larryboy
Elio Addict
I've run trade show exhibits for years, and conducted dozens of monthly seminars for customers and trade groups, here and overseas - and I'm convinced there are NO inexpensive shows. By the time you count up the staff salaries (who are absent from their real jobs just to host an exhibit) plus the travel and expenses they incur, not to mention the loss of productivity back at the home office, a show that you might think costs about $800 for the booth space and about the same for shipping your portable exhibit to the site, will cost the company about $20K before the accounting's done. That's what those "unledgered expenses" will do for you, it takes a steely-eyed analysis to find the budget-killers and work around them. Travel and entertainment for your booth staff, set-up hours, literature, shipping of exhibit models or in this case, the vehicle itself, show prep, lighting, signage and graphic updates, all go to the show's budget.
Is all this necessary? In a word, yes. If you're going to get a return on your investment, you need to spend the money. You can't just walk into a parking lot or mall and start hawking your wares, hoping that a few pedestrians will succumb to curiosity. That's the shotgun approach, and you need a rifle. You need to target the audience you want and make your best impression where they are. You want buyers, people with the money and willingness to spend it for a solution to a perceived problem, not idle tire-kickers. It's a tough bit of research, but there are a few ways to make the process more cost effective:
These are just a few tips gleaned from nearly 30 years of working with clients in a wide variety of industries and retail sales, from franchise businesses to technical industries, from banking, to the oilfield, to agribusiness, with a few stops at defense, travel, entertainment, and purchasing groups along the way. It works.
- You start by deciding who you want to reach, what is their demographic, and where are they going to be? Look for high concentrations of potential buyers/investors. Whether you target large national or international shows, or just do a few "table-top" shows at specialty exhibitions, you can scale your budget appropriately. Often you can make a smaller presentation if your target audience will attend in force. It's better to present to a dozen or so serious investor/partner potentials than a couple thousand curious "maybe" buyers.
- Plan your exhibit at least 90-120 days in advance. Last-minute items are serious budget killers. Mock up your exhibit to be sure everything fits and hasn't suffered damage from the last show. Change photos and signage as needed now, not at the last minute when they will be 5 or 10 times the cost for a rush job. Get show literature and follow-up packages printed now.
- Next, you streamline your exhibit. Don't just plunk down your product in the middle of your booth and expect cash to start rolling in. Don't just hope the heavy hitters will be there; two or three weeks before the show you call your best prospects and issue them a personal invitation to your exhibit. Set a time for a full individualized presentation by selected engineers and top management on site. Schedule meetings on the show floor with your second-tier prospects, being sure you have booth staff available to answer specific questions.
- The whole show is going to be a sizeable investment, so make your time with the prospect count. Marketing and salespersons set appointments with key prospects and suppliers two weeks in advance to see your product, talk about new application with engineers, meet the president.
- Each salesperson sets five appointments per exhibit day - or they don't attend. This is a professional sales opportunity, not a paid vacation for loyal employees.
- Prepare follow-up materials for mailing before the show. Email a mailing list back to your office each evening. That package goes out the next day.
- Cut shipping and set-up costs with a “portable” booth, rather than a custom unit.
- Be sure your signage speaks to buying motivators. Don't just put up an "Elio" logo and expect people to flock to your booth with money in hand. Believe it or not, they don't know and don't care about your brand, they are looking for a cheap, reliable, comfortable commute to work. A big sign announcing "ELIO" is completely useless unless your company is an industry standard like Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, or Ford - companies that can draw attention by merely showing the corporate flag. We aren't there yet.
- Large signage like "84 MPG", or "Your new AND Car", and "Comfortable Commuter", placed above eye level will help draw your third-tier prospects to your exhibit. Put a smaller corporate logo below the attention-getters for association of product and its benefits.
- The name of the game is "to grab them by the eyeballs and drag them up onto your carpet", as the saying goes. Here a professional video loop of an actual drive in the vehicle will help attract attention, and incidentally, offer subliminal proof that it actually moves and hauls a driver and passenger comfortably. Your goal is to put your prospect in the driver's seat and let him/her share the excitement of your product.
- Static photos don't really get attention unless they are backlit transparencies in a lightbox that will pop out of the visual clutter that defines most shows. Get them up high enough in kiosks that will be visible to the crowd.
- Train and rehearse your booth staff well in advance to make a quick presentation and determine the buying motivators of each visitor. You can't afford idle chit-chat. If you're not making a sale, you're backing up. If you are working with a limited staff, use your technical experts efficiently - bring them in to a contact meeting to explain individual features, advantages, and benefits of your product. Save your big guns for the critical prospects.
- Set up a contact database to track the more serious visitors to your exhibit. That helps evaluate results (based on eventual sales) and helps set next year’s budget.
- Staff for efficiency: techs conduct demos, marketing greets guests, engineers furnish application expertise, execs are attractions in themselves, and salesmen (when not with their invited prospects) work the exhibit floor (not your booth) , trolling for new leads.
- Place inexpensive product fliers in exhibit racks. Save your nice (and expensive) 8-page color brochure for personal presentations, better yet, be sensitive to the people carrying large bags of literature - they probably aren't buyers, anyway, just roving collectors. Offer to send a literature packet to your serious prospects so they don't have to lug it around the show floor.
- Eliminate chairs from your booth. For a dynamic look for your company, keep staff on their feet, and rotate them to the concession area frequently. They’re refreshed, and your booth won’t look like a hangout for the “walking wounded”. A carpet, especially one with a high-density foam pad, will ease foot and leg pain for weary booth staffers.
- Avoid offering coffee, water, sodas, etc to your guests - unless seated at a conference table conducting serious business. You don't want to be a hangout, but a professional business venue. Hospitality is great, just don't let it become the focus of your exhibit.
- Demonstrate Your Product! – use models, simulators, or video to let delegates see your product in use and if possible let your prospects get their hands on it. If you can't offer a test drive, give your prospects a virtual experience. We remember about one fifth of what we hear, about a third of what we see, but about 95% of what we see, hear, and experience.
- Make appointments for follow-up calls with qualified prospects before they leave your exhibit.
- Eliminate magicians, stage shows, and "models" (bimbos) from your exhibit. No contests, raffles, or grab bags, this is a professional, highly-focused, sales opportunity. Those distractions do not attract serious buyers, just freeloaders who clutter your booth.
- Souvenirs? You are positioning your company as a serious contender for the market – do you want to be remembered for a cheesy ballpoint pen or a cheap "gimme cap"? A good trick here is to have your key booth staff carry one or two nice company pens or notebooks in their pockets - and make an individual presentation of it to your top prospects.
- Finally, after the show season review your schedule for coming events. Do they all produce results? Be tough; cancel the shows that are non-productive, or do an in-depth analysis of why that particular venue is not producing for you. Often, smaller, less costly shows targeted to an audience that closely matches your demographic can produce outstanding results. Don't overlook college campus shows, technical society shows, or special interest exhibitions just because they may be smaller in size. A few bucks here can produce results far out of proportion to the exhibit cost of a national show.
There IS a professional approach to planning, manning, and conducting an exhibit - it doesn't "just happen" by showing up with a product and a handful of brochures. If you are going to tie up executive time and spend the thousands of dollars needed to be effective in the exhibit hall, you need to be as efficient as possible in turning the maximum number of those visitors to your booth into sales.
One word, Sturgis
