attendees to want to stop by. What you don’t do can be as important as what you do.

  1. Don’t Sit. You give attendees the impression you don’t care or you’re lazy. Attendees won’t interrupt your private time, as they see it.
  2. Don’t Read. You aren’t able to make eye contact with attendees as they walk by your booth.
  3. Don’t Eat or Drink. It is just plain rude and messy. Potential customers are too polite to bother you when you’re eating.
  4. Don’t Ignore Attendees. If you’re busy when someone approaches, either acknowledge him/her or try to include him/her in your conversation. If you’re talking with a boothmate, break it off immediately.
  5. Don’t Talk on the Telephone. Why do you need a phone in your booth? Time on the phone is time away from potential prospects and tells everyone you have better things to do.
  6. Don’t Be a Border Guard. Don’t stand where you become a barricade or block the attendees’ view. Stand near the aisle and off to the side.
  7. Don’t Hand Out Literature Freely. Your catalogues and brochures end up in a bag with everyone else’s literature. Be discriminating in who gets literature. Better yet, mail them out to qualified prospects after the show.
  8. Don’t Underestimate Prospects. Get out of the habit of sizing up somebody simply by the way they look. Qualify them, don’t classify them.
  9. Don’t Cluster With Friends and Other Booth Personnel. Don’t be a “street gang.” Nobody will approach a group of strangers, it’s too intimidating. Be more approachable.