How do you react to these 6 types of trade fair visitors

As an exhibitor at a trade fair, you naturally want as many visitors as possible to your stand and lots of interesting conversations. Trade fair time is expensive, and a typecast of trade fair visitors can be helpful for preparation or help you to decide as quickly as possible at your stand who you should devote your time to.

First of all, I would like to ask you whether you have ever calculated what a meeting at a trade fair costs you? Of course, these costs always depend on the amount and the effort that a company puts into the respective trade fair, but the following example calculation* is generally interesting to consider:

• Total trade fair costs: 50,000 €
• 5 employees
• 3 trade fair days

• 16 meetings x 5 employees x 3 days = 240 meetings
  
• 50,000 € / 240 meetings
  
• = 208.33 € per call
  

• 9 hours of 60 minutes x 3 days = 1,620 minutes of measurement
  
• 50,000 € / 1,620 minutes
  
• = 30.86 € per minute

Trade fair visitors: 6 types you will meet at every trade fair

Considering the costs involved, it is only right to think carefully in advance about who you will be spending your time talking to at the trade fair. For this reason, we have tried to categorize different types of trade fair visitors in terms of their trade fair objectives and combine this with specific recommendations for action.

It should be said at the outset that stereotypes have of course been deliberately established here to help you make efficient use of your trade fair time. So please do not fall into exaggerated pigeonholing as a result. For example, our recommendations for action should not prevent you from initially welcoming every visitor to your stand in a friendly and courteous manner.

• Type 1: The thorough one

• Type 2: The tightly organized

• Type 3: The flâneur

• Type 4: The collector

• Type 5: The Applicant

• Type 6: The seller

Type 1: The thorough visitor

The thorough trade fair visitor works his way extensively through the exhibitor list and holds intensive discussions with the exhibitors at the stand. He has already informed himself in advance and now wants to gather and compare as much information as possible at the trade fair. This type of visitor often has a specific intention to buy, but at least has a fixed trade fair objective with which to compare the exhibiting competition.

Our recommendation for action:

If you discover the thorough visitor type at your trade fair stand, then this is a real stroke of luck for you.

Positive: With your trade fair stand or through other marketing channels, you have at least managed to attract their attention. Now take the time to talk to him and score points by convincing him of the quality of your company in a well-informed manner. Exciting conversations can arise from these discussions at the trade fair, because the thorough person wants to achieve his trade fair goal and if you do your job well, he has no reservations about making a commitment.

Type 2: The tightly organized

The tightly organized person has a precise plan of who they will meet at the trade fair and when. If you are not on their agenda, you have virtually no chance of attracting their attention. The tightly organized person works his way through the trade fair exhibitors selectively and according to schedule. They hold detailed discussions at the stand and only make decisions after the trade fair.

Our recommendation for action

The visitor type of the tightly organized is not a type for spontaneous new customer acquisition at trade fairs. Unusual stand designs or visitor campaigns will not persuade them to deviate from their schedule. The tightly organized person uses the trade fair because it enables him to meet as many business partners as efficiently as possible in one place. You can only get them to your stand if you introduce yourself in advance and arrange a fixed trade fair date. Once you have done this, you have a good chance of convincing them of your products and company in a detailed discussion at the trade fair.

Typ 3: The flâneur

The flâneur is a trade fair visitor who strolls around the fair without a fixed destination or intention to buy. He has almost certainly not prepared his visit. They have a basic interest in the trade fair theme, but the flaneur “just wants to see what's new”. Of course, interesting contacts can also arise from the conversation with the flâneur, but a profitable result from the conversation is not to be expected immediately or in the short term.

Unsur recommendation for action:

Inspire the flaneur visitor type with innovation and creativity at the trade fair stand. If you manage to create a personal basis during the conversation and stay in their memory, then this contact may turn into something later on. For this to work, however, you should not only focus on the personal relationship with this trade fair visitor, but also follow up with a qualified trade fair follow-up and continue to inspire the visitor with your company after the trade fair.

Type 4: The collector

The trade fair visitor collector wanders from stand to stand and bags up everything that is not nailed down at the stand. Seemingly at random, information material, business cards and promotional gifts end up in the carrier bags or - in the case of professional collectors - in the trolley. It remains unclear what the professional collector's background or goal is. They may want to prove at work how hard-working they were at the trade fair and how many stands they visited on their day off.

Our recommendation:

This type of visitor will not actively approach you. He is more interested in the goods on display than in what you want to sell. Do not invest your time in the collector type if there are other visitors who can advise you.

Type 5: The applicant

Well-dressed, with an application folder under their arm, job seekers not only cavort at graduate and recruitment fairs, but also at many other trade fairs. After all, it is rare to have the opportunity to approach as many companies as possible in a specific sector. Applicants naturally take note of the trade fair stand and the appearance of the potential employer brand. The stand design and the appearance of the trade fair staff are therefore important when deciding which companies job seekers choose for an initial interview. In view of the much lamented shortage of skilled workers, you should therefore be aware with your trade fair appearance that not only customers but also potential applicants are among the trade fair visitors.

Our recommendation:

Before the trade fair, clarify with your HR department how you should behave towards potential applicants. For example, you should plan whether it is desirable for you to accept application folders or alternatively distribute business cards or flyers with addresses for an e-mail application. In any case, you should make sure that your applicants' confidential documents have a suitable place at the stand and that they are passed on to the HR managers.

Type 6: The salesperson

The trade fair visitor type salesperson is only interested in you because you or your company are part of the target group for their own products or services. They visit trade fair stand after trade fair stand with the aim of acquiring new customers. Trade fairs offer them the ideal opportunity to meet as many new customers as possible in their target group.

Our recommendation for action:

Find out quickly what the visitor would like to offer you and whether this is of interest to you. Either name a contact person in the company - if you do not make the purchase decision yourself - or end the conversation quickly and in a friendly manner. After all, an acquisition or sales pitch for the salesperson's products should not be at the expense of your own time at the trade fair. An active follow-up does not have to follow your conversation; if it does, the salesperson will get back to you.

* Many thanks for the idea for this sample calculation to Michael Kimmelmann in “Der Messewahnsinn. Haphazard actionism or successful presentation?” (Books on Demand, 2014)