Before the Trade Show: Plan, Plan, Plan

1. Budget methodically:  Create a budget allocation worksheet for every show. Use it as a task-management checklist. If you don’t have a template, get one from your exhibit house.
2. Set objectives: One sure-fire approach is to align trade show goals with existing corporate goals. Make sure your objectives are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).  Limit the number of goals to narrow your focus and improve chances for success.
3. Streamline logistics: Add hours to your day with logistics and inventory management software (check out www.ExhibitForce.com). Some exhibit companies provide this tool to customers for free.
4. Facilitate selling: Work closely with the sales team to find out what’s needed for in-booth appointments.  A private meeting area?  A photocopier?  A laptop with appointment-scheduling software?  Ship any necessary documents (e.g. contracts) and carry a thumb drive as backup.
5. Design simply: Your exhibit should boldly and clearly communicate who you are, what you sell and why prospects should buy from you.  The keys to attracting traffic and creating a lasting impression are to use eye-catching images and short, compelling messages.
6. Use lightweight materials: Everyone knows large, heavy items are costly to ship.  This is also true for your trade show exhibit.       If you’re still shipping a heavy dinosaur of an exhibit, calculate annual drayage, shipping and storage costs.  These costs are slashed by switching to lighter, modular materials and fabrics that pack into fewer, lighter crates.  Apply savings to additional shows or directly to the bottom line.
7. Go modular: Custom modular booths create a multifunctional pool of inventory that can be reconfigured into multiple shapes and sizes.  One booth can service many industries, divisions, product lines and footprints.
8. Leverage social media: Social media websites like Twitter, WordPress, Facebook and LinkedIn offer unbelievable potential to drive qualified booth attendance.  Start small – but start.
9. Design a standard lead form: A short, simple survey is all you need to prequalify leads.  The trick is to apply the same survey across the board.  Standard questions enable the ability to merge and sort data, analyze statistics and draw conclusions.
10. Manage lead distribution: Determine where the “leads list” will be stored, how and to whom leads will be distributed, and how they will be actioned.  With only 21 percent of trade show inquiries actually pursued (www.ceir.org), chances are your competitors are NOT following up – which is your golden opportunity.

At the Trade Show: Execute Well

1. Self-reflect: What are you doing right and wrong at trade shows?  Write down the top five things you do well and the five things you most need to improve.  Think back to the moments of frustration and insight you had during the course of the year and turn those insights into a plan.
2. Huddle every morning: An hour before the show, quarterback the pre-show staff meeting.  Be highly detailed; set realistic goals for the day.  Review key messages and talking points.  Institute a competition to reward staffers for the most leads collected (qualified leads, that is).  Collect cell phones and store them safely.
3. Huddle every afternoon: After the show, spend 10 minutes debriefing.  Distribute hot leads.  See what worked well (or poorly) during the day.  Announce the lead collection winner.  Identify necessary adjustments for the next day.
4. Ensure timely follow-up: If you collect e-mail addresses, use Web-based tools like Constant Contact or Exact Target to send thank you notes right from the show floor.  While personal contact by a salesperson is mandatory, be a brand ambassador and close the loop quickly.

After the Trade Show: Measure and React

1. Post-show report: Create a standard format.  Be diligent about completing a report for every show.  One client told us, “We write a show report after every event including photos, costs, attending staff, lead quantity, competitors, etc.  The report serves as next year’s plan and provides metrics for comparison.”
2. Measure performance: Many metrics can be measured: Media coverage, brand awareness, competitive activity.  What’s paramount, however, is filling the sales pipeline with qualified leads, of which a percentage will convert into revenue.  Obsess over results.  Adjust where you can.  If you don’t have a written trade show plan, develop one now (get help if necessary).  Lead management doesn’t have to be complicated or costly, and the rewards can be monumental.

While I certainly hope these tips enhance your company’s success, I also hope they improve your own quality of life at work, at home and on the road.

You can get almost 100 more exhibiting tips from fellow trade show marketers like you in the 32-page What’s Working In Exhibiting White Paper. Click here to get your copy and learn more ways to improve your results and stretch your budget.

