Booth Babes Are Distractions

Whenever I attend a trade show, there's guaranteed to be one or more booths with "booth babes," who are local models or actresses hired to dress provocatively and stand in an exhibitor's booth. Why are they there?

Presumably, booth babes attract prospects to the booth. In reality, they attract suspects... people suspected of being buyers, but who come to the booth to look at the booth babes, not to buy.

As a rule, booth babes hurt exhibitors. Real prospects are looking for information. Booth babes and the people they attract simply get in the way, driving prospects to go away.

Some prospects will avoid the booth simply because they don't want anyone to even think they are attracted by the booth babes. This is especially true if the prospect is male and attending the show with a spouse.

Visiting a booth with booth babes conflicts with the value system of others. Seriously, I've heard plumbers complain openly about a woman "on display" at a plumbing show. And the plumbers who were complaining ran large companies. They were the heavy hitters every exhibitor wanted.

Another issue with booth babes is the effect on an exhibitor's staff. I've seen the staff focused on the booth babe rather than the prospects.

Face it. Booth babes are a distraction. They may attract a crowd, but not the right crowd. Ditto for celebrities or a hot sports car, which is the mechanical equivalent of a booth babe (unless the car is being given away at the show).

There are exceptions. The exceptions are when the booth babe is part of a live marketing program that reinforces the message of the booth. An example is the cave woman hired by Juan Cardona (JC Heating and Cooling in Crossroads, WV) who pops out of a cave he creates to reinforce the Jurassic air conditioner theme, encouraging homeowners to register for his oldest air conditioner contest. Click here to download a free turnkey oldest appliance kit from the Service Roundtable.

Probably the worst  aspect of using a booth babe as eye candy is the messages the exhibitor sends without realizing it...

• "I have nothing interesting to offer so I'm using a booth babe to drive traffic."
  
  
• "I think so little of my prospects' intelligence, character, and motivation that I believe a booth babe will drive sales."

Whether at a trade show or a home show, booth babes are distractions.

Ignoring Prospects at Trade Shows

Photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyeliam/ / CC BY 2.0

It's expensive to attend a trade show or home show.  The costs ratchet up with each increase in the size of the booth and the number of employees attending the show.  So why do so many exhibitors ignore prospects?

Yesterday, a team from the Service Roundtable spent nearly seven hours at the AHR Show in Orlando.  We were focused.  We had an agenda and a mission.  We were very conscious of time. 

Yet, time after time, we walked into booths and were totally ignored by exhibitor employees who were engaged in conversation with each other!  The most irritating instance was the employee who was actively engaged in deep conversation with the rented "booth babe" while ignoring us (more on "booth babes" later).

To get the attention of employees at some booths required us to interrupt the employees' conversations.  As a rule, these tended to be the biggest booths with the most employees.  I can remember two instances of actually thanking people for taking the time to talk with us.

Why exhibit at all if you're going to ignore (and irritate) prospects?