How To Visit A Trade Show
Many of us wait until the week prior to a trade show to make plans for the event. Even though your attendance might earn good results, we suggest that by beginning your planning earlier, you can enjoy a higher return on your investment. This article will help you to focus on the key elements that are important in planning your participation at your next trade show.
The key is planning
Job enrichment, ongoing cost saving and more exact controlling of processes has reduced overall trade show attendance. The ratio of serious buyers to less influential buyers at trade shows has increased. As a result, more and more visitors attend trade shows with precisely defined business objectives to accomplish. Their attendance is aided by tightly planned schedules. Such preparation enables the focused visitor to make effective use of the time and monetary investment spent in attending the show.
If you are not among the people planning your show attendance, it might be worthwhile for you to reconsider your customary practices. Without a definite plan, your productivity is not as high as it could be.
Before the show
In preparing to attend a trade show, it would be most useful to place current suppliers at the top of the "to see" list. These exhibitors offer an opportunity for you to ask technical and purchasing questions regarding current or new projects. A further benefit is the chance to renew relationships with the supplier's office staff and to meet people in person who may only be a voice on the phone or a name on emails.
Next on your exhibit-visiting itinerary should be infrequent or occasional suppliers who may have a product or service for some future project. Then, added to the pre-show list might be a few companies that might offer potential products or services which could prove useful.
A show planning schedule also includes any important workshops, presentations of pertinent technical papers, meeting with key people who may provide competitive market intelligence and contacts useful for professional education or possible recruiting.
Data gathering in advance
Although an exhibitor's booth is conventionally considered the dominant information source for the show, the focused visitor uses many channels to gather technical and purchasing data in planning to attend. In the weeks prior to the show, the visitor tends to be exposed to non-personal supplier information, and possibly also to personal information. Use that for the planning of your visit.
Show floor communication levels
Then, once on the show floor, both personal and non-personal communications take place between exhibitor and attendee. Here are some of the channels of product information that are usually available during the show:
A. Non-personal in-exhibit
Film, video and live demonstrations
Static visual displays
Catalogues, brochures, folders
B. Personal in-exhibit
Technical and sales/people in exhibit booths
Personal demonstrations at exhibit booths
Social events attended sponsored by exhibitors
Trend presentations, special presentations of organizer
Colleagues from other firms
C. General information by organizer
Conferences
Workshops
Trend presentations
Special presentations
Especially the channels/media of information under B and C are unique for trade shows. Trade shows are live communication events.
Maximizing your time and investment
The solution for you requires pre-show investment of time and effort in planning an itinerary/agenda for attending the exhibition. This way, you can maximize the opportunity for business results during the show itself. Remember these key points for planning your next trade show visit, and the event is sure to be more successful while reducing the stress caused by the number of things to be accomplished in a short time frame:
1. Prepare a list of suppliers and other exhibitors to see based on your current and future projects.
2. Make social appointments with current and prospective suppliers to capitalize on your limited time at the show. These contacts are invaluable in expanding sources of information.
3. Schedule any workshops, presentations and professional contacts prior to the show.
4. And at last: allocate leisure time to see some sites of interest in the host city