Potential customers of ours (and others) continue to ask Exhibit Consultants to compete for their business — but without considering the one criteria their company should be most concerned with.  Unfortunately, not enough attention is paid to the true cost of exhibit ownership and management, even though this is the true barometer to your company’s long term ROI — especially in today’s economy, when budgets weigh heavy in the decision making process, as they should.

Why aren’t we getting the right information to make good trade show exhibit purchasing decisions?

If you have ever been a decision maker for your company’s exhibit purchase I am sure you evaluated many factors in the process.  Overall design, capabilities of the exhibit vendor, responsiveness of the vendor in the bidding process, experience of the vendor in your industry, among other things.

Then, of course, you have the budget.  Most new build design projects have a budget for the exhibit purchase.  In addition, a good percentage of those projects will also ask for some costs on other services such as install and dismantle for the show the booth is needed, and perhaps what it will cost to store it.

Yet, most objections to any of the submittals I have been involved with in my 10+ years in the industry are only related to the cost of purchasing the exhibit.  They love our design, they value our customer service, but then I hear things like, “You were on the high side” or “Everyone was in the same range.”  Buyers seem blind to the true long term impact these decisions can have on an organization’s marketing team.

Research shows that as you move into larger exhibits, companies have full intention of using their new exhibit purchase for events occurring for the 3-5 years following the purchase.  In most all cases, the costs of owning and managing that exhibit will surpass and in many cases far exceed the initial purchase price of that exhibit.  Many people are probably aware of this.  You are likely aware of this.  Yet, I have not seen an opportunity cross my desk once that asks for the potential vendors to estimate the cost of buying and using the exhibit over the course of the next three years, based on the client’s proposed exhibit schedule.

Comparing the true cost of owning a traditional custom exhibit to a custom modular exhibit

If I propose an exhibit that costs $80,000 and you are an exhibitor that goes to 10 shows each year (as the show schedule increases, so does the impact of the cost of ownership and management) and another vendor offers to beat my proposal by $10,000…what good does that do you if round-trip shipping, drayage and the install and dismantle of the exhibit they are proposing costs 30% more?  The promise of cost savings on just the purchase price is a mirage of sorts.  Let’s look a little more closely to clarify the point:

Exhibit A (Custom Modular Exhibit):

$80,000 for the initial purchase
$3,150 average cost per install and dismantle
$3,360 for roundtrip freight on average per show
$2,520 for drayage (based on weight) on average per show

In this example, for a 10-show schedule, the costs (purchase and use) are as follows:

$170,300 through end of the first year
$350,900 through the end of 3 years
$531,500 through the end of 5 years

Exhibit B (Traditional Custom Exhibit):

$70,000 for the initial purchase
$4,500 average cost per install and dismantle
$4,800 for roundtrip freight on average per show
$3,600 for drayage (based on weight) on average per show

In this example, for a 10-show schedule, the costs (purchase and use) are as follows:

$199,000 through end of the first year
$457,000 through the end of 3 years
$715,000 through the end of 5 years

Notice the “cheaper” exhibit’s true cost over a 5 year period!  In fact, it doesn’t even take 1 year for the “more expensive” custom modular exhibit to be less expensive.  Considering the total cost of ownership (purchase AND use costs), the custom modular exhibit saves $28,700 in the first year, $106,100 after 3 years, and $183,500 after 5 years.  And yet it is not uncommon for me to hear “their exhibit was a few thousand dollars cheaper than yours.”

Keep in mind, we have not factored in many other things such as storage, in/outs (process of preparing exhibits in storage for an upcoming event), ability to reconfigure and operate as a different-sized exhibit (say a 20’x20’ can reconfigure and be used in a 10’x20’ event).  These factors add even more savings and value from flexibility that heavier exhibits usually don’t have.

This has gotten much longer than I intended it to but I am very passionate about trying to do what is best for my clients’ long-term business strategy.  ROI is dominating money allocation in business today and the wrong exhibit purchase can handcuff your future face-to-face marketing efforts.  The best advice I can give isn’t necessarily to buy from me but to make sure when you do buy, work on preparing budget requirements and comparisons that will best prepare your business to make a sound and informed decision, not one based on an upfront cost that in many cases does not tell even the smallest bit of the story.

