Reaching top decision makers is usually a major priority for trade show exhibitors.  Jeffrey Blackwell, president of the Rogers Company, recently contributed to 1-to-1 Media on the topic.  His article, Reaching Mr. or Ms. Big outlines ten strategies for achieving this goal.

Reaching Mr. or Ms. Big
Blanket Branding is Great, But How Do You Reach the Top Decision-Makers Walking the Trade Show?

Trade shows are a great way to get your brand out there, meet new prospects and customers, and simply have a presence at a long established event. But what about that top decision maker that you’d like to reach: the CEO or the Senior Vice President or the manager that needs to see your product? How do you entice him or her to visit your booth?

If you think that trade shows aren’t an appropriate medium for establishing this type of connection, think again. High-level decision makers are incredibly busy, but asking them for 10 minutes of “floor time” is a lower threshold than setting up an initial appointment at Ms. Big’s office that might wind up getting bumped down to a lower level person. Here are some strategies for reaching the select group of high-level decision makers that are essential to building your business:

1.) Be Proactive
Use pre-show mailers and/or pre-show invitations to pave the way toward getting Mr. or Ms. Big to come to your booth at the show. Don’t leave it to chance that they might show up or might have heard of your company. Send them something that will motivate them to visit your booth. For some ideas as to what this might be, keep reading.

2.) Two Part Give Away
Imagine getting a remote control, but no TV. Or a pair of high-end head sets, but no iPod. Or a golf bag without the clubs.  In other words, a valuable gift with a vital missing piece with an attached note promising the rest of the gift at the show. Sounds silly but it works.   Direct mail companies are reporting up to 75% response rates from this type of promotion. The threshold for response is pretty low – stop by and get the gift. The gift has to be premium, but this type of marketing is very targeted.

3.) Educate Your Audience
Education is a powerful sales tool. People love to learn stuff – that’s why so many of us watch the DIY or food networks; use your trade show display to both introduce and train attendees on what your product or service can do for them. Use in-booth demonstrations, video presentations, or live presentations. And if your budget can handle it, hire relevant celebrities or spokespeople to appear in your booth. Having a famous expert in your field tout your product in front of a live audience is a great motivator, regardless of whether they’re famous or a key member of your team. You might even consider having your CEO or COO present a high-level talk on the impact your new product or service can have on your client’s business. If you do this, be sure to include it in your pre-show marketing.

4.) Create an Inviting, Comfortable Space
A place to sit down and relax is actually rare at a trade show. Having booth space that is comfortable with food and drink available (if trade show organizers allow it) could be a welcome respite from a busy day at the show…and a good time and space for you to connect with “The Bigs.”

5.) Sneak Peek
Often, companies focus on trade shows as a place to launch new products and services. Suppose you gave decision makers a preview of a product launch that may be a few weeks or months away? This could be anything from a closed, invitation only demonstration to a select group, to a one-on-one presentation. Invitation only previews at trade shows give you the chance to connect at a high-level with a company without having to get past the usual gate keepers.

6.) Hold an In-Booth Party
Take advantage of show approved in-booth events such as cocktail hours or breakfast breaks. Send invitations prior to the show but also bring some eye-catching printed invites along to put in the hands of decision makers when you see them at the show.

7.) Know Your VIP’s
Create a list of VIPs and make sure that your booth greeters at the reception desk are in charge of that list at all times. This ensures that when a decision maker stops by, they are engaged promptly and concisely. You only have one chance to impress someone at this level.

8.) Let the Benefits Do the Talking
Business decision makers always look for benefits. Tell them how your product can save them money or increase market share. Doing your homework with companies also goes a long way. “Dear Mr. Smith: I believe that I can help you increase your line speeds by more than 25%. I would do this by…” Give them some information but always leave things open to discuss further at the show.

9.) Offer Special Event Promotions
Force decision makers to decide. 25% off equipment purchased at the show in an exclusive invitation sent directly to your target prior to the show, can be a strong impetuous to buy. A promotional offer, especially one that has an element of exclusivity to it, can help create a personal connection that may be valuable down the road. If you do take orders at the show, both iPhone and Amex have an APPS for automatic credit card purchases. Or make certain that you have order forms on hand for filling out and signing off. This ‘seals the deal’ and gives you instant ROI, (and sometimes and an instant raise from your boss!)

10.) Connect Online
Many decision makers are on LinkedIn and other social media sites. Connecting with them there is a great way of getting past the stream of email they get every day. Also, you can connect with them through groups instead of direct contact (which can be a taboo if you don’t actually know them). Join groups associated with the trade show or with your industry and then look through the other members. Usually groups in LinkedIn allow you to message other members.

