Post trade show evaluation and trade show leads follow-up are two of the most overlooked aspects of trade show participation. These activities are where many trade show exhibitors fail usually because of a couple of reasons.

You return to the office to find your voicemail is overflowing; your inbox full of emails and you need check on your current projects and sales.

There’s an assumption that all the trade show leads you met at the show will phone you because you gave them a brochure and they are certain to remember you.

Therefore, it’s suggested that you first follow-up with all urgent issues immediately and deal with existing client matters that have arisen while you’ve been away. Then put aside all other non-critical matters and start your trade show leads follow-up.

By following up on your trade show leads right after the show tells your customers and prospects that your company cares about them and is responsive. According to the CEIR (Center for Exhibition Industry Research) over 80% of all trade show leads never receive post-event sales follow-up, so take your competitors’ customers and increase your show’s ROI -follow-up on your trade show leads!

Just to reinforce this point, an astounding 43% of prospective buyers receive materials after they have made a buying decision with another vendor, while 18% report never receiving materials at all.

You must have a plan for immediate, post trade show leads follow-up.

The day after the show, your pile of trade show leads is worth 100 percent of its value. A month after the show, the leads are worth half of that, yet it still costs 100 percent in company time and resources to follow them up. Prepare all follow-up materials before the show. Identify necessary codes; write cover letters, order materials and postage.

Hot prospects cool quickly. One way to prevent them from becoming lukewarm is to send follow-up information during the show. Prior to the show, prepare product information packages at your office, and either leave them with an assistant or transport them to the show. At each day’s end, address your packages to those hot prospects and drop them in the mail

Most trade shows do not end when the doors are closed and the key to success is to prioritize your post trade show activities.

In order to achieve maximum results, the period after the exhibition is the most important phase of the whole exhibition project. First of all, you have to be quick to follow up contacts made during the trade show and you have to be consistent and methodical in your approach. Sort your trade show leads either by their business potential (A, B, or C leads) or the information requested.

Steps to an effective follow-up are:

1. Trade show sales leads should be prioritized according to urgency.
2. Leads should be followed up immediately.
3. On an ongoing basis pursue leads.
4. Track leads to provide some measure of return on investment.

Post trade show follow-up is essential to making the most of your investment. As soon as you return from the trade show, (or certainly within 48 hours) you should phone or email all serious trade show leads and prospects to say “thank you” for stopping by at your booth; extend any offers made at the trade show and offer any product/service solutions.

by Ken MacKenzie – 2010

Source: http://www.TheTradeShowEdge.com

Recommended Reading

• marketing
• Tradeshow Planning
• Train Staff For Tradeshows
• Training for Tradeshows
• Trade Show Budgets
• Marketing Special Events
• Events & Email Marketing

There’s a lot to do when undertaking tradeshow planning and one of the first steps in planning an exhibit program for your business is to determine which of the thousands of shows you intend to enter during the year. Of particular importance are the figures relating to attendance.

For instance, how many visitors were important buying influences and what were the job functions they represented? You must also be tough in your evaluation of a trade show’s worthiness. Ask yourself: “Are the attendees likely customers for my organization? Know what industries contain your potential customers as well as what level and job functions are your buying influences. Specialized trade shows usually have a higher percentage of likely prospects whereas the larger the show the more general will be its audience.

When tradeshow planning, don’t forget that your exposure to a few hundred very qualified targets is better than exposure to thousands of visitors who are very unlikely be interested in your products or services. Products (and/or services) to be shown should be determined by referring to the expected attendance. If show management provides a breakdown by industry, this will give you an idea of what products to show at the trade show. Valid visitor registration data is important in evaluating whether you should participate in a particular trade show.

The number of people attending a trade show doesn’t mean as much as the quality of your prospects attending. The better trade shows start running out of good space very quickly, so when doing your tradeshow planning don’t wait too long to book. This is especially important if you want to retain the preferred space you had at a previous show.

You should commence your tradeshow planning at least 12 months in advance, but what your exhibit will feature and the objectives you want to achieve needn’t be set immediately. Which particular shows to participate in is not an easy decision to make. Plan to set up a booth, either on your own or with a key partner, if you wish to have a significance presence at a trade show. You need to make thoughtful decisions about those trade shows that represent the best opportunities.

