A Huge Opportunity for Exhibitors at Industry Events
From the desk of Norlumen founder, Suzan Alakas:
The Opportunity Many Exhibitors Miss
Trade shows and industry faires are fantastic opportunities to meet potential customers face‑to‑face, spark interest and get leads.
But as I experienced recently at Matkamessut, Finland’s leading travel faire, there’s a huge opportunity that too many exhibitors are missing - not because the traffic isn’t there, but because they don’t have a system to turn interest into results.
At Matkamessut, there were booths with reindeer, dancers and eye‑catching displays - and plenty of people walking by.
But when I stopped to talk with exhibitors, a pattern emerged: many had engaging visuals and friendly conversations… but no consistent way to convert that traffic into actual leads, follow‑ups and sales.
This gap isn’t unique to travel faires. Very often at trade shows across industries, companies invest significant time, money and human resources in travel and exhibiting - but the conversion from booth traffic and real sales is left to chance.
More Than Just Marketing
A trade show, done well, could be more than a branding and awareness event.
Ideally, it could be a reliable engine for pipeline development - identifying fit, capturing contact data and leading to meaningful next steps.
But without a clear game plan every sales person on the floor, that potential slips through the cracks.
Here are the core areas where exhibitors can improve:
Role clarity:
Too many teams show up without a shared understanding of who does what at the booth - who qualifies visitors, who demos products, who pulls folks into deeper conversations and who captures and organizes the outcome.No structured interaction approach:
Conversations at trade shows are inherently short. Without practiced, repeatable line (from a strong opener to polite qualification questions) teams struggle to move beyond small talk.No follow‑up system:
Traffic doesn’t equal impact unless there is a planned process for after the faire - capturing data in a structured way and following up with purpose.
How Trade Show Training Improves Conversions
This is where trade show training makes a difference. Leveraging a sustainable selling approach, teams prepare and follow a proven system - to honor the buyer’s needs and advance business outcomes.
A training program tailored for exhibitors can help teams:
Establish clear roles and responsibilities for every booth participant
Understand how to approach visitors with confidence and curiosity
Use a structured flow sequence to balance active listening and value questions
Capture contacts and insights in a way that makes follow‑up simple and timely
Build a handoff rhythm that turns conversations into meetings, demos and opportunities
A Simple Checklist to Get Started
At the faire I mentioned, I shared a Trade Show Readiness Checklist for exhibitors — a quick tool to help teams think through key success areas.
If your company is exhibiting at an upcoming event, make sure you’ve taken these essentials into account to turn traffic into sales momentum.
👉 Get the Trade Show Readiness Checklist HERE
The Trade Show Advantage
The crowds are there.
The curiosity is there.
What’s often missing is a systematic way to translate interest into outcomes that matter - meetings, demos, proposals, opportunities and ultimately revenue.
When you invest in training your team on how to prepare, engage, and follow up with intention, you unlock real ROI from the show investment.
If you’d like assistance preparing your team for your next trade show / faire event, we can help!
Norlumen offers sales trainings for your sales personnel to improve their sales skills and effectiveness.
👉 Book a short discovery call→ and we’d be happy to discuss solutions for your sales force’s challenges and needs.