Companies generally exhibit at industry trade shows because they sense an opportunity to get in front of a lot of potential customers in a short period of time. “Sure,” they say to themselves, “it’s expensive, but we’ll get to see lots of decision makers that we normally can’t get in front of.”
Uh huh. Sure you will. How many times do you come back from a trade show disappointed, and vow that next year you’ll do something different? How many times have you sat in a meeting and asked your people why you spend all that money to go to trade shows when you don’t really see any benefit? The typical answers: “If we don’t exhibit, customers will think we’re going out of business,” or, “We have to stay in front of customers or our competitors will have an advantage.”
Look, the decision here is not about whether you should exhibit at these trade shows. The decision is whether or not you are going to create a plan to capitalize on the opportunity the trade show provides. Without a detailed plan to work these trade shows, you’ve already made the decision – another year of wasting your money.
The Master Plan
Before the Show
The first thing you need is a Pre-Show strategy. Companies usually have the basics covered: someone to purchase the exhibit space, coordinate travel, handle shipment of the booth, ensure that brochures and samples arrive safely, and so forth. What they don’t have is a detailed plan for preparing their customers and prospects for the show.
Do you know which of your customers will be attending? Do you know which of your key prospects will be attending? This is the first step – find out who is planning to attend out of those clients and prospects that you already have some visibility with. We’ll talk about new prospects you encounter at the show in just a moment, but the best way to ensure that you get a return on your investment is to create a plan to interact with existing contacts at the trade show.
- First, what is your message at the trade show? You need a clear communication strategy, generally three or four main points that everyone will focus on. Are you introducing a new product? A new service? Have you created a new marketing strategy that you want to emphasize? Do you have recent success stories to communicate? IMPORTANT: Think about the trade show from the attendees’ standpoint – how can we differentiate our message, gain their attention, and create a dialogue that will continue after the show?
- Require sales reps (and others, as applicable) to create a list of their clients/prospects who will be in attendance
- Require sales reps (and others, as applicable) to, at minimum, contact each of these individuals three times to discuss the trade show: in-person, by personal note, and by email (right before the show). Their objective is to prearrange as many contacts as possible – breakfast meetings, lunches, after-hours meetings, time at the booth, etc. – and keep the show visible to these individuals.
- For as many of these people as possible, attempt to arrange for them to meet someone they normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so. For example, one of your existing clients may want to meet one of your engineers, or the marketing manager or the customer service manager. A strong prospect may have talked about meeting the president of your company; or, it may be the first time your sales manager gets the opportunity to meet a key customer or prospect.
- Think about how you might connect current customers to other customers or prospects. If it makes sense, create an appointment for a salesperson or company representative to meet for coffee with two or three others simply to make introductions.
- Finally, create a list of prospects you haven’t been able to meet and send a personal invitation to your booth. Emphasize one or two key benefits they will be introduced to at the show – a cost-saving measure, a way to improve sales, a problem your company can solve. As often as possible, have a salesperson make an face-to-face sales call on these prospects prior to the show to introduce themselves and ask about the show.
The first lesson? Get a plan – well before the show starts. Create accountability for each of your attendees to have several pre-set meetings. Create a master list of these contacts that you can follow up on and update after the trade show.
During the Show
The second thing you need is an In-Show strategy. The most important part of that strategy is message: Does everyone know the key points to be emphasized and discussed? Does everyone know the key questions to ask? Does everyone know how to use collateral material and samples in their presentations? If you really want to see the show from a customer’s perspective, engage in role play with your salespeople – you might be surprised at what you hear.
Next, determine who will staff the booth, and when they are expected to be there. How will you collect leads and contacts? My suggestion is, if feasible, to take someone to handle administrative tasks – booth prep in the morning, shut-down in the evening, collection of leads, etc. At the end of each day, you should have the entire staff meet for twenty to thirty minutes to discuss what you did well, where you need to improve, and to see if your show message is creating interest.
Each day of the show (assuming multiple days), your booth should be spotless, organized, and representative of your company’s image. Double-check your samples and brochures. Does everyone have access to the things that are needed to present your products or services?
The critical aspect of your in-show strategy is to try to set a follow-up appointment for each meaningful contact – or at least the expectation that you will be calling on them to follow up. It may be difficult to actually set an appointment, but it is not impossible! In either case, the expectation of a follow-up is essential to creating continuity from the show. Your after-show strategy will include direct contact with everyone possible, but how much easier is that to do if you are expected?
For every new prospect that you present to, have a plan to introduce the individual to someone in the management staff. Take time to thank the person for stopping by your booth. If it is a significant contact, ask for permission to follow-up (both sales rep and manager) in-person some time after the show. If the contact is a decision maker or principal in the business, and it makes sense in your case, you may want to invite them to tour your facility.
Note: Every show has its fair share of “lookers” and people collecting the give-aways. Regardless of your visitor’s intent, be cordial and professional. You never know who influences a decision…
After the Show
The third thing you need is an after-show strategy. The critical factor here is accountability – you need to be able to calculate a return on your investment to see what you get out of these shows. Total number of in-show contacts. Total number of meaningful presentations. Number of new leads. Total sales, or sales resulting from the show contacts (up to 90 days after the show). Any or all of these metrics will serve as meaningful indicators of the show’s effectiveness and provide a baseline for comparison and improvement next year.
Make sure that each and every lead is accounted for and followed up with; and do not let salespeople get away from reporting on their progress with each of their individual contacts. Every contact should also receive a personal, hand-written thank you note from a salesperson, a manager, or both. This provides an additional opportunity to follow-up and discuss the show as most people won’t refuse to see someone kind enough to send a personal note.
This is a quick outline of minimum steps to take for a trade show. Once you get into the planning mode, you may create a number of additional ideas that make sense for your situation. Hey, you have a lot of money invested in these shows – it’s time to get something in return, don’t you think?
