Breaking Down the Defences at a Trade Show
I was attending a trade show last week in San Jose. Trade shows are great places to meet qualified buyers for your product. While on booth duty I was observing the interactions of different booth staff and potential customer that approached the booths. I noticed when people ask the potential customer directly the question ‘can I help you’ the prospect’s defences come up and they usually reply with ‘i am just looking’. I usually have the same defensive reaction when I am shopping for clothes. If I am approached directly I will always tell the sales rep that I am just looking even if I want to purchase something. This is an automatic defence mechanism. The reason for this is people fear being sold to. I noticed that the most successful people at the trade show start off with a joke or comment which lowers the customer’s initial defence. This creates a report, opens the customer up,and develops trust. This all leads to or evolves to an open discussion about your business.
