05: How to build your business through trade shows with Tim Patterson of Trade Shoe Guy Exhibits

In this week’s podcast I discuss how to get the most out of your trade show marketing with TIm Patterson. Tim is the head of Trade Show Guy Exhibits where he helps clients excel at trade show marketing.

Tim also runs a blog, www.tradeshowguyblog.com and has authored a book called Trade Show Success that’s a great resource for small to medium-sized businesses looking to take their trade show marketing to the next level. You can download the book for free at http://www.tradeshowsuccessbook.com/

Trade shows can be an expensive proposition for a young business, and I can tell you from experience that they have been hit-and-miss for us. With all the social media and other options for instant communication, I asked Tim why a brand with limited resources should go to the expense and trouble of attending trade shows? Tim points out that because of the prevalence of electronic communication in business relationships, face-to-face meetings are more powerful than ever. Also, because buyers are there specifically to source new products, trade shows allow brands to reach markets that they never could on their own. Another benefit of doing trade shows is just the opportunity to see what's going on in the market and how you measure up to your competition

So I mentioned that not every trade show has been a great experience for us. I asked Tim how to determine what shows are going to be a good fit for you rather than a waste of time?

Tim recommends simply walking a show as an attendee and speaking with other presenters before committing to purchase a booth. Checking the show’s site for signs that your competition is attending is another good strategy for gauging a show’s fit.

Tim emphasizes that lack of proper planning is the biggest mistake people make around tradeshows - you can't just show up and expect to have a great experience.

In the end the progress we’ve made mostly come down to us spending a lot more time planning and preparing in advance for the trade show experience. We now schedule weekly trade show meetings in the six to eight weeks leading up to a major event, where we discuss all the details of the show. This includes the marketing materials we need to get together, details of the marketing packages offered through the show organizers and logistical details of getting all of our items there on time. Mistakes still happen, but generally we’re able to make much better use of our time at the show.

Another aspect we’ve improved is the design of our booth itself. Last year we invested a significant amount of money in upgrading our booth and we used Tim as a consultant. Tim points out that for an unknown brand it may be better to emphasize your product or tagline rather than your logo and brand. Ultimately you want to be sure that whatever message you’re using is attracting the right customers and disqualifying attendees who are not a fit for your brand.

Another point Tim makes is about the importance of having representatives of your brand in the booth who have been properly trained in both your key messaging and how to interact with customers in a trade show setting. If necessary, consider hiring trainers who specialize in trade show selling for your staff.

The main purpose of attending any trade show is to generate sales and leads for your business. While it may seem fairly obvious, but in the beginning, we really didn’t do a very good job of following up on the leads we met at trade shows, so we were wasting a huge part of the value of attending. Apparently, we are not alone! In fact, Tim claims that studies show that 7-8 out of 10 leads is never followed up on.

I can confidently say that we are now on top of our follow up. Every lead is entered into our CRM with notes from the show. Because I’m not typically at the show but do most of the follow-up, we’ve trained our staff to get as much information as possible so I know exactly what was discussed and can personalize my outreach message. I also begin following up within 48 hours of the show while the memory is fresh and we continue following up until we get a firm yes or no. But having a clearly defined process is key.

So, if you haven't yet attended a tradeshow but are considering them as a way to grow your sales, I hope this has helped clarify why tradeshows are important. If you’ve already attended some tradeshows you probably got some nuggets that you can apply to your next experience. Like most things in this business, we’ve increased our returns from tradeshows over time as we’ve attended more shows and gotten better at our process.