Define SMART goals, objectives and metrics for your participation. Decide on how you will measure success as well as any adjustments necessary.
Make sure your business stands out by recruiting the appropriate team. This includes someone with in-depth knowledge of its products and services, an onsite tech specialist to handle questions from visitors, as well as salespeople capable of qualifying leads.
Plan Ahead
Planning is key to the success of trade show efforts, from setting measurable goals to designing your booth design and developing pre-show marketing campaigns.
Additionally, your team must be properly prepared to deliver and handle leads for your brand message and keep conversations on brand. Furthermore, evaluate any technologies (Wi-Fi/cell service) brought with them to make sure it can support all their needs.
Finally, create a day-of communication plan with your team so everyone is clear on their responsibilities and what to expect from one another. Effective communication can help prevent miscommunication and delays during event setup. Also consider creating a backup plan just in case something goes wrong during the show; this will reduce stress while saving money from unexpected expenses.
Be Prepared
Mike emphasizes one of the biggest mistakes when it comes to business relationships: placing too much emphasis on making sales rather than developing long-term ones. After each show, send a professional yet personalized follow up email containing some sort of follow up plan or invitation for future meetings.
Always ensure you have plenty of brochures, product sheets and business cards at the ready. Not only are these useful from an aesthetic standpoint but also as tools for capturing leads. Consider investing in lead capture technology that allows your team to scan event badges or business cards and take notes before attendees exit your booth.
Be sure to train your sales team on how to ask qualifying questions that can help determine whether a visitor is a prospective client. Simple inquiries such as their organization and role can reveal those that fit with your buyer personas and should only receive samples.
Be Flexible
Keep in mind that attendees of trade shows represent both potential customers and competitors as well as vendors. Attendees often offer valuable feedback regarding your products or services which you can incorporate into future strategy decisions.
Make sure you bring plenty of marketing materials for attendees, including brochures, whitepapers, data sheets and videos. Also bring plenty of business cards so that you don’t run out during the show!
Before your event, organize a team meeting to establish goals and expectations for it. Make sure all team members know of its dates and times on their calendars, their roles during trade shows, as well as creating a logistics document which will ensure no important items get forgotten in shipping processes; include your event director for this document as they likely understand its management process best.
Be Creative
Preparing and training your team properly to maximize your trade show participation is essential to making the most of any trade show participation experience. This may mean assigning specific people or teams for certain duties such as collecting registration documents and gate passes, doing an inventory of branding collateral inventory or overseeing booth construction at an event venue.
To attract new customers, an interesting exhibit design and promotional items like pens and calendars may help. Furthermore, you could sponsor seminars or host workshops so as to increase brand exposure as much as possible.
Your staff should be knowledgeable of your products and services, and proficient in customer engagement techniques. Uninformed or disengaged booth personnel are a huge turn-off, so ensure that your team receives training before the show. Furthermore, post-show follow up is vitally important so set a follow up schedule post show.
