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Photo: Ask.com Trade Show booth features open spaces, plasma display for demonstrating their product, literature stand and small LCD Display for additional demos.
By John Beagle and Corbin Ball
Trade shows are great ways to target a market. Trade shows help your market find you. Trade shows can increase company visibility by putting your target in an environment that facilitates direct contact with your manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, value-added resellers and your customers.
Trade shows are a Big Expense for most SMBs Trade shows are very expensive if you're not properly prepared, especially to a small and medium-sized business. Costs include travel, printing handouts, and shipping your supplies and equipment to the convention center. Businesses also have to bear the added expense of having employees away from the office. Other costs include obtaining plasma flat screens, sound, dvd and other 'high tech' equipment for your trade show booth.
ROI is Key
Your ROI, return on investment, is the top consideration. After all, properly done, a trade show can be the less costly way to get your brand in front of most of your targeted audience. For the average SMB trade shows are generally less expensive at reaching your customers than newspaper and magazine advertising, billboards, television and radio especially if you have a small non-consumer oriented market.
Trade shows are Targeted Marketing
Trade shows can be the best 'target' marketing an SMB can do. In general Terms, for most products and services marketing I would put trade shows on par with direct mail and Google Pay-Per-Click advertising in terms of reaching your target audience.
Trade Show Exhibitor Tips by a Professional and an Exhibitor As a professional speaker and former meeting planner Corbin Ball has attended hundreds of trade shows over his lifetime. He has observed and interviewed tens of thousands of exhibitors in their trade show booths.
As an exhibitor I have worked from inside the trade show booth. With over 22 years of exhibitor experience I have seen some companies' trade- show sales flourish while others fail in marketing their product at trade shows. Together, Corbin Ball and I have put together these tips to help make your next trade show exhibit a worthwhile endeavor.
Here is a check list of dos and don'ts:
Do List
1. Pick a good spot for your Trade Show Booth. Sign up early to get the best spots. Some parts of an exhibit hall will often get better traffic than others. High traffic areas include trade show perimeters, front and center areas. Areas near food or major brands are usually good too.
2. Invite your clients to stop by your booth. Use blogs, postcard mailings, e-mail, company web sites, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. Invitations to your friends, partners, vendors and clients will increase traffic at your trade show booth.
3. Be alert and inviting. Stand near the front of your booth. Greet and engage as people walk by. Be friendly and smile. You need to establish some sort of common ground to start a conversation.
4. Survey your prospect: Ask about their needs - what do they want and or need. Assume nothing as you ask questions to gauge your prospect's desires.
5. Have a Sales Spiel: Be able to state what your unique selling proposition is within ten or twenty seconds. Focus on what your product or service can do for the prospect rather than technical specifications or features.
6. Booth Layout is Important! No matter the size of your trade show booth design your booth to bring people into your carpeted area. You have about five seconds to capture the trade show attendee's attention before they are gone. Have a featured discussion display or plasma flat screen with a presentation in an easily accessible area where several people can hear and see what you are presenting. Tip: Extra carpet padding is a subtle way of adding a welcoming quality to your booth.
7. Lead Follow-up: Work out a system for capturing, qualifying and following up on leads. In a large show use the lead retrieval system provided by the show manager. In a small show it will be worth it to use a business card scanner (costs less than $100) to get the prospect into a computerized follow up system.
8. Properly Staff your Booth. Have sufficient staffing to allow for rest and eating breaks. Your booth should always be staffed with fresh staff ready to put their best foot forward. I have worked many smaller shows by myself. By the end of the show, usually 2 or 3 days, I didn't want to talk to anyone.
9. Make a Lasting Impression: Make prospects glad that they stopped by and met you and your company. Give them a novelty item such as a pen or screen saver along with your business card. For some prospects this is the start of your sales process. Thank each visitor for stopping by, even if they aren't a good fit. They may just send someone else your way.
10. Dress appropriately for your company and the target of the show. Work boots are fine if you are at a construction show and your company sells tools. A suit and tie is more appropriate for trade show with corporate buyers.
Don't List
1. Don't sit at your booth when prospects are present. Stand, be ready to engage all potential customers.
2. Don't eat, read or otherwise be distracted at your booth.
Avoid anything that inhibits your ability to engage the potential client.
3. Do not engage in conversation with your fellow booth sales person whenever there is a possibility to engage in conversation with a potential client. The customer should in all cases be the focus of your attention.
4. Do not stand with your arms crossed at the booth (the palace guard position). This position is unwelcoming and tends to drive potential engagement away. Do not stand with your hands folded low in front of you (the "fig leaf" position) or behind you (the military "at ease" position) for the same reasons as above.
5. Do not use the phrase "Can I help you?" -- The nearly automatic response to this question is "No thanks, just looking." Refer to Do Tip #3 for what to do.