Want to know more about the advantages of custom modular exhibits? Click here to get your free copy of the white paper, The Trend To Custom Modular Exhibits, written by Tradeshow Week magazine.  Based on survey responses from over 170 exhibitors, the white paper reveals exhibitors’ preferences for custom modular exhibits’ lower operating costs and greater flexibility compared to traditional custom exhibits.

It’s a big deal.  And you can help.  Here’s how.

The average exhibitor spends 14% of their trade show budget* on trade show promotions.  Where do you spend yours to get the best results?  Consider the big three buckets:

1. Pre-Show Promotions
2. At Show Promotions
3. Post-Show Promotions

Do you get a better return on your investment on pre-show, at-show, or post-show promotions?  Or, if you’ve been splitting your dollars into two or three of these buckets, which gets the lion’s share?

Tell us in the comments box below, and let us know what kind of activity you are doing that is bringing in more attendees, and the right attendees.  Don’t be shy.  Go ahead on share your experience and insight.  We all want to know how you’re getting more trade show booth visitors for the least money.

Common places to invest in pre-show promotions include direct mail (ranging from a post card up to dimensional packets), advertising, telemarketing, and pre-show microsites.  You can also do email and social media, at next to no cost.

At-Show promotions include entertainers, presentations, celebrities, gifts, discounts, hospitality, and show specials.

And after the show, post-show promotions can include mailing follow-up packets, gifts, or post-show specials and discounts.

Based on my results, I’ve been shifting my money from one of these 3 promotional buckets into another over the last several years.  But I won’t say which just yet.  I’d rather hear from you first where you get the most bang for your promotional buck in the comment box below.

*About the 14% statistic: Over 2,000 exhibitors told us in a 2008 survey where they spend their exhibiting budget, and promotions were, on average, a whopping 14% of their budgets.

Want even more proven ways to attract more leads with promotions?  Then click here to get the free, 76-page Creating Effective Trade Show Promotions book.  It’s filled with insightful articles, worksheets, checklists, and proven ideas to drive more traffic to your booth.

To find out, we asked exhibit marketers to tell us, as part of the survey Tradeshow Week did for our joint white paper, The Evolving Role Of Exhibit Marketers.

The answers were clear.  The top 3 things exhibit marketers want their bosses to know are:

1. The value of trade shows
2. How to exhibit better at trade shows
3. How much effort it really takes to do trade shows

1.  The Value of Trade Shows

Exhibitor marketers praised how trade shows build awareness, relationships, memorability, and yes, generate leads.  They want their bosses to see the value of face-to-face marketing compared to direct selling, and how that can never be duplicated via the internet.  Many exhibitors wish their managers understood that the longer sales cycles for their industries delay results, but to be patient because those results will come.

Here, in their own words, is how exhibit marketers value trade shows, and what they wish their bosses understood about their value:

• “At anywhere from $20 to $75 per contact per lead it is still by far the most cost-effective face-to-face contact option available.”
• “Face-to-face connections are very beneficial for relationship-building.”
• “The benefit is not strictly based on sales closed at show or within weeks of meeting someone at show.”
• “It’s a chance for interactive/experiential marketing that can make a long-term impression on attendees.”
• “Sales cycle in our serving industries is long and it is extremely difficult to track results for an event today which will bring in revenue 3-5 years out.”
• “Shows are effective in growing our business and travel to stay on top of market and developing conditions is essential.”
• “That the Internet cannot replace the one-one interaction that takes place at trade shows and events.”
• “That they are key to shifting and influencing our markets.”
• “That you have to spend a little money to make money.”
• “The importance of the newest exhibit display to attract attention.”
• “The sales cycle from event to signed contract is typically 120-180 days, so the ROI can not be tracked immediately.”
• “There are still people who want to see things up close and people face-to-face.  There needs to be a balance of shows, print and e-media.”
• “There is much more to marketing than lead generation.  Brand awareness and marketing mix to reach prospects is important not just putting your eggs in one basket of electronic marketing.”
• “THEY DO HAVE VALUE.”
• “Trade shows are critical to our success.  What other venue puts thousands of your customers directly in front of your key products and technologies for several days?”
• “We can reach many more buyers and decision makers for much less cost than one-on-one sales calls.”

