5 People to Thank At Your Next Trade Show

Train your booth staff to offer sincere thanks – and offer them yourself – to these five kinds of people, and your trade shows will run more smoothly.

• The trade show organizers, maintenance workers, and staff. Even when you arrive and find half your arrangements awry, thank them for their effort and for the half that was done correctly. They will remember your courtesy and do their best for you.
• Your returning customers. Existing customers are your company’s most important asset. Show your gratitude with smiles, gifts of useful information, and, don’t forget to give them some VIP treatment.
• Complaining customers. It can be hard to thank someone who has just pointed out your company’s flaws, but the complaining customer has just given you the priceless gift of honest feedback so that you can improve in the future.
• Booth co-workers. In the tight space and pressure-cooker atmosphere of a trade show booth, tensions can flare. A habit of gratitude instead of growling makes work more pleasant and strengthens working relationships.
• The sales department. When you hand over the precious trade show leads, thank Sales for following up. Show them you appreciate their hard work, and they are more likely to care about your hard work. At the holiday season, we tend to express gratitude more freely than at other times of year. But, why wait, at any time of the year, sincere thanks acts as a powerful relationship-marketing tool.

When you start a cycle of thanks, you can even transform those difficult business relationships.