The Essential Trade Show Checklist
June 22, 2009 | Mike Thimmesch | Comments 10
What do you need to succeed at trade shows? If you can check these 16 points off your list, you’re well on your way:
- Align your trade show goals with your overall marketing and company goals
- Create goals that are specific, measurable, and timely
- Pay early to avoid rush charges and (surprisingly high) late fees
- Booth space rental is about one-third your budget, for the rest invest more in areas that give you the best R.O.I.
- Pick shows with an audience that best matches your target market
- Go back to the highest R.O.I. shows from previous years
- Design your exhibit to boldly and clearly communicate who you are, what you sell, and why your prospects should buy from you
- Design your exhibit to support your booth staffers as a workspace…and work to keep your ongoing expenses down
- Reach out to attendees before the show, via social media, phone, email, mail, ads, and the web
- Offer attendees something of value (information, presentations, demonstration, show specials, giveaways) in exchange for a visit
- Select motivated, friendly, knowledgeable booth staffers
- Train your staffers to handle the steps to shorter trade show interactions: engage, present, qualify, and close
- Capture at-show, on paper or electronically, the prospect info your sales team needs after the show — and then give it to them after the show
- Before the show even starts, prepare a person, materials, and a database to fulfill your leads…and an all-out effort ready to follow up leads after the show
- Plan ahead to give yourself more time to adapt to problems, especially for international shows
- Take a binder with all your contracts and contacts with you to the show, including graphic art files on a thumb drive if your display gets lost
Like the list? Will use it? Think we missed something essential? Add your comments in the box below.
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Filed Under: Budgeting • Lead management • Measuring trade show results • Promotions • Selecting Shows • Trade show booth staffing • Trade show exhibit design
About the Author: Mike Thimmesch is Skyline Exhibits' Director of Lead Generation and Industry Relations, with 25 years of Marketing and 
A unique invitation that is designed to capture the attention of your company’s key customers and prospects is key to driving traffic to your trade show booth.
Thanks, Mary. Pre-show promotions can vastly increase the traffic to your booth. We have a lot more info on promotions at http://www.skyline.com/Trade-Show-Tips/promotions .
Have a plan, before hand, on how you are going to handle ALL leads. Step by Step what will be your follow-up on each and every one.
Agreed! It’s too easy to come back from the heroic effort to set up and work the show, and then get distracted by the big pile of work and mail that’s on your desk. There’s a great saying, “The first day back from the show is the last day of the show,” meaning you’ve still got to complete your work from the show by getting those leads quickly into the right hands.
[...] about making a list is getting crazy. I received a list of things in the trade show industry from Skyline Trade Show Tips and thought I would send you all over to help them form their list or just to have a look to see if [...]
Thanks for posting about my 16-point checklist on your blog. That 16-item list boils down to three letters: ROI. But as we trade show marketers know, without doing most, if not all those things right, ROI will be elusive to attain.
Mike,
I like reading your tips and would like to share them with my exhibitors when I see ones that are beneficial. May I use them by giving Skyline credit with a link to your site? Currently I use ones from Matt Hill and Keith Ferazzi with their permission. Thank you.
Hello Susan,
Yes, you can certainly share Skyline Trade Show Tips with your exhibitors. If you like, you can link to the page itself from your website about your show, and all our latest news will be there to share. Thanks for the compliment!
Thank you Mike.
Actually per my Director of Communication I will list as reprinted by your name/Skyline with the link to the site. Thank you.