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QR Codes at Trade Shows

Each year there are tons of trade shows held all over the world for a variety of products, ranging from cars, to home improvement, to appliances, to new technology and computer products, and the list goes on. Despite the variety in products, the basic trade show set up is the same. There is a large indoor arena or coliseum, there are hundreds and hundreds of booths filled with manufacturers and competitors crammed into a space that was never meant to hold that many people or products. Then there are the customers - there are the wanderers, who are just hoping a great deal will catch their eye, but aren’t there for anything in particular. There are the product specific shoppers who have already done their research and are there for one item and one item only. Then there are the vast majority who mostly know what they want, but there is plenty of room to be swayed by a good sales pitch or a deal. Then there are the folks who are just hoping for a tote bag and some free samples.

The problem with this type of set up is that with this many people and this many products it is impossible to provide each potential customer with your best sales pitch. There is the guy who walks by and lingers but you are involved with someone else. There is the couple who is clearly interested in your product but is too occupied with their colleague’s yammering next to them to ask the important questions, or even just let you give them the important facts. And unfortunately, this is where you can easily lose a potential client, sometimes even the one who only came to that show to see exactly what you had to offer. It is this environment of chaos and confusion and a mass audience that is the perfect environment to unleash the power of the QR code.

Every item that you are pitching at a trade show should have a QR code sticker on it. These codes should link to additional information about the product and to your contact information. This way even if the sale cannot be made at the trade show, it is still you who gets to make it later on. The product information contained in the code is perfect for most shoppers. Some people don’t like even low pressure sales and get uncomfortable in a face to face environment. The QR code provides them with the perfect opportunity to get more information about your product within their comfort zone. They may even scan the code and walk away, but if they like what they see on the smartphone while they’re walking, the good news is, they’ll have good reason and the confidence to come back.

The main thing this does is it allows every potential customer at a trade show to get the same information, whether it comes from your mouth or the product page written by your hand. Now they’ve all heard exactly what you have to say, even if you didn’t get the opportunity to say it. This is the most advantageous sales pitch of them all. And with most QR code readers today, the information scanned by the reader is stored so a person can go back and review it at a later date. Therefore, when they scan your QR code, but only take a brochure from your competitor, they are much more likely to go back to their smartphone for the info, rather than the brochure, that they inevitably lost or threw out most likely before they even got home.