90% of the Marketing Work Goes in Before the Show, Right?

WRONG!!

Many people think that marketing work is mostly done before you even get to the trade show but we’re going to take a look at this popular misconception and take a good, hard look at this commercial myth.

Before we get into the detail, think about this.

Remember the Kentucky Derby and the Big Brown fiasco with the Triple Crown at stake? This wonder horse was all set for a rare and historic horse racing triumph and there was a great deal of pre-race hype about how this huge, very strong horse was just going to push its way through to victory.

In any event Big Brown came home a long way at the back of the pack but it would not have mattered if he had romped home in second place and lost by a nose.

All that pre-race preparation and hype was just that – preparation.

Marketing has one essential criterion for being successful and that is summed up simply as PERFORMANCE ON THE DAY!

Sure, being prepared is essential and you definitely need to plan carefully, but no matter how much support you have got on the day you have got to deliver the goods.

When you open at a trade show, you will be presenting your company and yourself to the world and many attendees may already know you, your products and your company but there will always be a host of new prospects to turn into customers too. You should never presume that old customers are going to remain loyal either; do not take them for granted.

What you do on exhibition and trade show days is more important to your success than all of the effort that has gone into preparation and planning; a signature on a new contract or repeat order is the prize for performance on the day.

Here are some simple tips for helping you achieve winning performance on the day.

Prospects and Customers Like to Touch Stuff

It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO or a big or little kid – people like to play with stuff.

It’s part of human nature to want to know how things work, so use scale models and mock-ups to let them look at and dismantle so they can see how a thing works. Even better, if your product allows it, take plenty of samples for them to use and mess with while every trade show attracts attendees wandering around with plastic bags full of pens, post-it notepads and mouse mats they take home for the kids (or themselves).

Appeal to the tactile nature we all have and make sure you have plenty of “stuff” for them to play with.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Who cares!

I want to know what you are going to do for me tomorrow, next week, next month and next year.

Attendees are not there to see how great you did what you do in the last year; they are there to see what can be done to meet their own needs that they have today and in the future.

Play to what you will be doing for them – how much money your gizmo will save in power costs; how much more profit margin they can make distributing and retailing your product instead of a competitors; how much you will save in maintenance and repair costs for their vehicle fleet by using your service.

In short – focus on how much money you are going to make for them!

Whatever it is – focus on what you will deliver for your clients and prospects today and tomorrow and not what you did last year. Remember they are looking for new opportunities to make more money for themselves so identify your own industry trends and especially those of your target market and play to those when you open up conversations.

Think of this situation; you’re on your stand and a prospect looks at a brochure with your product nicely emblazoned on it.

Do you say; “We brought this out last year and have sold a ton of them to Halliburton!”, or how about, “Any customer using this product will save 30% on operating costs year on year.”

I don’t care about Halliburton but I care about saving cost and increasing profit.

There are 3 Rules in Selling: See the People, See the People and See the People!

You can’t physically see the people all of the time – that is just plain wrong on so many levels, but you can and should ensure that you are always in view whenever the opportunity arises.

Anything and everything should have your logo, name or brand identity plastered over it.

The key thing here is repetition, especially if you are dealing with new business leads or have a new product or service that is being pushed.

Keep repeating that name and identity throughout your booth presentation and your marketing collateral. Remember you will be competing against the noise and visual overload that comes with a trade show and for many attendees, even if you have the company name everywhere and a name tag on your shirt, they will have simply forgotten your name within 30 minutes of leaving your stand.

Keep repeating the name on everything and everywhere – in conversation, in the marketing material and on the stand.

It stands a better chance of sticking in an attendee’s memory.

Don’t be a Sheep and Don’t Lose Your Head!

Many sales happen after the show and not during.

Use your marketing common sense here.

Sure, the more people you connect with at the show, the greater the likelihood you’ll make a sale. That applies anywhere – at the show, on the train, on the plane, sitting at the office cold calling or walking the dog.

You may like to be with your buddies at the show; we all like having people we are familiar and comfortable with close by and especially in situations where you are trying to land a fish and close a deal.

BUT!

Keep in mind you are there to advance your company and your sales – you’ll probably find it is better to lay groundwork at the show and follow up with sales appointments to close the deals away from the hubbub that is going on at a busy trade exhibition.

You’ll also be better able to develop a closer business relationship after the trade show with all the opportunities for cross selling, referrals and repeat business that comes with it in a less public setting.