2.  How To Exhibit Better At Trade Shows

Exhibit marketers want to do better, but their bosses are in the way.  They have new ideas and a more complete understanding of the entire trade show marketing process, but can’t always get their senior management to loosen the reins and let them experiment and innovate.

Here are some of the exhibiting methods and ideas exhibit marketers wish their bosses understood:

• “Exhibitors do not have to do what they have always done.  We can make changes and it will not hinder our reputation at trade shows.”
• “A better-planned trade show with pre- and post follow up by assigned personnel is a better investment than sending a large group to a show with no specific plan or message.”
• “Being at the right show is very important as there are sooooooo many shows these days.”
• “Can’t be a once or twice thing.”
• “Demonstrations are crucial.”
• “If there is not fast and assertive lead follow-up, our time, effort, and money go to waste.
• “If you do it, do it right or leave it.”
• “Key prospect selection, on-site networking, follow-up and follow-through is much, much more important than anyone appreciates here.”
• “Plan EARLY!”
• “Sending a ton of product/literature doesn’t always draw people into the booth.”
• “The need for in-house communication and cooperation during site-specific planning.”
• “The role politics plays in trade shows.  For example not going one year can drastically ruin booth placement for the following year.”
• “We need more qualified demo people on our stand.”
• “When you sign up for a booth, people need to be in the booth.”

3.  How Much Effort It Really Takes To Do Trade Shows

Exhibit marketers want to do better, but can’t always get their senior management to loosen the reins and let them experiment and innovate.  Exhibit marketers have new ideas and a more complete understanding of what trade shows truly entail:

• “Event planning involves 1001 relatively minor, though super-critical steps to ensure a smooth show.”
• “Exhausting!”
• “How much goes into the planning and logistics of getting us to a show.”
• “It is part of a multi- prong marketing effort.”
• “Takes more time than they think to get the details right.”
• “That it’s not a vacation.”
• “That you only get out of a show, what you put into a show.”
• “The amount of time it really takes to pull something together and the critical need to incorporate marketing strategy around the event – not just rely on the exhibit to do the work.
• “The cost in money and time is great.”
• “The length of time it takes to follow-up on leads and the importance of timely responses.”
• “Things don’t happen over night.”
• “We work really, really hard and are not partying the whole time; just because something happens in southern California does not mean we’re on vacation.”

What do you want your boss to know about trade shows?  If it’s the value of shows, how to do shows better, or that doing trade shows right takes more effort than it looks, maybe you could take your boss out to lunch, and offer this article for dessert.  If it’s not in this article, let us know what you’d like your boss to know about trade shows in the comment box below.

Learn more about how exhibit marketers like you have adapted to today’s changes by getting your own copy of The Evolving Role Of Exhibit Marketers, the new 36-page White Paper from Skyline Exhibits and Tradeshow Week Magazine.  Get your free copy by clicking here now.

He’s certainly not alone in his quest to grow more into a marketing role.  To get into marketing, it helps to understand what exactly marketing is.  So here are 10 experts’ definitions of marketing, plus for good measure my reactions to the strengths and weaknesses of their definitions. 

1. “Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development.  It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.”  — Wikipedia

I like how this is so focused on both the strategic and functional aspects of marketing, but especially that it’s so customer-focused – the word customer is in it three times, more than any other word! 

2. “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”  — American Marketing Association 

This definition took the AMA years of debate to create.  It is a very comprehensive, yet concise definition, encompassing the product development, marketing communications, pricing, and strategic aspects of marketing. 

3. “Marketing is everything.” — Regis McKenna 

Regis McKenna’s bold statement exemplifies the school of thought that everything you do – not just your products, pricing, promotion, and distribution, but even your billing, how you answer the phone, your speed of handling problems –it all affects how your customer perceives your company, so everything is marketing. 

