Some booths almost seemed out of place since none of the passers by even wanted to go near them. Some booths had lovely displays with a passerby or two stopping in at a time. Then, there were booths that had crowds of five to ten or more people at a time. What made the difference? Why were some booths devoid of prospects while others were flooded with them?

Drum Roll Please! Enter my big Òaha!Ó

Some booths were telling, some booths were selling, while the best were showing. Let me explain. LetÕs begin with the booths that failed to generate any interest and in fact seemed to scare prospects away. Those booths were the ones that were telling.

Picture yourself walking down an aisle at an expo and the first booth to your right has a banner that says ÒX&Y Bank.Ó In front of the banner thereÕs a table with a bowl of candy on it and two reps for X&Y bank sit behind it. Do you feel yourself being pulled like a magnet over to that booth? I bet you said, ÒNo.Ó

IÕm not psychic. IÕm simply a typical prospect (just like all those other prospects, who avoided such booths at the expo like the plague). Just telling your prospects the name of your company, even if it is a well known one, doesnÕt make your prospects run over to hear more.

Now letÕs investigate the booths with vendors that were selling. These vendors had nice displays of their products. Because some of the products looked interesting and appealing, one or two prospects would stop by every few minutes and take a peek around the booth. Almost all of the direct sales companies I saw that day fell into this category. Hey, itÕs better than the previous category, right? Yes, it definitely is.

Typically at these expos the vendors with the direct sales companies want recruit and hostess leads. ThatÕs why they all carry around a clipboard with forms Ñ they need to capture each new prospectÕs name, address, phone number, and email so they can follow up. In order to get this information, they try to sell the value or need of their products and/or company.

Isn't there a better way?

Hang on to your horses. I'm getting there.

Before I even walked into the expo, I knew what the busiest booth was going to be that day. No... again, I'm not psychic. I just recognize good marketing when I see it. I knew the busiest booth would be Rolphs Hair Salon. Why was Rolphs Hair Salon the busiest booth? Was it because it was the biggest booth? Was it because it was the one booth up on a stage? Was it because Rolph used a microphone to talk about hair with his sexy German accent? Although all of the preceding things ARE true, they were NOT the reason Rolphs Hair Salon was flooded with prospects for two solid days.

The reason Rolphs booth was flooded was this: 20 or more stylists were giving free haircuts to anyone who signed up and was willing to wait her turn. Typically a stylist at Rolphs Hair Salon charges anywhere from $60 to $100 for a haircut. But at the expo, they were giving them away. Why would they do that?

For the same reason that direct sales consultants walk around with clipboards in their arms. All those stylists were looking for new customers. But instead of sitting at a table with a Rolphs banner behind them, or standing inside a booth decorated with hair products and walking around with a clipboard, these savvy marketers were showing their prospects how awesome it is to get one's hair done by a hairstylist from Rolphs Hair Salon.

I used to go to Rolphs Hair Salon for a number of years, when I first moved to the valley. The stylist who cut my hair told me that she always volunteered for the women's expo because even though it was the most exhausting thing she did all year, nothing helped her get new customers faster.

Am I suggesting that you give your products away? Not on your life. What I'm suggesting is that you figure out something of interest that you show, and that you use your products to show it.

When you show prospects how great your products are, you create real desire, and consequently far more bona fied leads!

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Author, Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker Tammy Stanley publishes the propelling 'Sales Refinery Insights' weekly ezine for direct sales professionals. If you're ready to jump-start your direct sales business, make more money, and create more value, get your FREE tips now at www.tammystanley.com/ezine/ezine_offer_ds.htm