Define Your Target Audience:

By thoroughly understanding your buyers (industry, title, geography, motivations, product need/usage, etc.) and how they make purchase decisions will enable you to select opportunistic trade shows that will yield profitable results. Review all the trade shows you have attended in the past and remove from your list those that were disappointing. Of course, ensure that you keep those that were strong performers on your list.

by Ken MacKenzie – 2010

Ken MacKenzie is a former Senior Consultant with International Public Relations and Marketing Manager with a U.S. Trade Center. He is the author of “The Trade Show Edge”. For additional information on trade show staff and pre trade show training, sales and marketing techniques to make your participation a success, please visit: The Trade Show Edge Source: http://www.TheTradeShowEdge.com

Recommended Reading

• marketing
• Tradeshow Leads
• Train Staff For Tradeshows
• Training for Tradeshows
• Trade Show Budgets
• Marketing Special Events
• Events & Email Marketing

You should always ensure that you agree on guidelines for interacting with trade show visitors and qualifying customers. What makes successful exhibitors are their trade show staff and how they apply pre-determined qualification criteria to all prospects who visit their booth. Doing this enables them to prioritize their follow-up efforts on prospects meeting their initial qualifying criteria.

Make sure that your trade show staff is aware of how important it is to qualify the visitor. If filling out a request for further information or literature form, the salesperson should speak to visitors and help them complete the forms. They should judiciously ask enough questions to give visitors a rating as a prospect. Ask them to indicate what products interest them and whether their need is general or specific.

Also, whether their demand is immediate or in the future and the job function or job title of the prospect. Under no circumstances should trade show booth staff confront a visitor by saying “Can I help you?” This has to be one occasion when a closed question should never be used. Open questions that show interest and stimulate a response will enable your salesperson to develop a conversation. When a salesperson asks “May I help you?” the most common response is “No, just looking.” Trade show staff should always ask the visitors how they are familiar with your product or company and what created the interest.

By asking these questions, visitors are more willing to share information with you. For example, ask:” Are you more interested in our domestic or industrial range for this year?” “Would you mind giving me your opinion on ………?” At the early stage of the conversation do not risk a question that might be answered in the negative, for example…”Do you like our new color range?”

Equally, you should wait before asking questions like “Are you in the wholesale or retail trade?” Ensure that you let your trade show staff, particularly your salespersons, that being at the trade show is profitable for them as well as to the company. It’s also important to encourage and train your booth staff to be empathic listeners.

By having good listeners on your booth you will increase your exhibit effectiveness, as attendees will feel heard, understood and comforted. By letting the attendee know you understand his or her problem or situation it opens up lines of communication encouraging the attendee to elaborate and establishes rapport between the attendee and your salesperson. For example, you could say: “Let me see whether I’ve got this….” or “I hear what you’re saying ” or “Sounds like you need… “ A mistake often made by new exhibitors is that they give the prospects information on what to buy and leave it at that.

After the event they return to the office and wait for phone calls to complete the sale. When you speak to prospects at trade shows, the emphasis should be creating an interest and a desire to learn more. In other words, get the prospect involved in your presentation and develop a rapport with your visitor, which makes follow-up more efficient and effective. Trade show booth staff should always avoid insincere questions such as “How are you today?” or “Can I help you?” Again, absolutely avoid practices such as “please fill out this card and we will send you more information”. Get the prospects’ attention, and then generate interest in what you have to offer and then create the desire to learn more.

by Ken MacKenzie -

Ken MacKenzie is a former Senior Consultant with International Public Relations and Marketing Manager with a U.S. Trade Center. He is the author of The Trade Show Edge

Source: http://www.TheTradeShowEdge.com

Recommended Reading

• marketing
• Tradeshow Leads
• Tradeshow Planning
• Training for Tradeshows
• Trade Show Budgets
• Marketing Special Events
• Events & Email Marketing

Make sure your trade show staff have intimate knowledge of your products

One of the most important aspects of your exhibit strategy, if not the most important aspect, is your trade show training of staff.

