Posted April 10th, 2009 by Karl
While there are some signs of early shoots of recovery it is still important to keep a tight rein on the costs and expenses; you are still attending and exhibiting at shows while the competition has been sleeping and this leaves huge chunks of market share and customers up for grabs but you still have to be profitable and generate business which pays for itself.
Here we go back to basics when it comes to saving money and maximizing the results from your trade show efforts.
Do Your Homework before the Show
Going into a show without proper research into the market and those likely to be attending is a surefire way of throwing money away.
Check the demographics of the trade show attendees from prior shows (management will have this) and look at who is going to be attending for the forthcoming show as well – again trade show management should have this but it is not always straight forward to come by – dig your heels in and insist, you’ve earned the right to this information by renting their space when many others have stopped.
Take the Time to Prepare
An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance but everything is for nothing if you haven’t prepared the way beforehand.
A major trade show will take your team some 12 to 18 months of prior preparation for it to come off as successfully as you intend. Smaller shows take less time and if you have been around the block a few times you will quickly learn what is and is not important to generating maximum results from the show.
Always set enough time to prepare and train up your team so everyone knows what to expect, what their job is and ultimately who is responsible for delivering results which must be measured and assessed.
Management should be Top Down
The sooner senior management are involved and taking ownership of those parts of the process which are important the better for everyone. Trade show displays are a great way to generate exposure and sales but they also require thorough planning and appropriate allocation of resources; the sooner senior management authority is brought to bear the easier everyone else’s job becomes and this saves a great deal of time and trouble for no cost.
Pre-Show Marketing
Do not rely on the trade show management to do your marketing for you; make sure you email and mailshot your prospect and client banks with the information and fact that you will be exhibiting as well as inviting them to come see you there. Don’t hold back in letting the press know you will be there too – exhibiting at a show is usually worth a short piece or two in the local press as well as trade journals – a press release will cost you some paper and fax time.
Post-Show Follow Up
Too often trade show teams breathe a sigh of relief at the end of a show – end up in the hotel bar and celebrate with a party and a few pats on the back about a great time and some great contacts and sales.
Bad move and this costs millions every year to American businesses.
Once the trade show has ended your job has only just begun – now is the time to be getting on top of your team and making sure the follow up calls are initiated and meetings promised during the trade show are actually carried out and take place. More money is to be made after the trade show than during the event itself but this is commonly ignored or not done well by exhibitors.
Posted March 15th, 2009 by Karl
The recession continues to claim victims and headlines but moving into Spring there are now some clear shoots showing signs of recovery.
I had a turbulent time in Las Vegas with PMA 2009, the world’s premier consumer electronics show and enjoyed the atmosphere and vacation style-whirlwind while picking up a ton of contacts and potential customers to follow up.
PMA 2009 was not as heavily attended as previous years and it was also notable that many of the digital camera launches I normally associate with PMA were not present – for those who don’t know, I’m involved in the digital camera and consumer electronics market – but there are other reasons aside from cost-cutting exercises amongst exhibitors at work here.
First off, PMA is not having it’s crown remain in place unchallenged – PMA management and the event face very strong competition from overseas particularly the Far East and in the summer there will be a huge trade show in Australia closely followed by another in South Korea which reflects the dominance of the Far East in generating new electronics for the mass market.
Given most of the product launches normally associated with PMA are going to be bought in the Asian-Pacific market it makes sense that is where they get launched, not to mention it is also where most of these products are now made.
Still, there I was for a few days performing my stint and after the end of the show we had the final round up as the calls out to prospects and contacts has been concluded and we are up on our Like-for-Like numbers from the show last year – well before the recession actually struck.
Our increased success this year is due in part to a recovery starting to bud but also, we are gathering new business that has been left untended by our competitors who have withdrawn or restricted their activities in the market.
Only time will tell whether we are actually in recovery (certainly there are other positive indicators such as new home sales showing positive numbers) but at the same time, it is clear we are in an excellent position to take advantage of business that simply has nowhere to go to because so many of our competitors have done the swrong thing to begin with – cut back everything without thinking of the impact.
