We”™ve decided to stick with the annual trade show we go to every year. I”™m hearing that, in general, trade show attendance is down. We”™ll have to be super effective. Any suggestions?
This reader is right. In years with low attendance, the firm with the most effective trade show game plan often comes away with the most, and best, leads. Supplementing sales with trade show leads can be a great way to boost results. It”™s often the ready and near-ready buyers who attend these shows.
Success at a trade show starts with organization. Get a list of attendees and work it before, during and after the show. Lay out routines for follow up. And use goals to measure and manage activity and results.
Getting started
Make lists you can use from one trade show to the next:
- Registration, travel and accommodations ”“ who gets registered, by when, who books flights, deadlines for low fares, where to stay, deadlines for cancellation or changes.
- Budget ”“ most of that comes right off the registration, travel and accommodation list.
- Booth planning ”“ who to contact to set up and wire the booth, when the booth has to ship, when to order handouts and literature to drop at or ship to the event, ordering coordinated clothing for booth staff, who is in charge of breaking the booth down and returning everything, day-by-day plans for the hours the booth is open, who staffs each timeslot, coverage during off-hours, how to contact everyone from the company who is attending the show.
Set targets
Have someone else determine which prospects, vendors and clients are attending the show, and how to make contact with them:
- Pre-announce what your company will be demonstrating at the show.
- Mail a postcard offer of a giveaway for anyone who stops by the booth.
- Call key prospects and schedule times to meet with them.
- Target specific prospects and customers and schedule breakfasts or coffee, or walk the floor of the trade show to find them.
- Target vendors and look up where their booths are, or schedule time to meet.
- Target employee candidates and set meetings ahead of time, build a list of skills you”™re looking for as you walk the show floor and visit other booths.
Follow up
Pick leads, then follow up. The more organized you are about lead follow up, the easier it will be:
- Assign one person to input business cards and notes about attendees into a database at the end of each day.
- Meet for 30 minutes at the end of each day to recap with everyone, gather information about prospect interests and vendor tactics and make adjustments to the next day”™s plan if needed.
- E-mail the day”™s booth attendance and interests to the home office, where someone immediately sends out an e-mail with an attachment.
- Put someone in charge of following up with prospects as soon as they get home, to inquire about their level of interest and assign next actions; do the same for vendors and employee candidates.
- Lay out a one-month, three-month and six-month follow-up routine for anyone who expressed interest, and assign someone to stay on top of it; ask people to report weekly at staff meetings on progress.
Stay on track
Lay out goals for the show and regularly check results against goals:
- Goal for number of sales desired from the show (pick a number if you”™re not sure); make it big enough to be a challenge.
- Minimum number of sales needed to pay for the show.
- Number of prospects with identified needs and inquiries (work backwards from minimum and goal sales numbers).
- Assign someone to track stats daily vs. goals and report on progress at the daily debrief meeting.
- Track stats for at least six months post-show, to see how results flowed
When it comes to going to trade shows, probably the easiest decision to make is the one about going to the show. Then the work begins. Make sure you and your staff are prepared to make the most of it by organizing before, during and after the show.
Looking for a good book? Try “Guerrilla Trade Show Selling: New Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Meet More People, Get More Leads, and Close More Sales” by Jay Conrad Levinson, Mark S. A. Smith, Orvel Ray Wilson.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc. of Chappaqua, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. Questions may be e-mailed to her at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com.
