Every industry has trade shows. In fact, many industries have multiple trade shows in a year. Whether it’s an international, national or regional trade show, and no matter how many times you’ve attended, I’m a firm believer that you should approach attending a trade show with plenty of planning.
Of course, if you are an exhibitor, you should have a checklist for your exhibit booth, or you may even hire an outside marketing firm to handle all the details.
But what if you are just “walking the show?” Do you have an objective? Are you a speaker? Have you thought about what you will wear and if it is aligned with your brand (personal or company brand)?
I know that Focus Precedes Success, so here are some of the best practices I have always used before attending a trade show.
As an exhibitor:
Assign a key person in your organization to handle all the details, fill out the forms and be the go-to person to answer any and all questions about the show.
It may sound old fashioned, but the best exhibitors have a 3-ring binder, where copies of all forms, checklists, shipping documents, contact phone numbers and emails, etc. are handy when you get to the show.
Be strategic about who you bring to the trade show. For sure the CEO must be there if it’s an international or national show, as they are often the face of the company. But do you need to bring every single salesperson to a regional show? Think about the size of the booth and how crowded it will feel if you have too many staff.
Assign some of your staff to work inside the booth and assign others to walk the show and gather competitive information on your industry.
After you decide who is attending the show, start having “Pre-Show” meetings at least 3 months in advance to discuss the design of the booth, the objectives of attendance, which clients you want to meet with, develop a script for when someone asks you “what’s new” when they stop by your booth. Having group meetings in advance gets your team excited about the show and allows you plenty of time to review all details.
When you are deciding what all booth staff should wear, think from the perspective of the attendees who will be walking by your booth. Will “all black shirts” stand out against the background of your booth? Is your logo on your shirts legible for someone who doesn’t know your company? Will your staff have their own company magnetic name tags? Or do you want your staff to be wearing the industry issued badges, promoting other company names and logos that are printed on the lanyards?
Get the registration list at least 6 weeks in advance, and have your staff review and identify which of your clients and prospects will be in attendance. That way, they can start discussing meeting up with them, far in advance of the show, vs sending out a mass e-blast asking everyone to “stop by your booth”. The more personal the contact, the better the connection.
As an attendee:
Decide what your main objective is in attending. Is it just a habit that you attend a trade show, or are there specific people or companies you want to meet or talk to?
Get a copy of the attendee and exhibitor list in advance and identify the people you want to meet. Email them in advance to set up a time and place to meet.
Think in advance about what you will wear. Part of your personal brand comes from how you appear. Will you dress in a suit (to appear formal and serious) or will you wear dark jeans and a plaid shirt (to look professional, yet more casual). Will you carry a briefcase or a backpack, or just take notes on your tablet or phone? If you will take notes on a pad, be sure to carry at least 2 pens. 1 to keep and 1 to loan to someone else who is not as prepared as you are.
Be sure to pack enough business cards. If you are an attendee at a show, and plan to meet business prospects, you do not want to run out of cards. In case you are in the camp that thinks paper business cards are passe, read my blog here on why digital cards don’t work as well. https://karencaplan.com/are-paper-business-cards-a-thing-of-the-past/
Another great way to position yourself at a trade show is to be a speaker. Many associations are looking for good speakers or panelists, so don’t be afraid to contact the organization’s management to pitch yourself. To get the best results, you should do this about a year in advance and have a brief outline of topics you could discuss and for a panel, who else you might include to join you.
Follow up – follow up – follow up. That’s where most trade show attendees and exhibitors fail. They have not created a system and process to do immediate follow up. Will it be a paper letter or an email? When will you send it? Do you prefer to call people to follow up? And how soon should you contact people after a show? I always say, strike while the iron is hot. That means, a few days or at the latest, the week following the trade show. Being considerate about giving the person time to travel back to their office and catch up on emails is always appreciated.
If you are a CEO, or Head of Sales and have your team attending a trade show soon, you will want to calculate the ROI (Return on Investment) for all the monies you spend on the show. Booth space, booth, travel and lodging, entertainment, product, SWAG, etc. Have your team total up all costs, plus your staff time. Then depending on your profit margin, you can easily calculate how much new business you need to generate to have a positive ROI. Let’s say you work on an 8% margin and the total investment to attend a trade show is $200,000. That means you need to generate at least $2.5 million in new business ($200K/.08).
I’m looking forward to attending a few trade shows this fall, and have already started making my plans. How about you? Instead of looking at your trade show attendance as a “necessary evil”, start thinking in terms of how to maximize your ROI. It will make a huge difference for you and your team.
Onward and upward,
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