Posted February 16th, 2009 by Karl
Tossing and turning with budgets just as we kick off the first part of the year is never my idea of fun – I tend to formulate a plan and then stick to it but in this instance the way the markets are moving in such a state of flux, I just had to look at a couple of things again.
Prices have been dropping like the proverbial rock and not just for trade show space but the whole kit and support that goes into getting my teams from A to B with sales orders along the way.
The “Beast” is what my sales manager has nick named the new display unit we squeezed out of the budgeting exercise we had ticked off and agreed late last year – originally we were not going for new, our second team was getting the older units from the lead team.
The I had some sales information waved at me by Dennis; for some reason he’s gone all pastel and ambient lighting on me and seemed to be developing an unhealthy obsession with an alumalite hybrid display from one of our main suppliers, Exhibit Deal.
The bottom line is I cracked and we ordered a 10′ x 20′ trade show display which looks like Dennis is going to be taking his next date to – all subdued lighting with a clean, crisp finish – we had the display up today and I have to admit it does look pretty sexy.
I’m not someone who gets his head turned by a pretty face though and what really did make me change my mind was the price tag: we closed on this unit for less than $25,000 and I am being made to eat some harsh words.
The point to drive home here is that now is the time to look at what you need with regards to capital investment in your exhibition kit – you are simply not going to get a cheaper deal on any aspect of your exhibition strategy than at this time!
Posted January 20th, 2009 by Karl
2009 has provided me with a very busy start so apologies for neglecting to post until now.
The trade press is awash with news on dropping trade venue numbers and there are also some heavy weights moving around as they seek to position themselves both for the recession and the recovery.
I have a meeting tomorrow with my marketing team and we are finalizing the 2009 bookings and filling up the odd gaps and opportunities in the calendar and we are all amazed at the dropping prices.
NOW is definitely a great time to grab bookings at prices which are a fraction of what we paid last year – so intent are we that the proposed second event team have gone from a substitute, “fill some of the gaps in the schedule” outfit to a fully funded profit center in their own right.
It is not just the venues that are offering excellent deals – and they are really offering excellent value now – but also the ancillary suppliers. We initially planned on using the older trade show display material and collateral for the second team but after looking at the offers and discounts being touted by all of our existing suppliers and new ones banging on the door we decided to go through a formal budgeting and quotation process to outfit the new guys.
I haven’t been directly involved but have had the numbers and summaries emailed through to me and the numbers do look outstanding – we are equipping our second event team for less than 30% of the cost of our primary event team who we refitted completely this time last year!
The big issue is what is going to happen to the attendee numbers at trade shows – I expect there will be some decline but I also am not going to be surprised if there is not either – in any event I do not anticipate any decline on the scale of the retrenching currently being demonstrated by the venues and suppliers which is good news for us.
Posted December 31st, 2008 by Karl
The old year is about to go out and here we have Father Time delivering 2009 as a brand new baby.
The news is dire; the economy stinks, bail outs are being negotiated and pleaded for on the Hill in Washington and maybe we should just close Uncle Sam down for the year until 2010 comes around?
Rubbish!
2009 is gong to be the year of that great “R” word – RECOVERY!
Recovery always follows on from a recession!
You need to steer your business through the recession, that goes without saying but the key to long term success is not just surviving a recession it is positioning yourself so you are able to take advantage of the recovery which will materialize.
This is a fact of business life.
Now is a time of great opportunity for those who have the vision and are prepared to work diligently – trade shows and trade show displays provide an excellent way to forge new customer relationships and when your competition are cutting back on marketing and sales, this is precisely the time to be ramping your efforts up in order to take the market share that is being given up by your competitors.
Just as businesses are generally cutting back, you are in a fantastic position to take advantage of the deals and offers from display and accessory manufacturers as well as event managers. Business perception and sentiment may be negative but for the savvy operator, now is a time to be capitalizing on the economic situation and getting set for a great 2009.
