1.       Contacts are most often made "working the room," not when you are standing in one place.  You must break out of your comfort zone and find ways to meet new people.  It is a rare individual that doesn't appreciate it when you go out of your way to meet him or her.  This means that you must be outgoing.  You can't be afraid to introduce yourself to people in your industry you don't know.

2.      Remember that most people are afraid to step into your display space or approach people they don't know, so make it as easy as possible for them.  Take advantage of "the mirror neuron" inside all of us.   As mentioned by Martin Lindstrom in the ground breaking book Buyology; animals and humans have demonstrated that we have a mirror neuron inside our premotor cortex and inferior parietal cortex.  The following definition from Wikipedia states that a mirror neuron "is essentially a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another animal (especially by another animal of the same species).^[1] Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself acting. These neurons have been directly observed in primates, and are believed to exist in humans and other species including birds."  What this means to us is that if we are all preprogrammed to respond to the people around us..., ...think about how you react when you hear about or witness a bone being broken or watch a dog dying in a movie.  Taking this a step further, if we exude happiness, confidence and friendliness, others will do the same and react positively...they can't help it!

3.      Remember that people are most interested in themselves.  Be genuinely interested in people you meet, and conversations will flow naturally.

4.      Converse - don't interrogate.  Make a meaningful effort to learn all you can about the customers company, however, you must remember to focus on the person, not what he or she does for a living.

5.      Have your company "elevator pitch" ready.  An elevator pitch is a 30 second-to one minute description of what your company does that explains why your company matters.  Take some time to think about what is special about your company, and try to come up with a description that will leave the other party wanting you to explain further.  An example of a bad elevator pitch might be "I'm with Smith painting and we paint buildings, whereas a better pitch might be, "I am with Smith painting.  We are experts in turning bad real-estate into a good investment".  After you have your pitch perfected, spend time before working the booth to make sure that everyone in the booth knows the message and is ready to help you grow the business.

Until next time, Allen