We’re back on track to make your next tradeshow or event more productive. We left you last time with a sense of how to plan a productive show and who to focus on. But now you have to do the leg-work.

So you have a list of Prospects, Customers, Partners and Competitors that you want to do something with/to at your show. It’s  a big challenge, so you have to delegate. You just have to – and your staff will get into it if you position it as an important group function rather than an edict. So parcel out the groups and have your staff report back with a plan of attack. It doesn’t matter if they’re going to be at the show.  The agenda should be realistic, actionable and specific. For example, “Meet with the following 10 partners and discuss product or service complements. Explore ways to co-market, co-sell or co-develop.” You’ll end up with 30-100 people or entities to meet with. And already this is looking like a MUCH more productive show than you’re used to.

Give special attention to Prospects, since these are a major element of your future business pipeline. You need a way to bring qualified Prospects into the booth for the right type of engagement with the right people. This is where outbound mailings - old school (real mail) or new school (email) – fit in. There are a lot of companies that can help you manage pre-show contacts. One company I checked out at TS2 was Ship Shapes (www.shipshapes.com). They have an oddly compelling target mailer (real mail) that your Prospects are less likely to chuck.

But whichever way you tackle this, use your best sales leads and add to this Prospects that should be in your booth. These might be from a list you buy and qualify, or a group that has requested info. Get as much information from Sales about why they’re a Prospect. What do they want? When are they making a decision? Then give your Prospects an early invitation and a real reason to come by. Consider a “hands on” product demo, side by side comparison, free trade in voucher, warranty extension card, etc. Once you’ve mailed them, follow up to confirm. Make it personal, not generic. Calendar your meetings in all of these areas and create a master calendar. Suddenly you’re not standing in the booth, you’re driving new Prospects towards a sale, connecting with Customers, dialoguing with Partners and scoping the Competition.  You’re ready for a great show.

Next time we’ll tackle one of the most overlooked way to drive value - booth staff preparation.

Impact Displays is full-service exhibit house serving companies exhibiting at trade shows and other face to face marketing events. Please check out our other tips on our Trade Show Tips page.

At Impact, when we think about tradeshows we’re generally thinking about the exhibits. We’re an exhibit house – so it’s our job. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help our customers find ways to get a higher tradeshow ROI in ways that are not necessarily exhibit related.

I was reminded of this when I attended Steve Underation’s (http://www.tradeshowprofitsystems.com/) program at Exhibitor 2009 a few months ago. Steve does a great job of focusing exhibitors on everything you do to getter a better return tradeshow (except buy a bigger booth). I highly recommend his course and books – they’re packed with good advice. With that in mind we’ll take a few of our posts to outline a plan of attack that will make your tradeshow budget, whether it’s big or small, deliver more return.

Answer this simple question: why are you going to the show? 90% of the people I ask mumble some version of “We have to,” “Sales wants to,” “the CEO wants to,” “It would look bad if we didn’t.” Of course there has to be a better reason. These are expensive events. They take a lot of coordination and time. But if there are no goals, there will be no goal achievement.

I modestly suggest the following are good reasons to go to the show (others surely exist also):

·                     Prospects are at the show and most will reach buying decisions during the show

·                     You make face to face connections with existing customers

·                     You can take the competition head on

·                     You learn what your competitors say, how they market and position

·                     You dialogue with partners  

Each of these reasons suggests a goal (i.e., line up partner meetings) and a plan. You have to figure out whom to set up meetings with, the agenda, the deliverables, etc. It takes time and effort. I’ve done it – I know. But the amazing this is how much more powerful and effective the tradeshow venue is than any other setting to get this done. Any one of these goals is more difficult and expensive to achieve outside of a tradeshow setting.

If you’re still with me, make a list of answers to these questions:

Which new prospects do I want to meet with?

Which current customers do I want to meet with?

Which competitors do I want to gather information about?

Which partners or partner prospects do I want to meet with?

Now you know the why and who – get to the what. We’ll cover this in an upcoming post. If you have other insights and successful strategies, please share them. 

Impact Displays is full-service exhibit house serving companies exhibiting at trade shows and other face to face marketing events. Please check out our other tips on our Trade Show Tips page.