Without dynamic trade show staff your eye-catching exhibit; pre-show publicity; product demonstrations and excellent giveaways can be wasted. Trade show training is essential for a professional image. The number one reason for attendees feeling underserved at trade shows revolves around trade show staff issues and their lack of intimate knowledge of a product.

Attendees want to have spontaneous discussions with knowledgeable booth staff and with staff that know pricing and how to use the products. Trade show visitors claim they avoid booths that were too crowded and were seen as ‘selling situations’ rather than a place to learn about new products and services. Yet so many organizations continue to man booths with under-trained, under-equipped salespeople.

Research shows that attendees prefer to speak with people who have trade show training and a technical background (such as production/operations, engineering, scientific/technical, and R&D) rather than people in sales and marketing.

Trade show staff have the responsibility of pre-qualifying booth visitors and establishing relationships that convert prospects into leads and then into buyers. They represent your products or services as well as your company’s image. An exhibit, no matter how well conceived or executed, only comes alive as a marketing or sales reality in direct ratio to the caliber of its personnel.

Remember, the effectiveness of your trade show booth staff can make or break your success at a trade show. Trade show training should include product training, exhibition logistics, exhibiting goals, booth etiquette, meet and greet techniques, qualifying techniques, demonstration techniques, closing techniques, follow-up techniques and lead management.

Surveys have shown that an amazingly high number of companies do not focus on trade show training in vital exhibiting techniques such as meet and greet, qualifying, closing and lead management techniques.

In addition, they don’t spend time in their trade show training program on their exhibiting goals and objectives. However, those companies that did undertake trade show training and train their staff in exhibiting goals and objectives as well as qualifying and closing techniques had an increased number of quality leads obtained. The trade show staff’s attitude, body language, appearance and knowledge help to create positive or negative perceptions in the minds of visitors. That’s why trade show training is so important.

It’s also important to staff your booth with employees who have excellent customer relationship skills as well as being good communicators. Of course, they should also fully understand your objectives. You will need to appoint a trade show co-ordinator and booth staff early on in the planning process. You should also study the job titles and functions of who are expected at the trade show so that you can assign the right personnel to your booth. For example, have technical people on hand to answer questions if that’s what is required. Members of the exhibition team need to understand the rather special techniques that apply to handling enquiries on the booth and you should spend at least a full day of hands-on trade show training at your facility with your trade show display booth staff.

by Ken MacKenzie – 2010

Ken MacKenzie is a former Senior Consultant with International Public Relations and Marketing Manager with a U.S. Trade Center. He is the author of “The Trade Show Edge”. For additional information on trade show staff and pre trade show training, sales and marketing techniques to make your participation a success, please visit: The Trade Show Edge

Source: http://www.TheTradeShowEdge.com

Recommended Reading

• marketing
• Tradeshow Leads
• Tradeshow Planning
• Train Staff For Tradeshows
• Trade Show Budgets
• Marketing Special Events
• Events & Email Marketing

With the decision made to exhibit and the choice of the event narrowed down, the next step is to establish a trade show budget.

You should remember that your participation in a trade show takes investment of both money and staff.

One way, when developing a trade show budget, is to look at the objectives you want to obtain and then work out how much has to be spent to achieve those objectives. Of course, you can look at the previous year’s trade show costs and increase it by a certain percentage. It really comes down to the number of key buying visitors you expect to see during the days of the show and how many conversions you expect to make.

When setting your trade show budget you need to cover the following expenses:

Space costs:

Depending on the industry and popularity of the trade show, trade show costs such as booth space can vary considerably. Of course, extremely large shows command the most money and package deals are the most economical way to participate in a trade show.

Booth fabrication and other trade show costs:

These include design and construction costs as well as insurance. In addition, there’s shipping, installation and dismantling costs, which have to be included in any trade show budget. Transportation is a very important aspect of your participation in a trade show and can amount to a substantial amount of money
Trade show services and Exhibit accessories:

The trade show management should provide you with an official exhibitor’s kit, which contains information, prices and the necessary forms for ordering ancillary products and services for your exhibit.

For example: electrical service; floor coverings; badges, extra tables and chairs; furniture; photographers; telephones, booth cleaning etc. You should order in advance and take advantage of any discounted prices. If required there’s also: plumbing, refrigeration, gas, compressed air and water trade show costs.

