The year is winding down but for many, this is the most profitable time of the year as sales go through the roof and particularly for retailers, Mr & Mrs Consumer seriously start to max out their credit cards on purchases for the season with the post-Thanksgiving sales and again after the Christmas holidays as stock gets cleared.
Retailers know the cyclic nature of their trade, and successful ones understand every nuance of consumer buying trends like the back of their hands.
The same principles apply when you act as a consumer and buy trade show display space – you must learn and understand the buying habits and trends of the attendees who are visiting trade shows so you can tap into the corporate and personal check books that are available.
Part of your due diligence when it comes to selecting a trade show is to avoid calendar clashes with holidays, religious festivals, the BIG GAME!, and in fact, anything that will detract from people attending a trade show you will be at or deter them from placing an order with you.
Look for what the industry or market ordering cycle is for your target market and maximize your trade show exhibiting when your potential customers are most likely to place orders; this will increase your exposure to the maximum number of selling opportunities with prospects who are more likely to be in a buying frame of mind.
You can research who will be attending by looking at the demographics and attendance history of prior events as well. Trade show managers are only too eager to part with big name and general attendance information to help prospective exhibitors and armed with this information you can start making realistic and reasonable assumptions as to who is likely to be attending at the next event prior to you booking yourself into it.
Just consider what the attendance is going to be like at a trade show when the Superbowl is on in January 2009 and ask yourself whether you really should be booking in for an event the same weekend?
Are you really going to be selling Christmas cards at Easter?
It’s not rocket science just common sense like so many other things, however you need to get your calendar out and plot out when you should be exhibiting and when you should be back at base and servicing your existing customer base.
