How to work a trade show without a booth or budget

I'll spare you the cliché intro about 'trade shows being a fantastic opportunity.' You already know that. That's why you pay for your badge, catch the 6:47 AM train, and come home in the evening with aching legs and a stack of business cards you'll never read.
What I'm going to tell you is how not to come home empty-handed. Not with a booth. Not with a budget. Just with a method.

BEFORE - The trade show is won from your sofa, not from your stand

Most people 'prepare' for a trade show by looking at the exhibitor map on the train. That's too late.

1. Go to the event website three weeks beforehand
   Exhibitor list. Speakers. Partners. Everyone is there, everyone is identifiable.
2. Create your shortlist
   Not 80 companies. Ten. Twelve maximum. Those with whom you have a real reason to speak: an ongoing project, a common market, a legitimate curiosity.
3. Find the right person
   Not the generic stand, the person. The Sales Director. The Partnerships Manager. Often mentioned in company press releases or LinkedIn posts.
4. Prepare three questions
   Three genuine questions about their business, their market, their challenges. Not to fill time. To listen.
5. Contact them BEFOREHAND
   A simple, direct message:

LinkedIn message template

« I'll be at VivaTech on Tuesday. I see you'll be there too, according to the program. How about 15 minutes standing between two talks? I'm working on [topic relevant to them]. No pitch, just a chat. »

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Response rate far exceeding the usual average. Because everyone is "in trade show mode" and thus in an open mindset.

DURING - You're a salesperson, not a tourist

On-site, you have 8 hours. That's a long time. That's a short time. It depends on what you make of it.

"I've seen people hand out 200 business cards in a day. I've seen others have 8 conversations and leave with 8 genuine leads. Guess which ones signed deals within three months."

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1. Start with a full, non-stop tour
   Scout the area. Identify your targets. Mentally note the busy booths, and where sales reps seem comfortable or not.
2. Approach with curiosity, not with a pitch
   "What exactly do you do?" is ineffective. "I saw you just launched [truc]. What's the feedback from the field?" is good.
3. Take notes on the fly
   On your phone, in my WEMET networking app. Just a word or two. The context of the conversation, what they're looking for. In 48 hours, without it, you won't remember anything.
4. Manage your energy
   Lunch break ≠ restaurant with colleagues. At a table with contacts from your short-list. Mid-day: ten minutes sitting, reviewing notes.
5. Conferences: go for the networking
   You can watch the conference on replay. The people leaving with a reaction, however, are only available now.

AFTER - This is where 90% of people give up

This is also where it all counts.

You get home exhausted. Messages are waiting. A report is due. The event was yesterday. And yet.

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Within 24 hours:

Follow up with each contact. One by one. A LinkedIn message, not a copy-paste, but a genuine message referencing a detail from your conversation.

Example follow-up message:

« We discussed your recruitment challenge for technical profiles; I'm sending you the article I mentioned. »

That's what makes the difference. Not the « pleasure to have connected ».

Within the week:

For warm leads, the 2 or 3 who said « yes, let's reconnect », propose a specific time slot. Not just « let's talk again ». A date, a time, a duration.

Within the month:

Keep track of all the others. Not to spam them. But to have a legitimate reason to reach out in 6 weeks: an article, an introduction to make, a shared event.

Networking is nurtured between events, not just during them.

Have an event coming up this summer or in the fall?

Tell us which one, and we'll help you prepare your shortlist.