One-on-One Engagement Techniques to Qualify More Leads at Trade Shows

by David Spark
Illustrations by Christina Taylor Brown

Trade shows and conferences are surreal environments of compressed time and space. Potential customers, whose lifetime value could mean millions to your business, are walking right past you. In Three Feet from Seven Figures you’ll learn what it takes to stop those people, engage with them, and quickly qualify them. You’ll also discover what it takes to motivate your employees to work hard every minute the trade show floor is open.

“Three Feet from Seven Figures should be burnt into the memory of your trade show staff. David has done an incredible job of uncovering the problems that prevent companies from maximizing their ROI. He shares effective methods to engage, qualify and end conversations in a positive manner, allowing your staff to generate more connections and leads. If you are in charge of a trade show booth and don’t read this book, you should find another job.”

– Tom Crowl, Corporate Entertainer and Host, Savvy Event Planner Podcast

“David has spent countless hours interviewing people at trade shows, and has spent a lot of time with executives who spend small fortunes on promoting their company and products at trade shows. Three Feet from Seven Figures is rooted in first-hand observation and experience of what works and what doesn’t. It should be on the reading list of all who participate in such events.”

– Brian Powley, President, Performance Reset Consulting

“Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on tradeshows, often with little return other than a fishbowl of business cards. David has provided a step-by-step guide on not only how to maximize your trade show investment, but empower employees to take ownership and step up their own game. Written in an easy-to-read format sans the jargon, David provides practical steps, tips and tricks and instructions gleaned from years of experience walking the trade show floors and not only being an observer, but an active participant. In short, he’s practiced what he’s preaching. This isn’t just how to make your booth look pretty, this is how to activate booth staffers and employees to engage with attendees in a manner that translates to relationship building and sales. If you’re still coming back to the office with only business cards and swag, this book will fundamentally change how you approach trade shows to yield great returns.”

– Steve Middleton, VP of Content Marketing, Tendo Communications

“If you only read one book before hitting the trade show circuit…it MUST be this one. David’s insights and practical applications to leveraging one of the most underrated tools in your marketing tool kits, is a must know…”

– Brad Parry, Marketing and Business Consultant and Former CMO

“Three Feet from Seven Figures should be a part of the checklist for every marketing manager. I am going to gift it to every vendor who exhibits at the Growth Marketing Conference because I want them to get the highest ROI from the event and come back next year.”

– Vasil Azarov, CEO, Startup Socials, and Founder, Growth Marketing Conference

“After working and attending trade shows for the past 26 years I have seen a few companies do a really good job–but far more often I see companies wasting their time and money because they made some fundamental mistakes. The biggest mistake companies make is spending all their time working on the booth and what is in it but no time on training the staff to engage customers and potential customers. In his book Three Feet from Seven Figures David Spark gives companies the tools and advice they need to turn their trade show efforts from a time suck and questionable investment into a business success story.”

– Joshua Weinberg, President, Digital Life Consulting Group

• Marketing Book Worth a Look: Three Feet from Seven Figures, by David Spark
  LinkedIn – 08/27/16

• How to Maximize Your Trade Show ROI
  Convince & Convert’s ContentPros podcast with Chris Moody – 1/28/16

• David Spark on Three Feet from Seven Figures
  Marketing Over Coffee – 12/18/15

More interviews with David Spark on trade shows, and tip articles based on the book can be found on the Press page.

Ping info@sparkmediasolutions.com for David Spark interview requests.

David Spark (@dspark) is a veteran tech journalist and founder of Spark Media Solutions, a brand journalism firm that helps its clients be seen as leading voices in their fields through brand-quality media production. Spark’s company has worked with clients such as IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Dice, Juniper Networks, HP, IDG, Dell, IGT, Sprint, LinkedIn, Tripwire, Riverbed, Zoho, and IndyCar Racing.

Since 1996, Spark and his articles have appeared in more than 40 media outlets including eWEEK, Wired News, PCWorld, KQED’s “This Week in Northern California,” and TechTV (formerly ZDTV).

Today, Spark co-hosts the weekly Tear Down Show round table podcast and blogs regularly on the Spark Minute. Spark is a happily married father of two boys and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dramatically increase qualified leads at your next trade show. Train your booth staff with Spark Media Solutions’ proven trade show training techniques. Our clients have had immense success, often tripling their expected leads.

In addition to trade show training, David Spark and Spark Media Solutions offer a host of services to business, including live event reporting, content strategy and production, thought leadership, and influencer relations.

For more information, or to hire David Spark to speak, contact us at info@sparkmediasolutions.com