4. “Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized activity at all.  It encompasses the entire business.  It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view.  Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.” – Peter Drucker 

Management guru Drucker also advocates that marketing is everything, plus he provides reasons to back it up. 

5. “Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.” — Philip Kotler 

This is more of an old-school, college-professor definition, which while accurate, is fairly cold.  I think the “social process” part diverts attention from the business side, and “individuals” sounds more clinical than “customers” which is the gold standard in many of these definitions. 

6.  “Marketing is the process whereby society, to supply its consumption needs, evolves distributive systems composed of participants, who, interacting under constraints – technical (economic) and ethical (social) – create the transactions or flows which resolve market separations and result in exchange and consumption.” – Bartles 

This is even more a college-professor definition.  The idea of society evolving distributive systems seems to take the shine off of the inventiveness and initiative of individual marketers. 

7. “Marketing is any contact that your business has with anyone who isn’t a part of your business. Marketing is also the truth made fascinating. Marketing is the art of getting people to change their minds.  Marketing is an opportunity for you to earn profits with your business, a chance to cooperate with other businesses in your community or your industry and a process of building lasting relationships.” — Jay Conrad Levinson 

This is just part of a passionate rant by Jay Conrad Levinson of Guerilla Marketing fame, which highlights the role of persuasion in marketing. 

8. “Marketing is getting someone who has a need to know, like and trust you.” — Jon Jantsch (of Duct Tape Marketing fame) 

Jantsch’s definition also picks up on Levinson’s theme of persuasion, at an even more personal level than Levinson. 

9. Marketing is “The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” — The Chartered Institute of Marketing 

I like how the CIM’s definition is so concise and yet so all-encompassing, and how marketing’s job is to take care of the customer, while making a buck, too. 

10. “Marketing is the process of anticipating, managing, and satisfying the demand for products, services, and ideas.” — Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 

This too-concise definition is nearly identical to the CIM definition right before it, without the management, the profitability, and especially the customer.  So I like the CIM definition better. 

The underlying thread in many of these definitions that resonates most with me is that marketing’s job is to understand what the customer needs and then to provide it – and that the job of marketing goes beyond the marketing department.  

So if you want to have a greater role in marketing, then focus on how the entire experience your customers have in your trade show exhibits and displays creates more impetus for them to buy from you, rather than just the logistics of shipping your exhibit properties.  At that point you’ve shifted your mindset into the realm of marketing. 

Does that help?  Whose definition do you like best?  Let us know in the comments box below, or share a better definition of marketing that you prefer. 

Want to expand your marketing impact at trade shows?  The What’s Working In Exhibiting White Paper reveals the successful marketing strategies and tactics of over 170 exhibit marketers.  Click here to get your free copy.

What Are Virtual and Hybrid Trade Shows?

A virtual trade show is an online environment where users enter an online exhibition hall and connect with other users on the Internet.  These virtual events use technology such as video streaming and online chats to allow users to interact and view products.   With the rising price of travel, these virtual events have really picked up steam with exhibitors seeking cost effective ways to present their products to reach even larger audiences.  A Hybrid event offers exhibitors the opportunity to expand their reach outside of the trade show floor and gain an even larger audience by offering live streaming.

Will Virtual Events Replace Traditional Trade Shows?

It’s not likely, unless there is a struggling show and perhaps it makes more sense for that show to move to a virtual environment.  Think of it this way, we all have the ability to shop online, but there are some items we still want to go to a store, to see, to touch, to interact with a live person and truly understand before we make our purchase.  Sometimes we need that validation from a live person to confirm what we think we already know.   We use all of the resources available to us to make informed decisions before we purchase something, whether its online research or visiting a store to interact with a product.

Technology affords us a lot of great opportunities to learn, interact, and spread our message.  But at the end of the day, we still need and want face-to-face interaction.  Even in social media circles we have tweet-ups and meet-ups so that we can meet the person behind the Twitter handle to learn more about them.  We want to get to know the people that we are sharing our content with.

