In our last blog post, we discussed the importance of knowing your goals before you begin planning your trade show. Once you've established a clear, measurable goal, the next step is to know your audience—specifically, what audience will help you meet your trade show goal.

Customer profiling can be hard work, but it’s worth it. Having specific customers in mind from the start will ensure that every aspect of your trade show works towards making a connection with those customers. Profile your ideal customer using these simple tips.

Analyze Your Top 10% Existing Customers

Take a moment and jot down similar characteristics of your top customers. This might seem obvious in your mind, but actually write them down on a piece of paper. Is there a common title they share, duties or job functions? Do they share common hurdles or problems and how can you make them any easier? Then ask why they buy from you specifically. Not necessarily why they buy your product, but why do they choose you over your competition. This will help you to qualify leads quickly and give you the right “lingo” to speak their language.

Identify Which Clients or Industries are the Best Target for Your Services

Trade shows are all about bringing the right business to the right customers, so take the time to brainstorm what other clients or industries might be a good target for your services. This is a great opportunity to think outside the box and explore what applications your product or service may have that you’re not yet leveraging. You just might find a whole new revenue stream you didn't realize you were missing.

Find Out Who the Decision Makers Are in Your Industry—and What They Want to Know

Every trade show exhibitor wants to maximize the return on their time and money, and the best way to do so is to focus your efforts on the portion of your audience that holds the purse strings. Depending on the industry, this could be anyone from the officer manager, to marketing director, to the product buyer. Before any trade show, it’s essential to find out precisely what position your ideal contact holds. If in doubt, remember that you’re usually looking for the person who signs his or her name on the sales agreement.

The good news about trade shows is that 84% of attendees have the power to recommend or make final purchasing decisions—in other words, most of your audience will be made up of the ever-elusive decision makers businesses often struggle to reach. Your job is to find out exactly who they are and what they want to know. Take the time to brainstorm what questions they might ask, and make sure to have a solid answer to all of them.

Learn How to Politely Move On From Unqualified Prospects

All trade show attendees are not created equal. One of the most difficult situations exhibitors encounter is how to politely move on from prospects who are not the right fit for their business. Qualifying prospects is extremely important. Otherwise you may spend too much time with the wrong people.

Before you arrive at your trade show, have a list of questions prepared that will ensure you’re talking to the right person for your goals. Ask questions about his or her business and what role he or she plays so you can find out if your prospect has the power to make decisions about your product. When you do find those valuable decision makers, be sure to collect their contact information—and don’t forget to follow up with them after the trade show is over!

Of course, any interest in your product or service is a good thing—that’s why you’re attending a trade show, after all—so it’s important to show you appreciate their time, even if they’re not your ideal audience. Before you arrive, decide how you’ll handle unqualified prospects. It may even be a good idea to practice how to politely disengage. Most importantly, remember to be friendly and courteous, even when you need to move on. You never know if word of mouth about your great attitude will lead you to your next big sale.

Customer profiling can be a challenge for even the most seasoned exhibitor, but when it comes to maximizing your ROI, you can’t afford to skip it. Once you know your goal and your audience, you’re ready to move on to the next stage of planning a successful trade show.

Did you find this blog post helpful? Check out my complete guide, “10 Steps for a Successful Trade Show.” It's absolutely free and full of practical advice to help you achieve your goals.