Insurance:

As an exhibitor, you are obliged in your trade show budget to allow for protection and your legal liability against accidental injury or damage. You need to be covered against compensation; claimants’ costs and legal expenses due to injury or damage occurring in connection with your attendance at an event. Cover can also include cover in the event of cancellation.

You should arrange for adequate insurance coverage for your products and displays in case your displays are broken, or mysteriously vanish during transportation, while in the custody of your shipping carrier or while at the show.

Advertising, promotion and special activities:

Obtain a copy of last year’s attendance list. Send a targeted pre-show mailing to prospects telling them about your company, your products, and the people who can help them at your booth. All advertising costs should be included in your trade show budget.

Personnel (including travel, hotel and living expenses):

When you are aware of the personnel assigned to the trade show you should arrange all hotel and travel reservations in advance. Do not leave these trade show costs to the last minute as you may find your staff are without a room as all “official hotels” are fully booked. You will need to arrange for: Rooms for personnel; food and beverage; transportation for personnel to and from the trade show city; blazers or any uniforms for booth personnel; guest passes, etc.

by Ken MacKenzie – 2010

Ken MacKenzie is a former Senior Consultant with International Public Relations and Marketing Manager with a U.S. Trade Center. He is the author of “The Trade Show Edge”. For additional information on trade show staff and pre trade show training, sales and marketing techniques to make your participation a success, please visit: The Trade Show Edge

Source: http://www.TheTradeShowEdge.com

Recommended Reading

• marketing
• Tradeshow Leads
• Tradeshow Planning
• Train Staff For Tradeshows
• Training for Tradeshows
• Marketing Special Events
• Events & Email Marketing

An event can be the launch of a new product, a new store, a birthday celebration — anything that is interesting enough to draw a crowd. It can take place at your business premises or in a public venue hired for the occasion.

Whatever the reason and wherever the event takes place, the purpose is to expose as many customers and prospects as possible to your business, its products and services.  It aims to stimulate traffic that can come into contact with you and your sales staff by creating a climate within which selling — either at the event or afterward — is made easier.

Making Trade Shows pay

No matter how exciting your event, the public has to be aware of it in order for it to be successful.  Obviously, planning is important so that all the finer details can be attended to on time and by the right people responsible for them.  It’s always best to draw up an action calendar, filling in when things must happen and indicating who on your staff is responsible for them.  Such a calendar or chart must be positioned in a prominent spot so that everyone involved in the promotional event can see it and study it regularly.

Follow up with regular meetings to check on progress.  Brainstorm with your staff — you’ll be surprised at the ideas they come up with once you’ve outlined the basic theme and objectives.

Pick a theme for your event, something that your local community can respond to and identify with. It’s often wise to divide your action calendar into:

1. Pre-event activities
2. Actions during the event itself
3. Post-event activities.

Pre-event

• Budgeting: Prepare a budget for all anticipated expenses, and keep tabs on them as you progress.  Items you should plan for are:
  • Advertising and promotional material;
  • Newspaper space;
  • Banners and flags;
  • Printing of invitations, name tags, programmes;
  • Venue costs;
  • Hire charges of sound equipment and public address systems;
  • Catering;
  • Decorations, special serviettes;
  • Entertainment;
  • Guest speaker;
  • Additional items such as competition prizes, accommodation costs, gifts.
• Promotion:
  • Plan how you will publicise the event, and reserve advertising space in the newspaper.
  • By when must the adverts be ready, and who will approve them?
  • Will there be a Press Release, and by when must it be ready?  When must it appear?  Be flexible; it might be necessary to release a press statement earlier than planned.
  • What other methods of promotion should be used?  Posters, banners, flysheets?  Flags, paper cups, place mats, balloons?
  • When publicising your event, remember to: announce the time and place; state whether all are welcome.
  • Invitations:  An event might well be open to all, but there will always be special guests you would like to invite by name.  Make sure the invitations are printed and mailed on time if you require a RSVP.
  • Also prepare a method of capturing names during the event, so that follow-up communications can take place afterward.
  • DON’T FORGET TO INVITE THE PRESS!
• General:
  • Book the venue if one is required.
  • Make sure the press know well in advance of the event.  Invite them in writing, along with an explanation of what you are planning.  Build their interest.
  • Arrange name tags.
  • When deciding on a date for your event, check that it does not clash with other community activities, and make sure that it leaves you enough time for preparation.
  • Make contingency plans if the weather is a factor.
  • Organise catering, cutlery, seating.
  • Arrange whatever equipment is needed for announcements and entertainment.
  • Arrange for a guest speaker or celebrity appearance if this is needed.
  • Arrange parking facilities.
  • Establish a programme of events.
  • Arrange display material, brochures, slides, videos etc.
  • Check with all your suppliers — printers, product — that what you need will be supplied on time.