Start 2009 by taking a good hard look at what trade show events have to offer you whether you are new to exhibiting or a vetaran; you are in a very strong position when it comes to negotiating the very best market terms for your marketing and sales effort so start 2009 off with a trade show bang.
Now it only remains to say goodbye to 2008; enjoy yourselves, don’t drink and drive and have a very prosperous and Happy New 2009!
Posted December 20th, 2008 by Karl
The type of system you use for your trade show display will in large measure be determined by the type of product or service you are offering and to an extent, how you do business.
Think about this for a moment.
Some veterans of the trade show scene like a customer facing kiosk which allows the attendee to engage with the business at their own pace and without breaking the personal space of a sales rep on the booth; kiosks which are interactive are excellent at attracting people and providing the perfect ice-breaker for meaningful business discussions thereafter.
Others like the table top displays; these are amongst the cheapest available but nevertheless they do provide a very quick set-up and with the right people designing and producing them, they are eye catching. Some say they are not a good display presence if you are sitting behind them; personally I use table top displays but they are set at the rear of my display space and flanked by banner or customer stands.
I currently have an aluminum modular system which does take a little extra time to set up (not much more though) and the great thing about the modular system is the flexibility. I can change the layout to adapt to the space available at the venue and I have found this to be indispensable when it comes to taking what I refer to as the “discount” spaces at events; I frequently exhibit at tradeshows at the last minute and use this to grab excellent discounts on the normal pricing being asked for; the downside is I get offered all sorts of space sizes and frequently they are not the regular rectangle but some sort of triangular or rhomboid shape – no issue for my modular system though!
Whichever system you go for, and there are others aside from the ones I’ve mentioned already, think through the ides you have and the type of presence both you and your attendees are going to feel comfortable with.
Posted December 10th, 2008 by Karl
Before you step into trade show exhibiting you need to research and prepare; this is especially true if you are a first timer and looking at the wide range of events and kit for you to acquire in order to mount an impressive presence.
The fact is that you need not reinvent the wheel; all of the mistakes you can think of and many more you have no inkling about have already been made by the tens of thousands of businesses who already are using trade show displays to make billions of dollars of revenue every year.
The first thing you should be doing is attending trade shows and exhibitions but not as an exhibitor, attend them as a simple attendee!
The cost may be free or it may be a small fraction of the cost of renting space and investing in a display.
Firs of all, select a range of exhibitions you are interested in; choose a varying selection as a shortlist and visit them.
You are looking for two primary pieces of information; firstly, look at the venue and the attendance both by trade exhibitors and also by the number of attendees who are there – how many of each; what is the type of exhibitor and pay careful attention to their display presence; spot anything exhibitors are doing that makes then stand out from the crowd; who is attracting people and who are sitting around drinking coffee?
Learn with your eyes and ears and this will give you a whole host of ideas for you to assimiliate in your own effort and also, and perhaps more importantly, what you should not be doing!
The second thing you will be able to acquire is the actual experiences of exhibitors; for those who will spare the time, ask them how they are finding exhibiting at the event, what is working for them and why did they choose this particular event; ask them for their experiences and recomendations for other events that they exhibit at and more importantly, how much business are they generating from their activities.
Bear in mind, people only like to talk about their successes so you will need to treat some of the information with a pinch of salt but you will be getting first hand information from someone who has actually gotten their check book out and committed money to the project.
Posted December 7th, 2008 by Karl
Before I overcame the initial hurdle of gaining experience in trades hows and exhibitions I tried a tactic to keep the costs down.
Bear in mind that I had been exhibiting for a couple of years and knew enough to know what I was doing; my trade show display and marketing collateral were all in place and I only had to land and set up to be in business.
I had to fly to the West coast for a show in LA, head back to base and four days later fly back out to San Diego.
Those four days were dead space; I should have stayed in California but there simply was nothing to do and I couldn’t justify the expense of a four day “vacation” in the sun.