Overall, targeting individuals to come to your booth requires planning, execution, and a real commitment to making it happen. Building long term relationships with these folks will be better for your business today and tomorrow, so it’s vital that Mr. Big or Ms. Big know they’re important to you. Utilizing some of the tips provided here can go a long way toward achieving your objective of building the relationship with key decision-makers that will help propel your business forward.

The Exhibit Industry Council (EIC) recently released its first  Best Practice:  Full Disclosure and Control of Exhibitor Costs.

From the EIC press release:

The purpose of this Best Practice, as stated in the recommendation, is to increase exhibitor value and improve the effectiveness of event marketing, to advocate for the full disclosure over trade show and event marketing costs, and to guide the industry in making adjustments that will support its financial future and continued presence in the corporate marketing mix.

At TSF, we believe that exhibitors should know more about what they are paying for.  This helps exhibitors determine ROI and the most efficient way to make their trade show experience successful.  In that spirit, we’re hosting a petition supporting the main principals of the EIC Full Disclosure and Control of Exhibitor Costs.

This is an important movement for the entire trade show industry and those that use trade shows to market products and do business.  We won’t publish or sell your name — the purpose of this document is solely to make important changes in the industry

The Petition

The Exhibit Industry Council (EIC), comprised of five major trade show industry associations, was formed to define and advocate for exhibitor-focused Best Practices for trade shows, conventions, congresses, and private events. The goal is to unite all industry stakeholders to support reputable, consistent standards.

Currently, there are conditions in the industry that impede the value exhibitors gain from face-to-face marketing events specifically conventions and trade shows. This Best Practice Guide outlines these conditions and suggests “best practices” to overcome the challenges created in this otherwise productive and effective sales and marketing environment.

Exhibiting companies need to understand the total cost of event participation to make decisions about which events will provide a sufficient ROI to their marketing plan. In order to understand and control costs, exhibitors need full disclosure of pricing by the organizers as well as general service contractors (GSCs) before exhibit space contracts are signed. This helps exhibitors make informed financial decisions before the event and also eliminates surprises down the road.

This petition calls for:

• Greater cost transparency for exhibitors
• An end to practices such as bundling and forced shipments.
• Discounts to be offered to both the exhibitor and the exhibitor’s third party contractor
• The elimination of hidden benefits such as undisclosed discounts between the general service contractor and the trade show, convention, and congress organizers.
• An end to exclusive facility contract, allowing all qualified suppliers who meet the technical requirement to compete for the right to provide goods and services in a given facility.

Trade Show ROI: Fact or Fiction? Objective or Subjective? Measurable or Intuitive?

Recently I was talking to a senior marketing executive for a major trade show organizer and I asked if they were getting besieged by exhibitors demanding a better return on their trade show investment. Were people asking them to help improve their trade show ROI? I expected him to say, “Oh yeah, this is the number one issue we’re facing – other than rising show costs.” Instead he said, “No not at all. You can’t measure trade show ROI. It’s impossible because every company is different.” Okay I agree with the latter part of his comment but it’s because every company is different that it is indeed possible. Many companies can calculate their ROI; they just don’t, for a variety of reasons.

Typically not measuring trade show ROI goes unnoticed when sales are robust and profits are good or if the overall economy is strong. But when the bottom drops out, as it always does, for some reason or another, we’re left with CEO’s, COO’s, CMO’s, and the scariest “C’” of them all – the CFO – asking why the heck you’re spending all this money on trade shows?! What’s the ROI?

Some great companies, regardless of size, have figured out a way to measure ROI. Whether they’re using some of the methods noted in our previous two articles, including full utilization of CRM programs or a home-grown program to measure their results, they’re quantifying and they’re spending accordingly. Others don’t have a clue. They just go to trade shows because, as we’ve heard them say, they’re worried that they’d be conspicuous by their absence.

So what’s the solution? Well, it’s as simple and timeless as a golden ring: close the loop. track costs, track sales. Simple? No. Possible? Yes. It is achievable for most companies if they learn how to communicate their needs to those who can give them the tools to measure the results.

As a means of face to face marketing, trade shows or trade fairs are the oldest form of marketing. No one needs a history lesson on this – it’s simply a fact. Companies who make widgets that attach to other widgets inside of a big widget don’t typically advertise on TV or in the Sunday circulars. Yet their customers know about their widgets and they buy their widgets in large part because of their exposure at trade shows. So historically we know that shows work – it’s just that now everything needs to be quantified.

