Not Just About The Booth: Ways To Dress For Trade Show Success
Trade shows are all about impressing prospective clients and customers, so you want to make sure that everything you do is geared toward the people who stop by your booth. Sure, a great booth design and presentation is important, but one thing that you may overlook is how you’re dressed.
At a trade show, you want to create a good mix of “business, but approachable,” a coordination that lets people know you are serious about your products and services, but down-to-earth enough to talk to. Here are a few ideas that you can use for your wardrobe the next time you’re heading off to a trade show:
The Company Dress Code Isn’t For Trade Shows
Whether you work in an industry that allows “business casual” or you need to wear suits and ties every day to the office, neither one of these styles is conducive for a good trade show look. The former is too casual and the latter can come across as stuffy.
Choose a nice pair of pants or a skirt that is a comfortable length. Avoid denim unless you specifically want to send a laid back message with your products or services. As for shirts and blouses, collars are fine and you can pick nearly any color you want as long as it doesn’t clash with your booth color scheme. If you have a partner, choose the same color, but wear different styles. This will help you match but avoid looking like employees from a big box store.
If you can, avoid khakis with polo shirts (see the above sentence).
Finally, don’t forget to dress for the weather. You can use this weather app to know whether you’ll need jackets or rain gear.
Wear Something With Your Company Logo
Sometimes, it’s the little things that can slip your mind the most. Once you decide on an outfit, try to think of a way you can incorporate your company logo into it. If you have company shirts, you can always wear them, but, again, you want to avoid looking like you work on the floor of an electronics store. One of the simplest things you can do is attach a pin with your logo onto whichever shirt you chose to wear. This will be noticed by everyone you talk to, but it isn’t so “in their face” that it’s distracting.
Don’t Wear New Shoes
This is great advice for anyone who will be working the trades show. You will be standing and walking around all day, so you want to wear shoes that are broken in and comfortable. You can put in long hours at your booth and new shoes can cause blisters on your feet and back pain from the new support. If you already have a nice pair of shoes, wear them. If you buy new ones, break them in for a few weeks before the show.
A successful trade show is all about selling your products, but don’t forget about dressing correctly as well.