6. Do not hand out brochures to everyone. Until you have qualified the lead and they have expressed an interest, keep the marketing material in your own hands. Handing out brochures at initial contact may inhibit a deeper conversation. Often, it is a conversation stopper -- the potential lead will say thank you and move on. Instead, wait until you have engaged and qualified the lead before handing out information as the last point of contact. Make your information important in your prospect's eyes. Your information is too valuable to just toss out to anyone. Plus it is a cost waster.
7. Do not fail to assess the client's needs before providing a solution.
8. Do not fail to be impeccably dressed and groomed. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Refer to Do Tip #10
9. Do not leave the booth unattended and do not take your stand down before the exhibit ends. You have made the commitment for the time. Often attendees will make a last minute rush of the hall and dismantling the stand shows a lack of this commitment. Refer to Do Tip #8
10. Do not fail to follow up on requests for information. It is imperative that you do what you commit to in the booth. Refer to Do Tip #7
Well, there you have the 10 SMB Trade Show Do's and Don'ts..
Photo: The Google Booth was well manned and had 6 LCD displays for demonstrating their product. This photo was taken at the same time as the ASK booth above.
About the Authors
Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP is a professional speaker and consultant focusing on meetings technology. With 20 years of experience running international citywide technology meetings he now helps clients worldwide use technology to save time and improve productivity He can be contacted at his extensive web site: www.corbinball.com.
John Beagle is President of Xponex Media and has attended and worked computer and technology trade shows for over 20 years.
For further information regarding trade shows, I recommend:
The Computer Rental Blog for Corporate Events
The Tech Army Corporate Event Setup and Installation of Trade Show Hardware
Trade Show Displays
Exhibits, Kiosks, Digital Signs, Staging Multimedia, Sound and Video Walls
Plasma Flat Panel Rentals Are Popular with Exhibitors
Event Audio Visual Rentals
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SMBs innovate to increase productivity and cut costs
by Alice McLane
The turbulent economy makes many business owners to search for ways to do more with less. "Less" may stand for less time, less money or less manpower. That's why many SMB owners turn to Web-based technologies that promise to boost team collaboration and dramatically increase time-savings. Among these SMB owners is Scott Whigham, the founder of LearnItFirst.com, who streamlined the work of his small company by adopting a project management solution, called Wrike.
Like many SMB founders, Scott tries to wear many hats and work on many projects at the same time. Lots of his projects were managed with e-mail. Now all of LearnItFirst's projects are tracked collaboratively online with Wrike's help. "Wrike is an excellent way to track our multiple short-term projects and manage all aspects of our business in one place," says Whigham.
Let's have a closer look at this solution. Wrike is said to be the most practical project management software on the market today. This statement is backed up by several industry awards, including eWeek's Excellence award and Red Herring's 100 Global award. This tool has features that let people get much better control and visibility into what's going on within the organization. One of Wrike's most important features is the Intelligent E-mail Engine. It automatically converts e-mails into plans organized on the Web. It also helps managers easily integrate the daily to-dos of each team member into a project plan and then into a strategic plan for the whole business. The Engine sends automatic task reminders to your team members, so you'll have more time for more important things, like negotiations with prospective customers, marketing and business development. "Really, as a multitasking founder of a supersonic growth startup, I need a project management tool that doesn't make my life harder -- and what Wrike does best. It makes things easy," says LearnItFirst.com's founder.
Better productivity is a great benefit, yet most SMB owners just pay attention to price when choosing a software solution. Wrike's pricing is another thing that many companies can find beneficial. Unlike other project management solutions that charge per project, Wrike lets users work on dozens of different projects simultaneously at a very affordable price. "Every other application charged per project. It seems to be a standard approach, and it's so backward! Wrike's pricing is based on a per user model, so it really was a lifesaver," says Nick Doherty, Managing Editor of Television for SBS Online.
On May 27, Wrike will release major enhancements to its award-winning software. The enhancements include Windows Mobile and Outlook plug-ins, intraday tasks, task discussions and a new cost-effective pricing model. The new features and pricing promise a significant increase in productivity and a dramatic drop in project management costs for SMBs all over the world. "We can't wait to introduce the great new productivity and collaboration features to the public. We think that, together with the updated pricing structure, they present a tremendous value for businesses," says the founder and CEO of Wrike Inc., Andrew Filev. Wrike's new pricing lets managers run an unlimited number of projects, mix various user types within one account and choose what features to pay for.
