Now that the new year is here, it is a new season for trade shows. Over the past two months, I have attended several trade shows (Denver Market, Supply Side West in Las Vegas, etc.) and the results have been mixed at best. During my ten years in the animal health marketing industry, I have attended nearly 100 trade shows and events. Five years ago you would attend trade shows without hesitation and be quite successful. In today’s economy, it isn’t that easy as you have to evaluate every penny spent. Before making the decision to attend any trade show or event in 2010 one must evaluate it closely and plan accordingly. The key to a successful show is what you do BEFORE the start of the show. It is imperative that you prepare for each show at least 30 days in advance. Here are a few tips in what you need to do before committing to a trade show:
NFR booth with Jolee Lautaret
- Get a list of all exhibitors – To beat your competition you need to know your competition. Make sure everyone in your booth knows everything possible of your competitors attending the show (products, pricing, distribution, differential advantages, etc.).
- B2B opportunities – By acquiring a list of exhibitors another function served is looking at possible B2B relationships you can establish. I typically accomplish more B2B deals than direct business transactions at trade shows.
- Contact key attendees – It depends on the type of show but contacting key attendees prior to the show is extremely important. Let the key attendees know where your booth is but more importantly why they MUST stop by your booth. If this is distributor or market show, make sure you talk to the reps prior to the show. Also, have them identify 3 to 4 of their top accounts who they will commit to bring to your booth.
- Call to action – This is particularly important. You need a reason for people to stop by your booth and make it big. The days of free shipping or 10% off doesn’t do it. You are at the show to get your product into people’s hand.
- Set goals – If you don’t set some goals prior to the show then how do you know if the show was a success? It is vital that everyone attending the show and running the booth clearly knows the goal for the show. I always have it written out and at the end of each day we review our goals and determine what percentage of each goal we have achieved.
- Know your ROI – Shows are not cheap so determine what type of revenue you need to generate to reach a breakeven point.
- End of show report – At the conclusion of the show, document the results from the show – pro’s and con’s. Record your sales, booth location, where you need your booth, etc. You can’t imagine how helpful this report will be when you are thinking about attending that same show next year.
- Follow-up – This is probably one of the most important activities but least completed by companies. Follow-up always sounds good but rarely done. Trade shows try to provide services (business card swipers, etc.) that make follow-up easier but it is still poorly executed. For example, at the Supply Side West show I requested information from several companies. As of today, only ONE company has gotten back to me and what they sent me was a standard package of information and they had my name spelled incorrectly. I actually had to track down several companies through the trade show to get their contact information so I could follow-up with them.
These are just a few thoughts in how to have a successful trade show. If you follow this list the chances of having a successful show dramatically improve. Please provide comments in tactics you have used to experience a successful trade show. To receive the latest blog entries from cheetahLink follow our RSS Feed or subscribe to our email service. Both options are listed on the right side bar.