The following year, the time dead zone was six days; a real pain in my constructive and productive neck so I did some research and found secondary tradeshow events in the area open during that time slot. When I had a shortlist, I called them about a month before I was due to fly out and feeling full of myself I asked if they had any space left and what was the best deal they could offer me.
I was completely open about what I was doing – looking to fill some dead space in the diary and asking around.
The result was I was offered two slots in San Diego for 25% of the listed cost and 30% on the other; both one day events while in LA I managed three events offering 50% and more off space rental. All the event managers were offering much more aside from simple discounts off the space rental with a host of extra services to try to entice me to take their surplus space.
The moral of the story is simple; if you don’t ask you won’t get!
Posted December 5th, 2008 by Karl
Attendees come to trade shows and exhibitions full of the idea that exhibitors (i.e. you!) have their full attention on them and them alone.
Use this attitude to your advantage.
Train yourself and your trade show display staff in making simple pitches to attendees; you may have the best product or service but you can still end up losing the sale to a competitor simply because they said it more plainly than you did.
Keep it simple, on topic and to the point!
Don’t be afraid to sell; too often I pass by booths and overhear what I personally call “The Flower Dance”; a member of the booth staff is in discussion with an attendee but instead of talking business they feel reticent in coming forward with their pitch and are asking about kids, the car they drive, vacations, house prices in fact almost anything but the product or service they are there to promote and sell!
Attendees expect to be pitched at so make your pitch for pete’s sake!
Attendees are also full of an ego; like I sad earlier, they come to the show thinking that your attention is going to be on them and them alone so apply a little human psychology and pander to this.
I use free giveaways as a tool to stroke an attendees ego; they feel they are getting something special (and I admit, I do use good high-end promotional gifts) but they are a double edged sword; they are mine to give or not as the case may be; you want my gift Mr or Ms Atendee, then you are going to have to earn my generosity!
I always link my giveaway with a behavior which for me is certainly a meaningful business discussion where I can qualify my prospect and decide whether the lead is worth pursuing or not. Sometimes I give the gift anyway depending on my mood and whether I am looking to create a lighter atmosphere, but for the most part, you want my gift you give me your time and business needs so I can see if I can fulfill them.
It’s that simple!
Posted November 23rd, 2008 by Karl
Increasingly social media web sites are being used by convention and trade show managers to promote the event and facilitate communication about the event itself and also as a means for attendees and exhibitors to link up at trade show displays or other locations.
If you don’t know your Twitter from your Squidoo, here is a brief guide to what is being used at the moment.
Twitter
Twitter is a messaging system which allows you to post an answer to the general question “What are you doing?” – sounds simple and it is, but how can this be used in conjunction with your convention attendance?
First of all, you can use this to keep your contacts and audience updated with the latest breaking developments regarding the show and your attendance – if you decide you are having a new product line or, what if your booth address gets changed at the last moment? Twitter will take care of the announcement for you and it will also send text messages to cell phones too. Excellent tool for on-the-day show announcements and devlopments.
Facebook
Launched as a social networking site for students, now everyone has jumped on the bandwagon.
With Facebook you can share photographs, messages, information and manipulate the presentation as well as join or form groups of interested users; some of these groups are extremely large!
IAEE and others have formed groups for Facebook members to join and contribute and you can establish your own group to include your customers and prospects as well as colleagues.
LinkedIn
A networking tool – you complete a profile which feels like you are applying for a job, and post this up on the site – people then make connections to you based upon past and present business relations.
Event organizers have cottoned on to the event news feature that the latest version has included so all of your connections and contacts can be updated at the same time if something changes. You can arrange to announce your own events to which will give you control over what is distributed through the medium.
YouTube
YouTube allows users to upload videos, whether they have taken them from somewhere else off the web or their own home movies.
Several trade associations and businesses have created video for YouTube which has been uploaded including information on careers, the general business or association work as well as product information and “How to” type infomercials.
Simple and easy to use and this puts a human face on your web activities to share with colleagues and business contacts.