You Know the Type

As we gear back up for tradeshow and conference season it is good to be prepared for the variety of challenges and experiences that come your way on the show floor. If you have spent any time staffing a booth you know that many attendees can be lumped into general "hard to deal with" groups. Below we list out some of the people you are likely to encounter and how best to turn around the experience and make it a positive one for both of you.[Tweet "You know the type... Which one is your favorite? #GovEventsBlog"]

• The one who never makes eye contact - some people are shy, introverted, and just not interested in making small talk. Valid reasons for someone to avoid interacting with you, but as an exhibitor you cannot write these folks off. Try to engage them in a way that is comfortable for them. Have some self-guided demos on hand so they can walk through them (alone) and hopefully afterward they will have some questions to engage you in conversation.

• The one attached to their phone - this may be a wide swath of people, but the challenge here is to get them engaged with you or your product rather than their phone. Do you have an app you could show them? If they download it you have earned a spot on some hot real estate for that potential customer.

• The swag grabber - this is the person whose eyes light up at the sight of a stressball. You can see them scanning your booth for the "goods."[Tweet "The person whose eyes light up at the sight of your booth swag. #GovEventsBlog"] It is easy to ignore these folks but they are at the event for a reason beyond swag. Perhaps they were sent by their boss - get them to talk about what they are looking for and give them some information you know will make them look good to their higher-ups.

• The runner - the person who is pacing the floor so fast you think about handing them a Dixie cup of water and a banana. The key here is to grab their attention and find out what they are looking for. If they are in a hurry they are probably there for a specific purpose - you may or may not fit into that purpose but you and they won't know that until you engage.

We'd love to hear your tactics on engaging and converting seemingly disinterested parties into potential customers. Share your thoughts in the comments.