The Event: undertake these tasks before the first guests arrive

• Make sure the public address system is working.
• Are your sales staff fully briefed on what is expected of them?
• Are the staff identified by means of name tags?
• Check on the caterers.
• Are guest speakers familiar with the programme?
• Double check that the press will be there on time.

Post-Event

• Arrange a follow-up press release, preferably with photographs.
• If names of guests have been obtained, use these in a follow-up email or direct mail campaign thanking them for their presence.
• Send the guest speaker a thank-you note.
• Ensure you return all hired equipment on time to avoid additional charges.
• THANK YOUR STAFF.

Recommended Reading

• marketing
• Tradeshow Leads
• Tradeshow Planning
• Train Staff For Tradeshows
• Training for Tradeshows
• Trade Show Budgets
• Events & Email Marketing

Most business people realize the importance of hosting of or participating in events – be it a cocktail party, a sporting event or attending a trade show. But all too often the role that email marketing can and should play is overlooked.

It is especially in the planning stage that email marketing plays a critical role – it’s such a quick and simple way of spreading the word.

Before the Event

Get the news out there:

• If the particular event is something your company has hosted before, include pictures and write up details of the event.
• Testimonials also add tremendous value; when someone sees firsthand what a great time your attendees had last year, they certainly won’t want to miss out.
• If you already have a list of dedicated clients, you have the perfect audience. They will be receptive and feel privileged to be the first to hear about your next happening. As such, your follow up message content must be viral and sharable.
• Make sure to encourage subscribers to forward your email to their friends.
• Ensure that you have adequate information about the event on your website, and include a web form on the page so that interested website visitors can sign up for details.
• Use social media networks to spread the word about your event, and link to a hosted web form so that interested parties can add themselves to your email list.
• If you are using a communications management system such as Aweber (highly recommended for businesses who are serious about customer contact), you can manage your RSVPs directly from that account.
• If you are charging for tickets you should include ticket prices in your email, what the event entails and where and how the tickets can be purchased.
• If the event is free you should share all pertinent information about the happening, and a link to a hosted web form where they can RSVP for the event so that they are added to a separate list within your account.
• When the date of the big day draws closer, send event-goers a message that addresses frequently asked questions. Include directions and a map to the venue. Parking arrangements? Let them know how this works.

During the event

If your affair spans over the course of a few days, utilize email as a way to communicate with your guests.

• Establish beforehand how many emails you will send, so as not to overwhelm them. Think of every single question someone could possibly have and aim to address them with your emails.
• A morning digest is a good way to keep attendees informed without being overbearing. Include announcements of changes to presentation times or any other changes to the agenda, and share meal times or last minute updates.

After the Event

After your event is over, you will want to maintain your relationships with attendees.

• If you have presentation materials that go along with a demonstration, provide PowerPoint slides by email so that those guests who don’t have access to a laptop or a printer can retrieve them when they get home.
• You should also make use of your guests’ experiences and feedback.
• To do this, survey your list and ask questions about how they heard about the event and how useful they found the material covered.
• You could even solicit feedback using a rating scale – a few links inserted in a logical order in your message that allow your readers to rate their experience at your event.

If you hold several events each year, keeping your subscribers informed via email after they’ve attended an initial event is a great way to grow your upcoming event attendance.

Extracted from a post written by Rebecca Swayze for Aweber.

Recommended Reading

• marketing
• Tradeshow Leads
• Tradeshow Planning
• Train Staff For Tradeshows
• Training for Tradeshows
• Trade Show Budgets
• Marketing Special Events