Industry Articles
Selecting Your Booth Staff to Meet the Needs of Your Potential Audience.
A key to successful exhibiting is having the correct booth staff available to answer the questions of your booth visitors. Research has proven that show attendees today are much better informed regarding the products and services being displayed on the show floor, thanks in part to the Internet. Consequently, they are looking for answers far beyond "the spec sheet".
According to a 2003 White Paper written by Skip Cox, President of Exhibit Surveys, a leading authority and research firm, "Exhibitors must be prepared to advance attendees beyond the early stages of the purchasing path, which requires quality personal interaction. Ultimately, this is where the value of tradeshows exists for exhibitors."
In order to properly select your booth staff, first you need to properly determine "who" is going to visiting your booth. How do you do that?
Let's take a look at a couple of examples. First, let's determine that the show you have selected has existed for a number of years and therefore, there is historical information available. Request the list of past years attendees, but possibly more important than their names are their job titles. Review the titles of the attendees for several of the past year's shows. Is there a trend? Has the titles of the attendees changed over the past few years?
For our first example, let's assume that the majority of the attendees are from the upper management of their respective company's. What is the primary concern of upper management of most companies? It will be the bottom-line, or the net profit.
Consequently, if the show attendees are primarily made up of Upper Management personnel then your booth staff needs to be able to address how your offering will benefit the attendee's net profit. If the attendees are mostly Sales Managers then your staff needs to be able to identify how your offering will help the attendees increase their sales.
Following are the primary concerns for a few additional job titles: Production Management - increased productivity or better efficiency. Administrative Personnel - Save money or reduce costs. Distributors - Net profits.
Evaluate the primary concerns of the people in your specific industry. Once you have correctly identified their concerns then you can properly select who the best people are to answer those questions.
Please note that once you have identified "who" the attendees will be and what their primary concerns are then you can not only select your booth staff, but also select the most effective signs and graphic messages to display.
For our second example, if you have selected a first-year show to attend as an exhibitor then you will need to question the show promoter as to "who" they are primarily marketing to. A first-year show will always be more of a gamble.
Reprinted with permission of Don Woodard International
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Getting Prospects to Buy
Anyone who ever has tried to sell anything has asked them self (and others) this question, "Why don't my prospects buy what I am offering?" First, it's important to understand that all of your prospects will have different levels of interest and understanding about your products and services based on their circumstances.
Research indicates that most marketers are looking for prospects that are ready to buy right now. They concentrate over 95% of their efforts on finding and selling to "hot" prospects that are at the end of their learning curve or educational spectrum.
The method many successful marketers use is to position themselves over time through tradeshow events along with other marketing activities. Therefore, when a prospect becomes "hot" and has a need for your type of product or service then the prospect will think only of you. You need to create a series of compelling marketing messages that target the concern areas of your marketplace and build trust over a period of time. Then communicate with your entire prospect and customer base to guide them through their educational process.
A prospect begins evaluating their knowledge of your offerings from the moment they realize they have a need to the point when he or she puts out their money. The more engrained your presence and benefits are in their minds the more likely they are to buy from you.
Current trends show that more and more people are now attending tradeshows in order to finalize their educational process, make their final decision and place their orders. Tradeshows are once again becoming a buying environment.
In addition, for those prospects that are just starting their educational process, an advantage tradeshows and events offer is the opportunity to meet your prospects and initiate a personal relationship. Although you can establish a successful personal relationship through non face-to-face marketing, often meeting someone in person will build a stronger relationship.
Research shows that to be most successful in selling your products and services you need to first identify your potential buyers, identify their needs then educate them through marketing on how your offerings will fulfill their needs and benefit them. Most generally this takes time, although tradeshows and events have proven to be a successful means to accelerate a prospects buying decision.
Reprinted with permission of Don Woodard International
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Why Exhibit at Trade Show Events?
A question asked by many companies, either prior to establishing a tradeshow exhibit program or during their annual marketing review is, "Why exhibit at tradeshow events?"
To help answer this question, a 2003 report written by George P. Johnson Company, a leading event management company, presented the following information. Events with the greatest return-on-investment (R.O.I.) are:
- Tradeshows
- Seminars
- Sponsorships
- Road Shows
- Conferences
Therefore, a good answer to the above marketing question is, "A well planned and executed tradeshow event program will provide you the best return on investment." The key to a successful exhibit marketing program is tradeshow education or knowledge.
A study by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) compares how companies rated Exhibitions, Advertising and Direct Mail as the best choice for accomplishing each of the following six marketing objectives.
- Generating Sales Leads
- Introducing New Products
- Taking Orders
- Promoting Brand Image
- Promoting Company Awareness
- Generating New Markets
Exhibitions were the #1 choice in accomplishing five of the six objectives. Only in Promoting Brand Image did Advertising place ahead of Exhibitions, yet Exhibitions ranked a close second even in that category.
However BEWARE. Simply buying an exhibit and going to a tradeshow can be a costly mistake. Tradeshows are not inexpensive. Yet when they are planned and executed well the dollars spent can be a very good investment.
The last seen industry average reported for tradeshow exhibiting is 10:1. That is, for every dollar spent you should get a return of ten dollars within one year of the show. Being an average means that there are many companies doing much better than 10:1 and unfortunately, there are a number of companies getting much less than 10:1. Where does your exhibit program fit?
Another question that may be as equally important as "Why exhibit at tradeshow events?" is, "WHY DO PEOPLE ATTEND TRADESHOWS?" According to a report written by Skip Cox, President of Exhibit Surveys, "The advantage of tradeshows over other events is that tradeshows provide a neutral arena for comparison shopping and attendees are more likely to obtain an unbiased perspective. Therefore attendees who attend both tradeshows and Private Events place a higher value on tradeshows."
Susan Friedmann a leading source for tradeshow training (www.thetradeshowcoach.com) provides the following information.
- 76% of show attendees rate tradeshows as very important in product and vendor awareness.
- 67% compare products and vendors for a future purchase.
- 50% to narrow their list of vendors.
- 32% to make their final decision.
Reprinted with permission of Don Woodard International.
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