The trade show floor is your best opportunity to truly connect with your audience.  It’s your time to show your prospect or client the voice on the other end of the phone, the person behind the emails.  It’s your time to let your prospect know who YOU are and interact with them on a personal level.  It’s your time to give them your undivided attention and show them you are genuinely interested in them and their needs.

Participating In Virtual Events

If you plan on adding a virtual event to your show schedule, as always, do your homework.  Attend an industry-related virtual event yourself to get a feel for the interactions.  Reach out to industry people that you trust that can recommend a good virtual event developer who can provide a booth preview.  Ask questions about the set up and design costs involved.  As you would with a traditional trade show, find out about booth location and potential sponsorship opportunities to give yourself the best exposure.

Virtual has its rightful place in our industry and its reach is undeniable.  But, you can’t deny the power and impact of one-to-one human interaction either!

It’s early on the first day of set up, and as I walk through the show hall towards my booth space,  I am greeted by a cheerful labor crew, who have finished unpacking all my crates…which were already delivered.  The set up goes smoothly and is completed on straight-time.  Even the new trade show exhibit graphics that were sent directly from the exhibit house fit perfectly, matched the color of the existing panels, and had no typos. I go to dinner that night relaxed, and even have time to go to a show.

The next morning, two full hours before the trade show opens, and all the little booth details are done.  The lead cards are on clip boards, the pens are in place, the at-show promos are unwrapped, and every computer is in place and hooked up to the internet.  All my booth staffers are in the booth eager for the pre-show meeting to start, so they can be completely familiar with our goals for the show, the benefits of the new products, the booth layout, and our leads system.

There is also an extra booth staffer, brought by a co-worker.  “Ted just started this week,” says his friend.  “But don’t worry about him being a burden – he used to be a client.  Ted knows our products and what our clients value about them, which is why he joined our sales team.   He has also staffed trade shows before and twice won a best booth staffer award.”

Ten minutes before the show starts, the CEO arrives.  He is smiling broadly at how well the exhibit expresses the company brand, how much better we look than the competitors, and how friendly and professional the booth staff look.  He greets the entire booth staff and encourages them to do their best, then leaves to gloat by the competitors’ trade show exhibit booths.

When the show opens, there is a mad dash as attendees flock into the booth, eager to learn more about the new product they heard about before the show via email, direct mail, Twitter, and from their local Account Executives.  The torrid pace continues throughout the day, and there is a steady crowd around the product demo stations.  The only break I get from staffing the booth is to introduce the CEO to a writer from the industry business journal who wants to do a feature story about our new product.

On day two and three of the show, the pace in the booth is still strong, even as the overall show traffic level slows down.  The booth staff remains cheerful, aware of how their hard work will pay off for the company.  By day three we have to run to the show services desk to get two extra rolls of paper for the lead retrieval machines. 

Then, almost abruptly, the show closes and the last visitor leaves.  Just as we wave goodbye to a repeat client leaving towards the entrance, the carpets are being rolled up from the other direction, to allow a forklift to arrive with all our empty crates.  The booth staff stays until all the small stuff is packed away, and the labor crew takes over to complete packing the exhibit. 

I am just about to leave when the CEO shows up again.  He had heard about how well our booth and staff performed, from clients, business partners, and even some jealous competitors.  “I know trade shows take a lot of effort to pull off, and that you did your best to make it look effortless,” he says.  “This show will mean a lot to our future sales, our image, and the quick adoption of our new products.  Thanks for making it a success.” 

Finally, the CEO asks if he can hand-carry the leads himself back to headquarters, as he is flying home that evening.  He wants to personally bring the leads for his morning meeting the next day with the VP of Sales and Marketing about accelerating the follow up plan.

I leave the show hall, walking on air, looking for fairy wings, magic mirrors, and pixie dust.  

Sound like a pipe-and-drape dream?  I hope this isn’t all fantasy, that with good fortune and hard work, some of it has already happened to you.   What else would be in your trade show fantasy?  Let us know in the comments box below.  And keep dreaming big!

You’ve got a better chance to have a dream show by learning from the success of others.  Click here to get your free copy of What’s Working In Exhibiting, a 32-page white paper that reveals the winning strategies and tactics of over 170 exhibitors.

