237 - Dramatically Increase Leads with Tip Stacking

How do you get a 150% increase in qualified leads in one show like one of my clients did? 

I’m not talking about leads like just getting a bunch of business cards in a bowl because you’re giving away an iPad.  I’m talking 100% qualified, want to meet with you leads!

It’s from a little known thing called Tip Stacking. 

In this episode I’m going to show you what Tip Stacking is and how to stack the RIGHT trade show tips which will help you dramatically increase the amount of leads you are getting and absolutely crush your goals!

You mayhave heard of Habit Stacking, from the best selling book Atomic Habits by James Clear, where he says if you change a little bit of many habits, it accumulates into big changes.

So Tip stacking is similar.  It’s about taking several tips and incorporating them into your next show. 

The key is doing the right ones.  The ones that help you reach your show goals – and for most of you, I’m guessing your main goal is all about getting more qualified leads. 

Now you can find hundreds, maybe even thousands of trade show tips out there.  Heck, on my podcast between me and my guests we’ve probably shared 1000.

The tips you want to focus on are Tips that do 3 things – Drive Attendees to your booth, Help you Engage & Qualify those attendees, and Follow up.

We’re going to be focusing on just the first two areas – Driving Traffic, and Engage & Qualify.

Story – Home improvement company.  For years, they would give away a big prize of a home improvement package which had a value of about $5,000.  Tons of people would sign up because hey – who doesn’t want to win that!  Then the company spent tons of time following up with people who have no interest to buy and end up with a handful of qualified leads.

Here’s what we did to get them a 150% increase in qualified leads.

1. Added lights – engaging the senses.  Drew people in!
2. Typically one person worked the show because they would have one sales person per market.  So we wanted to double their odds by adding a second person.  Added a brand ambassador!
3. Instead of just asking people if they wanted to enter the giveaway, we came up with specific qualifying questions that would pull them in.
4. We added the qualifying question to the entry form!

*** Podcast episodes all about Brand Ambassadors!

*** Trade Show University Episode 153 - Interview with Polaris Brand Promotions: https://tradeshowu.biz/episodes/ep-153-using-brand-ambassadors-to-max-your-leads-roi-al-schuster-stephanie-crawford/

*** Trade Show University Episode 147 - Interview with Expo Stars: https://tradeshowu.biz/episodes/ep-147-selecting-training-the-right-staff-for-your-booth-with-lee-ali/

So we stacked those 4 tips on top of each other and it led to that 150% increase in qualified leads which led to a HUGE sales increase!  And didn’t spend a ton of money!

So just have to make sure they are the right tips you’re stacking!  For example, adding a cool squishy toy giveaway may make people happy, but odds are they aren’t going to become customers because of it.

First thing you need to focus on is driving traffic to your booth.  I know that some techniques and tips work better than others, so I created the Trade Show Booth Traffic Scorecard which has 25 different tips and techniques listed.

• 9 things you can do BEFORE the show
• 16 DURING the show

But not only that each one has a point value based on how effective it is.  This is based on experience and data!

You don’t have to do all 25!  You just have to focus on the right ones which will make a difference, and the Scorecard will...