How to successfully work a trade show, the best and most cost efficient marketing opportunity of the year.

A trade show is one of the greatest opportunities available to help you reach your market in an extremely cost efficient, time efficient, and high impact personal way.

If handled properly, and it requires serious preparation and a game plan,  a trade show can be a bonanza, an opportunity to meet and create quality relationships with  dozens of potential customers, large and small, from which sales will germinate.

Depending upon the type of show and the type of product or service you are marketing, frequently the objectives at a trade show is to create personal relationships and fight for the order later on after the show.

If you can restrain yourself, which is extremely difficult, and not sell first,  make friends and talk business later, the show can be a huge success.

A trade show puts hundreds or thousands of your potential customers in your reach, without you having to drive, fly or spend an entire day seeing two people.

Some very local shows designed for businesses marketing to individuals, home owners, parent, kids, men, women, athletes, and everything in between. Some shows are wholesale distributor, chain shows,  frequently they are divided up by the commerce the show represents so everyone there is a potential customer and is interested in your product or service.

On another level, I have clients that make a half years business volume at one of the regional agricultural shows selling a professional service and knowing that out of every hundred people that walks by, 5 will be interested in talking with him, and he will create dozens of appointments and names that when following up after the show will result in dozens of paying customers.

Ok so how does it work, what should you do?

First, preparation begins long in advance. the booth itself must be designed, and built and be both easy to ship or transport and set up and break down.

Are you going to be the three table booth with fliers on the table and that’s your presentation? Are you creating some point of interest so the show walkers will gravitate in and want to engage. Hmmmm wonder which approach will work for you?

Why not begin calling key distributors, store owners, or whomever you feel will be a quality customer and begin the meeting weeks in advance by announcing your intent to meet and get to know this person so there can be future business discussions and lets go out for drinks at the show, or come by the booth so we can meet, or let me know were you are staying so I can call you and we can go out for dinner or something….get the point?

Why not have dozens of contacts and calls with a wide variety of potentially important relationships and invite some to come by the booth, some you may want to create specific meetings,  to review your product line, invite the wives go sight seeing while the men do business.

Will it work? some of the attempts will work better then others and that’s a whole lot better then none. Also, next years show is also around the corner and doing it again next year will yield huge returns as then your a regular and your market will know what to expect from you and will be delighted to have you entertain them, so let it be you.

I have attended hundreds of trade shows and have displayed in dozens, and have observed those who win and those who lose. So here is reality, the buyers that go to the show are intending to see the people they are already buying from or selling to. Its them they focus on leaving very little room and time for the unknowns, those they are not doing business with. So what do you do to break through this barrier?

Hook’em into the booth, and talk fast, attract them with spectacle or by personal power. Spectacle…a model,  a super hero, an athlete, a star, a contest, whatever you can imagine will attract attention, slowing your walker down drawing them into the booth and giving you an opportunity to sell them, or at least to talk to them about your product and get to know as many people as possible. Some will become customers now, some later, some next year, but the process is magnified and concentrated here and now, at the show. Hook’em in and talk to them quickly. Meet them and make friends.

You have seconds to attract someone into your booth, and then maybe a minute or two to talk to them and involve them in meaningful discussion. Over and over just do it, having no idea who you are talking to, big or small buyer. You will get some of both, but you must pitch to as many people as you can. That’s the only way to make a show work for you. If you stand in your booth and wait for people to come in because they are attracted to your presentation, your experience will be a disaster and you will get little out of it.

While your at the show you have a captive audience with the other exhibitors. Early, before the doors are open, walk the show and talk to as many exhibitors as you can, there will be natural relationships, and potential customers, talk to them, but be respectful  they are there to sell not to buy. Talk to them, meet them and create relationships so you can call them after the show and do business..

Work 24 hours per day. This is your opportunity, make early appointments, late appointments, take different people out to dinner each night. Do not entertain your help. Ask your help to make a similar commitment and take similar action with potential customers, hooking them in, meeting them, talking to them and, going out with some etc. Take your sales people, its a selling event and having your sales staff is an excellent strategy. Give them credit for and commissions on sales made at the show, incentives always work.

Have your information and samples, price sheets, catalog sheets, business cards all in adequate quantity to last the three days of the show and to be given out to thousands of people.

A show special is a typical practice, its extra discount if an order is written at the show, although we all know that they can have that price any time just by asking, but its a good deal opener.

Take business cards from everyone, as many as possible, because after the show your going to do a mailing continuing the development of the relationships and furthering the sales talk. You may even call them personally or have your sales staff follow up.

There may be a show newspaper, you want to advertise in it and ask for an article as they will report about the various interesting exhibitors. Advertising should get you a mention in the review sections, and its worth it, you need to create a buzz about your booth.

The best advice I can give is to talk to as many people as you can, do not wait for them to talk to you, be aggressive as any one may become a customer, and you never know who it will be. Everything we have talked about is merely a way to put yourself before as many people as you can. The rest is up to you, your skills and your product or service will eventually have to be viable and interesting, priced appropriately and enticing to the buyers. The objective is to talk to as many people as possible.

With the proper attitude, a plan and an understanding as to how a show is best worked, you will always get enough new business out of it to make the experience worth the expense and the time investment.Cal me for help 413-549-2966.