PLAN! to get the most out of your Trade Show investments
Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes
Participation in a trade show is usually a big investment for any company. If you are a large company with a 50 by 50 foot exhibit….it is a big investment relative to your revenue size. If you are a small company, a 10 by 20 foot inline exhibit can seem like a large investment. A common complaint I have heard from company leaders is that they don’t think they are getting a return on their trade show investment. And, at the start of a year, it is not uncommon to hear these same leaders ask their marketing and sales teams if it would be good to cut back on exhibit size and expenditures. If this is the discourse in a company, it is a sign of poor trade show planning and execution.
Good planning includes:
- What are the most important shows to attend? If you compete in multiple device markets this could be difficult. Great advice at about a selection process at www.thetradeshownetwork.com/trade-show-blog/.
- MOST IMPORTANT – Agreement on trade show objectives/goals.
- Is there a product launch? This requires special attention.
- Deciding what resources (people, products, promotion, exhibit design/layout, etc.) are necessary to achieve these goals.
- Does the resource requirement match the strategic plan and budget?
- All of the above done in a timely manner so pre-show promotion can be effective.
- All of the above turned into a written document that will be shared with senior executives.
If you cover those elements to trade show planning, your company leaders will probably be much more supportive of the expense and the effort. It is possible that they have not seen this before. So, their skepticism about the trade show investment is somewhat related to being blind to the opportunity.
Note!! The trade shows should be important tactics in support of key strategies in your strategic plan.
One company where I worked as the leading marketing and sales executive did not have true trade show planning when I came on board. Their planning consisted of who is going, what instruments to ship, scheduling some sales training, hotel arrangements, etc. It did not include setting objectives and goals. Actually, some members of the team were reluctant to take a stand and set a sales goal. We changed that. We set goals for sales, for actionable leads, for Key Opinion Leader interaction, exhibit sales incentives and so on. In one of the recent bad economic years, we set a company record for sales and leads at the exhibit. We doubled prior year sales for this tradeshow. All because we had a plan and executed it properly.
Examples of Goals and Objectives for medical device companies could be:
Sales
- Overall sales of $XYZ,000.
- With specific sales goals for certain targeted products.
- Sales training of domestic and international reps on new products or product enhancements
Leads
- Overall – Y hundred leads
- 90% of leads properly filled out
- Lead machine to be programmed to allow for segmentation by product interest
- Specific lead targets by product
Marketing
- A pre-show promotional campaign of ads, e-blasts and direct mail that sends a consistent message and call to action to visit the exhibit
- Be sure to take advantage of social media. While you must be cautious in medical devices with social media, it can still be a valuable tool in driving people to your exhibit. Good advice found at Let’s Talk Trade Shows (and a free e-book).
- Evaluation of competition – messaging, exhibit size, products emphasized, show pricing (show pricing should be discovered the first day and used to re-evaluate your own pricing or discounting permissions for your reps)
- Attend key presentations related to product categories and new technologies
- Market research – one on one interviews with doctors, simple surveys at the exhibit, formal surveys and/or focus groups
- Advisory group meetings
- Key opinion leader meetings
Company leaders – if you are the CEO, or COO of the company, a trade show is a great opportunity to observer your team in action. It is also a great place to have a number of one-on-one “landscape” meetings with employees that you do not see often throughout the year. This can be done over breakfast, coffee, lunch or even at the exhibit. You have in mind what you what you are trying to learn relative to field activity. And, you should enjoy just spending time with the person and learning more about them.
Research & Development
- KOL meetings for product feedback
- Alpha and Beta product feedback (usually in private meeting room or suite)
- Targeted learning about competitive products
- Attend key scientific presentations
Accounting – I am a real believer that the CFO or Comptroller should attend one or two major tradeshows a year. It is a great introduction to the market and sales environment. It gives the financial exec the opportunity to mentally place his company relative to the competition and market overall. It also gives him a bird’s eye view of how company resources are being employed and how hard sales and marketing people work at these meetings.
Fun – Yes, all this is serious stuff. Trade shows are serious business. Yet, tradeshows are the one or two times a year when you have all the field sales people together with marketing and management. Take some time to build camaraderie. Schedule a couple group dinners. Break bread, tell stories and laugh.
Company tradeshow goals should then be converted into goals for individuals. These goals should be on paper.
Get started now. Print this post and give it to your sales and marketing leaders. Tell them to put together a plan.
