Search This Blog

Monday, May 2, 2011

Trade Shows - worth it or not?

This weekend I managed to find some time to stop by the Okotoks Trade Show.  It was great to see such a terrific turn out by both the public and businesses and with so many professionally presented booths too!  Although I didn't have time to speak with every business, the ones  I did speak with offered some very positive feedback - which is great to hear!

Personally, I think for certain businesses/industries that Trade Shows, Business Expos, whatever name they go by, are a fantastic means of marketing a business.  You can really gain some wonderful exposure.  Actually, let me amend that - I think these shows are potentially beneficial for all businesses.  What I find unfortunate is that there are always some businesses who really aren't exactly sure what they should be using a Trade Show for or how to do it effectively.  Of course the answer to that is going to be different for almost every business, however, the basic concept and process to figure it out would pretty much be the same for every business.

For example, you would start with a series of questions to ask yourself - and better yet, ask your partners, colleagues, staff and maybe even some customers too - brainstorming can be a superb way of gathering very valuable information and ideas.  I almost feel a bit bad posting this article after-the-fact, but in reality a review of what worked and didn't work after something is finished is often the best time for the review, while things are still fresh in our minds. The trick is to remember to implement some of the great ideas the next time it rolls around!

1) Why do you want to attend a Trade Show?

2) What is your goal? Basically, what exactly do you want to achieve to be able to walk away from the Trade Show saying "Wow, that was awesome and what a total success for us!"  Make your goal specific and realistic - "I want to book two free consultation appointments during this show."

3) Who will man your booth?  The answer to this should come from a combination of not only who has the most available time, but also of who is the best person most capable of handling such a public, face-to-face encounter? Some business owners really should understand when perhaps their particular skill set may not be in prospecting at a public event.

4) What are you going to track at the show, how are you going to track it and what are you going to do with the results?  Draws are great, everybody likes to win free stuff, especially if it's cool - and look out if it's geared towards kids!  But before taking that step it's probably a good idea to spend a bit of time thinking it through first.
a) Who are your customers?
b) Is your draw prize relevant to your customers? (or does it perhaps just make you stand out as the cool booth at the show? Kinda like the house at Halloween who gives out the awesome chocolate bars rather than those unidentified objects nobody likes.)  
c) Is your draw prize relevant to your business?
d) Does your draw prize leave room for potential up selling or repeat sales after the fact? (Isn't that tacky?!  Not at all, if it's done right!  Let's face it, the ultimate reason you're at the show in the first place is to get new customers,  so wouldn't it make more sense to give away something from your business that is perhaps a consumable,  or that possibly has some cool add-on features?  BUT make sure you're giving away the vacuum with encouragement to buy the bags from you too - that's you're consumable up sell.  Don't give away the bags hoping to up sell on the vacuum!)
e) What are you going to do with all of the other entries that you received?  Keeping in mind, that if you've picked your draw prize right, every single one of those entries is either an existing customer or a prospect for your business.  So it's probably a good idea to have a follow-up plan in place!

A bit more on the note of draws, I noticed a fair number of booths who actually had draws and give-aways geared specifically towards kids, yet their business was really in no way directly related to kids.  I understand the concept and reasoning behind this, unfortunately, many of these businesses are missing a key change in society (albeit a sad one) - it is no longer common practice that kids draw their parents to a booth. "Mommy look at that! Can I have one?.... Can I enter my name?...." etc - Oh sure the questions still get asked, however, you often hear one of two responses "No and if you ask me again we're leaving." or "Ya sure, go ahead." as the parent goes off in a different direction. In the first scenario you just became an evil force for the parent to now have to deal with. In the second scenario you've got 30 seconds of undivided attention from a 6 year old who can't even read your business name.  Hmmmm.....

Am I saying you should ignore the kids? Definitely not - but using them to draw the parents in isn't as effective as it used to be.  A far more effective approach is to get the parents attention, entice them and draw them in and THEN offer something cool to the kids like it's your little secret.  Kids love the attention and to be made to feel even just a wee bit special and parents can't help but notice the compassion and generosity - now they both think you're cool!  ;-)

On the flip side, it's amazing how many businesses also do the opposite and try to ignore the kids with the very clear body language screaming "Why the h*** did you bring your kids with you?!"  Sorry guys, but the days of "Children are meant to be seen and not heard" are long gone! *sigh* I know, it's depressing.  But, the good news is that they really are still a great tool to strengthen your relationship with their parents - if you do it right. (For those of you who don't know, I am the mother of two .... alright .... terrific kids .... although dreams of duct tape do often plague me, I have to admit that I am rather proud of them!)

When it comes to Trade Shows I think there really are only two other key points that spring to mind.

1) If you're going to put the money out to have a booth - make sure someone is there at all times!  The people who come to these shows are looking for information and when a booth is of interest to them, they want to be able to meet a person and discuss their questions.  A pretty display with some brochures and no people is almost as frustrating as those voice-activated customer service phone menus!

2) When you're choosing the right person to man your booth please do not think of it in terms of "who will cost me the least amount of money per hour" - because at the end of the show, that person will have cost you the most in lost prospecting and sales as they find sitting in the corner texting their friends a wee bit more interesting.  Don't kid yourself - it really does happen.  Come to think of it, I should take photos of it next time!  ;-)

Good grief, well apparently my whole goal of "I'm going to keep these articles short" is a lost cause! The harder I try to at least keep them under 1,000 words the more I go over! Ah well - if you've read to the end I guess it wasn't all bad! :-)

One more quick note that I'd like to make is that I'm starting a Forum geared towards small businesses in Alberta.  You guys are awfully quiet with comments on the blog, so we'll have to see how it goes but over time I hope you'll find it a useful tool to share ideas and get answers to specific questions.  You can access it here: http://forum.gatewaygazette.ca.

No comments:

Post a Comment