Tip 1: Ask more questions - top meetings ask 58% more questions per pitch

Top performers don’t “pitch harder.” They diagnose better. Our data shows the best conversations include 58% more questions than the weakest ones, and that difference shows up in qualification, momentum, and next steps.

In practice, the benchmark is simple: have sponsors aim for about one strong buyer question every 1.5 minutes of pitching. That cadence uncovers real pain points early, then lets sponsors tailor the pitch to what they just learned instead of running a cookie-cutter script. Just like how mass emails go to spam, mass pitches go in one ear and out the other.

More/better questions lead to better meeting outcomes. Better meeting outcomes make rebooking easier.

Tip 2: End every meeting with a concrete next step - one out of every three meetings ends with no clear next steps

We recognize many teams will staff events with junior sales reps, so we’re not expecting perfection. But the data is clear: 36% of meetings end with a soft next step or no next step at all.

Rebooking gets easier when sponsors can point to follow-through, not just “good conversations.”

Do say:

• “I’ll email you later today, and we’ll meet next Tuesday. Does that work?”
  
  

Don’t say:

• “Let’s connect.”
  
  
• “Follow up after the show.”
  
  
• “I’ll reach out.”
  
  
• Or worse—nothing.
  
  

The winning formula: a concrete next step with (1) a timeline and (2) clear ownership. There should be an explicit agreement on what happens next—otherwise it’s just business cards with no outcome.

What sounds better to a sponsor’s boss deciding whether to rebook?

1. “We had a handful of good conversations. The show slowed down on day three. I’ll upload leads to Salesforce when I’m back.”
   
   
2. “I booked 14 demo calls, and I’m sending 6 follow-up emails tonight with the right materials.”

That second one is a defensible ROI.

And not all “concrete” next steps are equal. Across all concrete outcomes, the most common is “send materials,” but the top 10% of meetings skew toward higher-commitment outcomes: more meetings scheduled, more pricing/quote conversations, and more trial/pilot steps—while vague catch-all outcomes drop sharply. That’s what makes sponsor value easier to defend during rebooking.

If you want sponsors to rebook, you need meetings that produce clear, trackable outcomes, because that’s what makes ROI defensible in a renewal conversation. The fastest way to get there is to upgrade soft closes into concrete next steps.

Operational rule: No meeting ends without what happens next + who owns it + when it happens. Even “next week” beats “sometime.”

Tip 3: Cut the “Weather Small Talk”- Top meetings hardly mentioned the weather

Across the thousands of conversations we analyzed, shockingly, low performing meetings mentioned the weather 7.8X more than top-performing meetings.That gap is telling. Strong conversations still build rapport, but they pivot quickly into substance and keep the momentum moving.

Small talk isn’t bad. It can create rapport and make a booth conversation feel human. The problem is that in a short trade show window, small talk can become a trap. If you spend too long on filler, you often never get to buyer context, real needs, or a meaningful next step.

Instead of opening with “It’s a bit hot out there,” use prompts that naturally pull the conversation into buyer context:

• “What brought you over today?”
• “What are you focused on improving this quarter?”
• “Where is the process breaking down right now?”
• “How are you handling X today?”
• “If you could fix one thing, what would it be?”

You can also frame a common problem without sounding scripted:

• “We usually see X show up for teams like yours. Is that happening for you?”
• “Most people here care about reducing X or speeding up Y. Which matters more right now?”
• “What have you tried so far, and what didn’t work?”
• “What do you know about our company?”
  
  

Why it matters for rebooking: top booth conversations get to context fast and feel like a two-way evaluation, not a pitch. That leads to better qualification and clearer outcomes, making exhibitor ROI easier to defend during renewals.

At the end of the day, rebooking gets easier when sponsors leave with better conversations that produce clearer outcomes. If meetings surface real pain points, end with a specific next step, and stay focused on buyer context, sponsors walk away with schedulable follow-ups and measurable progress, not just a stack of business cards.  That changes the renewal conversation because they can point to pipeline, meetings booked, and actions already in motion. Help sponsors run conversations that create clear outcomes, and you make ROI easier to prove and rebooking easier to win.

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