The pressure to increase sales is an unwavering battle as a business develops. Because of this, companies expand their presence by exhibiting in hopes to gain new clients, retain old accounts, and take away business from rival companies. Nevertheless, this can only occur if you’re attending the correct trade show and know who will be in attendance?
To obtain the highest return on investment for any trade show is to create an objective of why you are attending the show in the first place. Once this goal is established, obtaining the maximum out of the conference is straightforward.
New Clients – At every show, you will obtain at least one or two new leads, but that is a terrible ROI. First, start by looking at who will be attending, where they are coming from, and the goals of the conference. Show management should be able to answer these requests, but if they do not, walk away from the conference. You prefer consumers who have the power to make the buying decision, not giveaway seekers. If your business only deals locally and not globally, you will need to know the percentage of international attendees. This is true if you are a global company going into a local market. Many times, the attendees will not be able to afford your products or services. Some trade shows boost about of foot traffic that they draw to an event, which means nothing to any vendor if the participants are not interested in the service or product. This is normal at local community expos. They will bring everyone in town for free music and food, but no one in town has use for a medical consultant.
Retaining Clients – When you are a leader in the country, you need to rub elbows with your customers. Everyone knows about your product and service, and the objective of this exhibit is to let everyone know that you are still in business, your providing quality customer service, and have qualified dealers as part of the exhibit team. The goal is to reassure the customers that you are the leader and that customer support is being showcased. Many fortune 500 business fail because of poor quality control. This event objective is to strengthen the bond between Support staff and customer. Connecting with the prospect will help keep them using your product or service.
Taking Away Business – No company can steal business away from a competitor, but you can make the goal of this event to show how your product is better for your others. The goal is to demonstrate why customers should switch to your product or service. This is a tactical move that must be calculated to the smallest detail. This head-to-head demonstration is for an improved product that is competing against a competitor's old product.
By knowing what your primary objective for the conference will be, will determine how great of a show you will have. The ROI will be developed by your objective. If your goal is for clients to know that you now have the best product over the competitors then sit back and wait for the orders, they will come; or if it is retaining customers by making an appearance and letting them know you are still here with quality products. In other words, by developing a presentation, you are ensuring yourself that you will not lose customers to new exhibitors. Whichever the scenario is, defining a goal for the event.
Lastly, every show should try to obtain new clients, but make sure trade show staff knows the objective of why you are exhibiting. This will help you determine the success of the show.