While it ensures that your notes are “attached” to each contact, relying on business cards alone severely limits the space you can write down the valuable info told shared by attendees visiting your trade show displays.    

And that’s a big problem.  Because without meaningful notes about what your booth visitors said and your booth staffers promised, your sales people are much less likely to value the lead enough to follow up.  And even if they do follow up, they will more often make a hash of it since they lack a good record of what the attendee already said they wanted.  Making your trade show results suffer.

A Complete Trade Show Lead Management System

But this is a problem that’s easily solved.  Instead of relying on writing on a lead card, graduate to a complete trade show lead management system that makes it easier to record what your booth staffers say, transfer that knowledge to your sales force, and better follow up (and measure the results of) your trade show leads.

Here are the three elements of a trade show lead management system that go beyond jotting notes on the back of a business card: 

1. A lead card, which is a pad of pre-printed paper with room to record contact info, answers to common qualifying questions, and notes about the attendees’ needs and your promises for next steps they agreed upon.  They are usually printed on half a sheet to a full sheet of 8 ½” x 11” paper.  The pad of paper has a cardboard backing to make it easier to write on the lead cards.
2. An electronic lead retrieval system, which is almost always rented from the show, that lets you scan the badges of visitors to your booth. You can also buy your own lead retrieval system to bring to each show, which makes training easier for your booth staffers, as they only have to learn one system.  The lead retrieval system records all the leads you’ve taken, so you can then get a digital record of all their contact info in a format you can import into your computer contact management system.  It also gives you a print out when you take each lead, that you can use as the lead itself, or staple it to your lead card so you don’t have to write out the visitor’s contact info.   These systems are evolving, as Bartizan just introduced an iPhone app for lead retrieval that won best new product at the 2010 TS2 Show.
3. A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database for entering in those leads, rather than stacking up the business cards on the side of your desk.  With a database, you can more easily assign the leads to sales people, do post-show marketing, continue follow up over time, and track sales results by comparing leads to your client database.  And no cheating with an Excel file: while that is better than a stack of business cards, it’s still not a true CRM database.

Using either lead cards and a database, or an electronic lead retrieval system and a database, or all three together will help you record more info about each visitor to your booth, help ensure a more complete follow up by the sales force, and make it easier to continue marketing to your trade show leads after the show. 

So while it may not be as easy as setting up a banner stand, take the time to set up your lead management system.  It’s that important to your trade show success.  And it will earn you a lot more business than just writing on the back of business cards.

If you’ve made the jump from business cards to a true lead management system, and have seen the accompanying jump in results, we’d love to hear your story in the comments box below.

Good lead management gets you more from your trade show marketing investment.  Learn even more ways to boost your results in the 32-page White Paper, What’s Working In Exhibiting.  Click here to get your free copy now.

How Have Trade Show Exhibit Marketers’ Jobs Changed In The Last Two Years?
Exhibit marketers are on the front lines of today’s new business reality.  When asked how their jobs had changed, exhibit marketers gave us over 130 answers.  They told us that they have to do the same or bigger jobs with less help, and demonstrate their work produced profitable results. 

Here are the 4 biggest changes exhibit marketers reported about their jobs, and several answers for each in their own words:
1.  Increased online / Email / Social Networks:  16.8%

• “The marketplace requires us to contact more people with more information every day.  We are forced to learn and use the newest contact technology as it comes out in order to stay ahead of our competition.”
• “We are doing less print advertising and more e-commerce which requires a great deal of time designing and implementing email campaigns.”
• “It is becoming more Internet-oriented and moving away from traditional media. Evaluating is becoming more important (and harder to do) with additional channels.  We are just learning the ins and outs of social media.”
• “Doing more with web & email marketing vs. direct mailings and printed. Must show metrics for everything we do.”

2.  Generally doing more with less: 15.3%

• “Do more with less help.”
• “Economy has gotten worse leading to a smaller team.”
• “Try to produce more with fewer resources.”
• “I am the only person in the marketing department now.”
• “Less help more work.”
• “More work, less people!”