In today’s world every company faces the same challenges and the same decisions, especially when it comes to marketing. Is print still viable? Does Twitter make sense? Am I better off with a website or a blog? How do I track leads? Where do I get leads? Are my salespeople selling or just taking orders? Am I getting anything out of my trade shows?

We, like you, don’t have definitive answers to any of these questions because every company is different with different channels of distribution, so the answers will be unique to your company, your budget, your systems and most importantly, the quality of your communication.

In this series on Trade Show ROI we’ve tried to present some solutions using both quantitative (CRM) and qualitative (Start with What You Know) methods, but in the end, in this world of constant electronic linkage, the only thing that’s indispensable is excellent communication because everything begins and ends with it.

Do your marketing department and your accounting department talk to each other? After all, marketing is the “hunter” and accounting is the “gatherer”. The two functions are closely tied to each other but how often is accounting involved in decisions relative to customer relationship management systems and trade show ROI?

Talk to management – tell them of your intentions to measure trade show and event ROI. Be proactive – make them your champions if you can. Then talk with accounting and IT. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar especially if the vinegar is mandated from above. So you be the honey. It’s your job to let the experts in their areas give you the tools to do your job

Buy lunch for the accounting department; bring the IT guys new Wii games. In other words, enlist their help. Trade show ROI is measurable but only if you close the loop. You get leads from the show. If you can’t take the time to qualify them and you know your salespeople won’t follow-up on them, there are companies who will provide this service for you. Some solutions can be very economical, so that at the end of the day instead of having a pile of 300 vague leads from a show you have 30 qualified leads that your sales force will be happy to go after. So you can outsource this function in need-be.

Put your leads from each trade show in queue. IT can help with this. Put them somewhere so they can be tagged by show and then tie that to order-entry so that it can be tracked for one year after the show. After one year, you now have your costs from the prior year’s show and you have your report showing how many of those leads converted to sales. Now you will have a ratio which is something that accounting and management will love. For example, if your trade show cost, $100,000, and first year sales from leads received at that show, were $500,000 this gives you a 5:1 ratio – not bad. Most folks in accounting and management would be quite happy with that. In fact they would probably be ecstatic.

If your CRM doesn’t work with your accounting system then sit down with your finance department and develop a strategy so the two can work together even if some type of “bridge” needs to be created in-order to link the two.

We are the most connected generation in history, yet there are times when we actually communicate very little. As Descartes once said, “I think therefore I am.” Well in today’s economy it would be just as fair to say, “I measure therefore I still have my job,” and good communication is the key.

Determining Trade show ROI with CRMs and Other Tools

CRM programs were supposed to be the cure to the woes of sales and marketing. If you don’t know already, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software that can track every single contact, transaction, sales call, bill, and delivery that is entered into the system. Basically it puts an incredible amount of information at your fingertips to help make smart choices. If you don’t have CRM software in place, there are a whole range of options in terms of price and functionality. GoldmMine, ACT!, SalesLogix, and PeopleSoft are some popular choices. Many of these programs offer free trials and on-line tutorials in order to determine their efficacy for your company and its products and services.

With all of the information CRM systems provide, you would think it would be easy for a company to determine their ROI from a trade show or any other marketing effort. Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. A spread sheet may not reveal the full extent of your trade show success or failure. Here are a few strategies for getting more out of CRM systems when it comes to trade shows: Read the full story

In the post Drayage Debate: Chicago’s McCormick, we highlighted a local Chicago news report that investigated the seemingly outrageous costs of drayage. Ostensibly, these non-transparent costs seems to be hiding a lot of profit. All of this is underscored by the fact that Chicago has lost some major tradeshows in the past year and is in danger of losing more.

Trade show contractors have commissioned a study to look into why and are blaming labor. The following is from an article by Kathy Bergen at the Chicago Tribune: Read the full story

The following is first in a three-part series on Trade Show ROI.  The Rogers Company just launched an initiative on Trade Show ROI called Return on Exhibiting.

Determining trade show ROI is a long road paved with facts and stats, but like the old saying goes, every long journey starts with the first step, so when beginning the journey of determining trade show ROI, start with what you know.

Instead of beginning with so many unknowns, start with something you do know. Ostensibly you know your customers — they’re a wealth of knowledge about your trade shows and events and your overall marketing program. They can tell you what’s working and what’s not.

So it’s easy, right? If a customer says: “I met you at a trade show and liked what I saw. Three months later, I purchased your product.” then you can put them solidly in the trade show ROI column, right? Hold on! What about the brochure they received? What about the advertisement? What about the call from the salesman? Doesn’t all that count? Isn’t there a way to determine which of those things contributed most to the sale?