Because of the lightweight nature of the tool, Wrike can be instantly adopted and rolled out company-wide. If you're thinking of how to improve your business practices, save time and reduce costs, consider Wrike. It might be the right solution for your small company. It's risk-free, as they offer a free, 30-day trial. Website: Wrike.com
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WAYNE, PA - May 7, 2009 - TME Communications, a full-service marketing communications firm, has been providing small and mid-sized businesses an alternative to growing their internal marketing using its employee-like "Remote Cubicle" Marketing model - either as a all-inclusive role or to complement internal resources responsible for corporate and product communications and creative services.Using TME's "Remote Cubicle" Marketing model, clients engage TME like an employee but pay only a fixed monthly fee that combines well-defined turnkey programs with flexible hours of creative services for ad-hoc sales support. Clients gain a diverse and responsive team typically for the cost of one employee.
Components of the model include: a dedicated, hands-on project manager with complete command of clients' content; an active project plan; a pool of creative talent; ongoing strategic kickoffs; regular status sessions, coordination of all sales and marketing activities; and brand management.
In addition to a core team of technical and promotional copywriters and print and interactive designers, TME's project management practices and vast network of creative professionals allow for high volume, integrated marketing initiatives across many client accounts.
Clients Speak Out:
- "TME knows our business, our buyers, and can balance many projects, from strategic branding initiatives to quick sales support tactics," explains Marybeth Profrock, Vice President of Marketing and Partner Sales at Anexinet. "TME's employee-like mentality fits our 'need it now' culture." Anexinet is $50 million systems integrator and technology management company, and has been a TME client since 2003.
- "Outsourcing our marketing required a blend of product launch experience, creative services and the flexibility to collaborate across time zones in Australia and San Francisco," explains Martyn McKean, Chief Executive Officer at Intermine. "TME's hands-on approach is a perfect fit." Intermine is a global software company that specializes in storage management solutions for enterprises that manage large volumes of data files. Intermine has been a TME client since 2008.
- "Having daily access to a marketing team that could work proactively with our remote sales team and Virginia-based R&D facility is critical and what makes TME valuable to our organization," explains Chris Randazzo, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Phoenix Integration. Phoenix is a software company that specializes in multidisciplinary design optimization for engineers in the conceptual and preliminary stages of product design and systems analysis. Phoenix has been a TME client since 2006.
- "TME complements our internal staff as a lead, advisor, or resource, which helps us to execute our full marketing plan," explains Donna Milewski, Sr. Vice President of Sales Operations at Analytical Graphics Inc (AGI). "In our 20 years, we shied away from external marketing and creative support, but have found a strategic partner with TME." AGI is $50 million software company that specializes in commercial software for aerospace engineers. AGI has worked with TME since 2007.
- "TME distills complex information into spot-on messaging and awareness programs that our scientific and business audience can easily grasp," explains Bob Toal, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at MODA. "Most importantly, TME offers the flexibility that many early stage companies need to grow." MODA is software company that specializes in automating environmental monitoring, product and utility testing using a paperless solution. MODA has been a TME client since 2007.
- "TME can shift from assisting executives with strategic branding and PR guidance to helping marketing managers more-effectively communicate to our target audiences," explains Tony DeMarco, CEO at PRICE Systems. PRICE Systems is a software company and former Lockheed Martin business that specializes in cost estimating and analysis for program/project managers across the aerospace and defense industry. PRICE Systems has been a TME client since 2003.
Having held corporate marketing roles for startups to large global enterprises, TME is equipped to adapt to any corporate culture. Like an employee, TME uses its expertise to fully understand a client's business, sales process and customers' purchasing influencers, and collaborates in full alignment with executive teams and sales/marketing managers using proven, proactive project management methods. TME's high-tech industry insights and resources convert complex subjects and ideas into easy-to-understand market messaging and execute highly targeted promotional programs.
"Traditional marketing and ad agencies cannot support the steady flow of tactical sales support on very short notice that is most critical for small and mid-sized businesses, nor able to keep up with the daily adjustments," explains Jim Tagliaferri, Founder and Creative Director at TME. "Our clients serve well-defined markets that we are very familiar with, and they need a partner, not a vendor, that can learn their business and buyers quickly; collaborate and think on their feet; and limit their time spent in the process - basically a proactive team who is in the know of their daily business operations and not just taking orders."
TME has a strong regional network consisting of clients, clients' partners and business customers, and former colleagues from their corporate experience. From its referral network, TME has been engaged by IBM, MapQuest Business Solutions, Northrop Grumman, and the Department of Defense (DoD).
About TME Communications
TME is a full-service marketing communications agency established in 2003 with a pedigree from the late-1980's. We bring more than 20 years experience helping businesses create demand, heighten awareness, shorten sales cycles, and improve user experiences for their products and services. From corporate re-shaping and product launches to publicity and sales support, TME's expertise encompasses the spectrum of marketing disciplines, including: brand strategy and identity, sales optimization tools, lead generation and awareness campaigns, web and interactive media, event management, and public relations. For more information, visit: http://www.tmecom.com
Media Contact
Sarah Pyle
TME Communications, LLC
(610) 688-0659 x113
sarahp@tmecom.com
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