3.  Wider range of responsibilities: 14.5% (very similar to “doing more with less”!)

• “Busier, more diverse, more strategic.”
• “More responsibility for more shows.”
• “Same amount of work – more options of how to accomplish and to measure what is and is not working.”
• “Increased responsibilities due to workforce reductions.”
• “Taken on the entire trade show project.”
• “One-man show to managing a team.”
• “Doubled in responsibility.”

4.  Focus on cost / ROI / Budgets: 9.2%

• “I have had to really fine tune our show selection process so we are only attending the shows that give us the most in return.”
• “Moved more towards ROI research on a show-by-show basis.  Cutting cost and budgets and finding cost-saving measures.”
• “Spend more time analyzing data from an event as to ROI.”
• “Only been in role for 1 year, but the emphasis on budget control is the most important.”
• “VPs looking for more immediate results.”
• “More stress on proving that marketing and specifically trade shows generate results.”

New Responsibilities for Exhibit Marketers
Exhibit marketers also shared what new responsibilities they added over the last two years:

• The most common new responsibilities include more time on email marketing (45.3%), product marketing (42.2%) and sales (39.1%).
• About a quarter of exhibit marketers also said they are spending more time on corporate communications, market research, public relations, and social media.

For the next 12 months, exhibit marketers expect to spend more time on sales (15.3%), online social networks (12.2%), and strategic planning (8.2%).  But there is still also much uncertainty about the future, as exhibit marketers’ largest group of answers (24.5%) was categorized as “nothing new / not sure.”

Exhibit marketers have greater responsibility, less help, and more scrutiny than ever.  But that also means they have greater opportunity to shine while in the spotlight.  By delivering the marketing results with their trade show displays that businesses crave, exhibit marketers can make a change for the better. 

Learn more about how exhibit marketers like you have adapted to today’s changes by getting your own copy of The Evolving Role Of Exhibit Marketers , the new 36-page White Paper from Skyline Exhibits and Tradeshow Week Magazine.  Get your free copy by clicking here now.

Introverts?  How is that possible?  When you think of the best booth staffer, you probably picture a gregarious extrovert who fearlessly engages and charms attendees into entering their trade show booths.  And conversely, you expect the quiet booth staffers barely make a ripple in the waves of attendees who stream by. 

That’s what I used to think, too.  But that changed when those top four staffers all called themselves introverts.

Why Introverts Can Make Great Booth Staffers
There are six reasons we discovered why introverts can make the best booth staffers:

1. Introverts are more process-driven than people-driven, so they are more willing to learn and adhere to the proven process of engage, relate, qualify, and close.
2. Introverts are not as scary to introverted attendees walking down the aisle, who may spook at the over-the-top overtures of extroverted booth staffers.
3. Because introverts don’t need to talk all the time, they are more likely to listen to what attendees say they really need.
4. Introverts don’t need constant talking too — so they can go for more than 30 seconds without needing to ask their neighbor about what’s for dinner, or about the party they went to last night. Introverts can stay focused on taking the next lead.  And once they take a lead, they don’t brag about each lead they took. 
5. Introverts are like the turtle to the extrovert’s hare, quietly gathering more leads than an extrovert will.
6. Introverts are more likely to actually write down what the attendee said on a lead card, providing more ammunition and motivation for effective lead follow-up

They also shared that even thought they called themselves introverts, they loved booth staffing because they could see the substantial results their participation generated, how well received our products were, and how they gained marketing insights from talking to customers.  These are confident, competent team players, not hermits. 

Of course, I have seen extroverted booth staffers who succeed at trade shows, and fit the stereotype of the charming staffer.  It’s just a revelation that self-described introverts can succeed so well, too. 

So perhaps it’s worth considering that if introverts at your company really want to staff the booth, know your customers and your products, then it’s more than possible that those wallflowers could blossom at trade shows.

Is this a surprise to you?  Or have you already been successfully recruiting introverts with positive attitudes to staff your booth?  Let us know in the comments box below.

To get greater results from your booth staffers, whether they are introverts or extroverts, click here to get your free copy of the 48-page Booth Staffing Guidebook, filled with useful articles, checklists, and worksheets.