T&S PARTNERS PR GROUP

A savvy Trade Show Booth Staff must be on the alert for corporate spies. Your well-trained, polite, media-ready staff that we assembled over two recent posts, must also be ready for the overly interested prospect whose pointed questions go over the edge. These attendees are in fact the corporate spies specifically sent to uncover your trade secrets.

They are looking for clues into the intellectual property that created what is on your displays. They are well-trained, often convivial people who genially engage your staff—that staff who has been primed to speak well and attentively on behalf of the company. When guards are down, these information gatherers might also make statements about the singular ingredient that distinguishes your products from the competition that hired them. They are looking for reactions and a willingness to make the sale, which often provokes proprietary product revelations

Or they could also be quiet individuals who listen intently and watch all that is happening in your booth. They might move around the displays, silently staying at your booth too long, picking up dropped papers and receipt while staying close when a cell phone is answered.

To prevent a Trade Show PR Crisis of a totally different sort—the kind that requires back peddling when the competition takes center stage with the media using your trade secrets–here are a few things for your booth staff to keep in mind:

1. Feeling the need to reveal sensitive information to make a sale.

2. Long, futile purchase negotiations. They are often engaged in only to elicit corporate information.

3. Avoid confirming comments said by those who shouldn’t know the information.

4. Report any suspicious inquiries to the company designate and make certain that the physical description is duly noted and shared.

5. Steer any suspicious info-gatherers gracefully off to the side, preventing them from hearing any proprietary conversation.

It’s important to note that if a company representative at the trade show booth voluntarily discloses information, any trade secret rights will be forfeited as a matter of law. For a more detailed analysis of the acquisition and protection of corporate information at trade shows, explore The Society of Competitive Intelligence’s new publication, “Conference and Trade Show Intelligence: Gathering and Protecting Information”.

Had any close calls yourself? Let us know.

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