Tradeshow Planning: DURING the Show
Our research shows the average tradeshow budget is between $100,000 and $400,000. Travel represents 18%, services 12%, display properties 11%, shipping 9%, promotion 8%, and miscellaneous 9%. 33% of the budget is for floor space alone! Obviously some companies spend less or more than the average. And, smaller conferences are considerably less expensive. But still, with this significant of an investment, what you do on the show floor is of great importance to making your participation worth it. Yet experience shows, companies aren't doing enough to ensure their presence on the show floor is all that it can be.
To make the most of your investment, there are three key focus areas to consider DURING the show.
-
Booth Rules. To ensure your exhibit will be attractive to the show attendees, you must be sure you have established some key booth rules. First, determine your staffing rules. Too often a booth is FULL of company employees, which either leaves no room for potential prospects or discourages them from visiting fearing they will be swarmed in a sea of salespeople. The general rule, is 50 square feet per employee. Based on a 10x10 booth, you'd plan for 2 people and so on. All booth staff must be friendly, enthusiastic, and welcoming. Consider yourself ALWAYS on, regardless if anyone is in your booth or not. That means no "sitting" on the job. Also, make sure the booth is free of clutter—no garbage, food/drink, bags, coats, etc. laying around.
-
Promote. Engage. Capture. It's important to have an engine at the show that promotes your booth and drives traffic to your booth. A promotional item or prize works well for this, but make sure to require that all visitors who receive the promo item or prize see your entry level demo/pitch. During that demo/pitch, complete a high level lead qualification process to determine if a longer demo and/or meeting is warranted. For every visitor, capture their information and answers to the lead qualification questions. For those that turn into more promising demonstrations or sales meetings, be sure to document what was covered at the show and what the agreed upon next steps are. Consider developing a "thank you for visiting us packet" that you send from the show to those most promising leads. That way they will have the information waiting for them when they return.
-
Study the Competition. A tradeshow is a great way to find out what your competition is up to. Walk the floor and complete an evaluation for each competitor on how you rate (using a scale of 1-5) their exhibit on a) visual impact, b) booth traffic, and c) staff. List promotional activities they're using to drive booth traffic. Document what promotional tactics they use to engage booth visitors. Record what type of literature they are handing out to prospects. Report on what products/services they're showcasing and what key features/benefits they're focusing on. Basically, capture as much competitive intelligence as you can!
The time during a tradeshow can whiz by before you know it, so be sure to capitalize on every opportunity you have to present yourself well, have meaningful interactions with prospects and customers, and learn more about your competitive landscape. Next up in our Tradeshow series? After The Show!
Helpful Tool: Download the Tradeshow Plan Checklist!
Share This Page!
The Sales and Marketing Toolkits BUNDLED contains:
-
Over 60 sales and marketing templates (DOC, XLS, PPT, and PDFs)
-
Loads of "how-to" articles and examples
-
8 Training sessions (MP3 audio files) for your computer or iPod
|