There’s no easy way to tell because at that point you’re trying to get inside your customer’s head. Asking them to determine which marketing tool had more influence would require some very sophisticated survey techniques that may not get you to the truth. So how do you get useful information from your customers?

1.) Start with a profile

Divide your customers into broad categories: Completely new customers who basically “walked in the front door”; returning regulars who seem very loyal to your brand and methodical clients who researched a long time before making a decision. These can be anything you want, but limit it to four or five categories. These profiles will help you organize information more easily as you identify what kinds of customers you have and why they bought from you.

2.) Look at Their Stories

Why did these customers buy from you? What influenced their decision? Where did they talk to you or first hear about you? This “customer narrative” gathers the facts about how and why you made a sale and continue to make sales.

Existing sales can also tell us what the gateways are to a sale and how they’re connected. So if a customer says that they were influenced by an advertisement, a trade show, and a sales call, try to put that together into a story. Which came first and what followed thereafter? What wouldn’t have happened without the other?

3.) Look at the Facts

It’s important to create some pertinent facts about your sales and marketing. How many companies that appear on your lead list, are actually already customers? How many customers came to your booth at a trade show? How many leads did you collect? How many of these leads were followed-up?

These hard facts help separate theory from reality. Many times people at all levels of business have pet theories about marketing activities. Make sure that, at the very least, you understand some of the things that are working. There will still be a lot of holes in your knowledge, but at least you’ll know what you know and what you need still need to learn.

4.) Determine What You’re Losing

There’s a story from WWII that is possibly fanciful, but could shed some light on this problem. Looking at returning bombers from missions over Europe, aircraft designers were trying to figure out which parts of the planes to add extra armor. They could see heavy damage in certain parts of the planes more than others, but finally decided to place armor exactly where the damage didn’t exist. Why?

The theory was that the planes damaged in those areas, simply didn’t return from their missions.

You have the same issue in determining ROI or the effectiveness of your trade show campaign. Your customers can tell you which tactic worked for them — but look for the piece that is consistently missing. Where are you not reaching customers? Why aren’t they finding you? If you’re getting customers A,B, and C, why not D,E, and F? Build on what’s working but also examine if some of things that aren’t effective for customers A, B, and C might work for the others. In the end focus on what works with each specific market or customer and leave everything else behind.

Finally, there’s no magic answer to ROI. But there is a process for determining what is working within your company and what is not. It may sound simple to do more of what’s working and less of what’s not — but that’s the essence of successful marketing. A trade show is no different. Your quest for ROI really is a quest for more leads and, ultimately, more sales. Instead of cutting based on lack of ROI or poorly defined ROI, use the tools above to determine where the shortfall is and concentrate on fixing it.

Journalist Jeff Jarvis talks about how car companies can become more ‘Googley’, which is short hand for listening to your customers’ needs leads to success in the 21st century. The important question that he brings up is: “What business are we really in?” For car companies, for years, it was making cars that Americans wanted to buy at a cheap price. Car companies may actually be a bad example of this because a bad economy means that people are simply buying fewer cars. The question may actually be better for those of us in the tradeshow business. What business are we really in?

If we’re in the business of setting up booths in a physical space at a set time, then our days are numbered. There are simply more ways of connecting in business than there used to be and business-as-usual means that those other ways will slowly but surely eat away at tradeshows and their share of marketing dollars.

So what can tradeshows learn from Google? Building on Jarvis’s points here are a few:

1.) More Beta
Google tries new things all the time and lets their users try things as well. What works is kept and what doesn’t is thrown away. Tradeshow organizers need to try news things pure and simple. Attendees and exhibitors are eager to see new things that will help them grow their business and or provide feedback to help make a good idea great.

2.) More Transparency
Its pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get at Google. They turned advertising on its head by linking it to searches. They moved the cost model to paying for clicks and placing a higher value on search terms that are more desirable. There are more ways to spend money with Google today than ever. But here’s the thing: it’s all transparent. Advertisers know exactly what they are paying for and exactly what they are getting for their money. Google even helps open up more transparency with handy tools that let you see keyword search trends and traffic on your site.

3.) More Tools to Succeed
Google recognized that people search in order to find things. While the competition thought they were in the search engine business, Google realized that they were in the “finding things” business. Now you have Google Maps, Google Books, even Google Health. Putting tools in people’s hands to succeed helps Google succeed. Tradeshows could do the same by offering free services that leverage (exploit) the need for information flow. For example, in addition to tradeshow guides or show dailies, why not have search kiosks with sponsored searches and pay-per visit options? Why not an iPhone app that would do the same thing? Heck, while we’re at it, why not a pay-per-lead model? It may sound dangerous but so is not considering these ideas.

4.) Flexibility
Tradeshows offer the ability to essentially rent a set space for a set period of time. The bigger the space, the more flexibility you have. Some companies have the budget to build an entire environment in a huge space while some are stuck with 10×10s. Why not break up that model? Could companies be more creative with their space choices? Could they team up with other companies to create environments that ‘cross the aisle’? What about multiple spaces each devoted to different challenges in the marketplace? Granted, these are all ideas that may need to come from exhibitors themselves, but tradeshows should push innovation along and not hinder it.

5.) Get In the Information Business
For decades, tradeshows provided the space, exhibitors brought the products, and journalists covered the show. If tradeshows are in the information business, they need to team with journalists and companies to communicate with attendees. This may be in the form of podcasts, blogs, or social media — but the point is that information needs to flow more freely and on a more timely basis so exhibitors are able to make better, more informed choices while attendees receive relevant information that will enhance their experience at the show. And, by the way, attendees need to have a voice as well. Information is no longer a one way street. And, guess what? That’s a good thing.

Let’s face it, Google isn’t perfect. And it’s not the perfect model for the Tradeshow Industry. But it does reveal some of the changing trends in information exchange that have already impacted our business. People gathering in one place to do business has strong roots dating back to ancient marketplaces. There has always been value in being able to freely roam through a maze of merchants combining savvy information gathering with random encounters. But Google has taught us that calculated searching combined with chance encounters now has expanded possibilities. Not taking advantage of those possibilities is, at best, a missed opportunity, and, at worst, a death knell to the industry.

This guy’s a jerk.  That’s what he calls himself.  Actually, he calls himself a Rich Jerk.  This is one of the hottest clips on YouTube right now and maybe not for all the right reasons.  He’s pushing a lot of hot buttons in this video and getting a lot of attention for it, but he’s also making an essentially rational and compelling argument. Two actually:

1.) Describing the benefits of what you do is more important than your title.
2.) Most marketing material has, essentially,  very little value any more.

Jerkiness aside, he’s kind of right.  Focusing on benefits and standing out from the crowd through quality is a very effective strategy.  Now, we’re not advocating spending $4 a business card…that would be reckless for many businesses particularly in this economic climate. But you can look at it a different way. So much information can be put online today that printed material should be more of a premium and less of a way to convey information.  If you really look at what he’s got, it’s not a business card — it’s a really concise (and still expensive) brochure with a simple message: “I Build Crowds Guaranteed”

At a tradeshow, sometimes we get fixated on volumes of literature as opposed to creating truly memorable and valuable relationships. Creating literature…or even business cards, that have a higher value that are handed out to relatively few leads may be more effective in the end as an overall sales strategy.  After all, how do we judge success at a tradeshow?  Volume of leads?  Numbers of business cards passed out?  Or is it in number of truly valuable relationships created?  Successful follow up calls in the days and weeks following the tradeshow?

The couter-argument is: How do you know what lead is hot and which isn’t? Can’t business come from anywhere? True, but a business card is not going to qualify a lead for you. Too many salespeople make the mistake of simply making initial contact without any real commitment to follow up. An exchange of business cards with a smile and a handshake doesn’t mean that the phone call in a week or two will be any more cordial.  The lead may not even remember you.  Take the time to learn about a person’s business and their challenges.  Also create an impression on the show floor — that moment of personal interaction is pivotal.  An exchange of business cards can be a positive experience but too often it sends the message that “I don’t really have time for this now.  Let’s connect later when I do.”

More valuable printed material could actually force this point by making the paper exchange (which usually signals the end of the conversation) a real decision. $4 business card? Maybe not. But more premium literature and more time spent deciding who gets it? That could be a real strategy.

We’ve all heard about Twitter and there’s been a lot of head scratching as to how it will be used in business.  At searchenginewatch.com they are covering The Search Engine Strategies (SES) New York 2009 Conference and Expo. They’re top story is about Twitter and it gives some clues as to how this will be useful at live events like tradeshows:

The opening keynote was by Guy Kawasaki, a founding partner and entrepreneur-in-residence at Garage Technology Ventures, who spoke about “Twitter as a Tool for Social Media.”

You can read the full post here: Link Read the full story

Tension fabric systems are great. They’re lightweight, easy to ship and store, and changing logos, images, and colors is a snap. So why do some booths completely miss the point of this fantastic design tool and building material? Companies who use tension fabric systems tend to recreate the square boxes that they’ve always called home at tradeshows. When we’re presented with a versatile technology we tend to see it as a better version of something old but we don’t let our imaginations really sore with it. Here are some ways to go above and beyond with tension fabric: Read the full story