A Show Through 'Baby Eyes'

Susan Friedmann knows what it's like to look at the business of tradeshow exhibiting through what she calls "baby eyes," the eyes of somebody who may find herself at her very first tradeshow, or even planning, organizing and running her company's exhibit booth for the first time under these conditions.

And Freidmann has good reason to know. As "The Tradeshow Coach," she is the author of the three-volume "Secrets of Successful Exhibiting" and advises and speaks to groups constantly on the topic. She is also the author of "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies."

Almost nobody who ends up in an exhibit booth on a tradeshow floor takes the task lightly. Yet, despite all the preparation and planning, there's always something people forget. Friedmann spoke to Exhibit Marketing Editor Michael Hart about the things that nobody tells you before the show.

Question: What do first-time exhibitors need to know that nobody else is telling them?

Answer: Do your homework, do your research. Take the guesswork out of your job. Speak to other exhibitors, speak to show management. There are people who have done this before; ask them for help.

Q: If you've never exhibited your company's products or services before, and you've got a list of 10 different shows you might go to, how do you decide which ones to attend?

A: Know who your target audience is. Know where they're going to go. For instance, if you only service a five-state region in the Northeast, why would you want to go to a show on the West Coast? Ask your existing customers which shows they go to. Where are your competitors going?

Q: If, as your company's exhibit manager, you need to make a case to your CEO for exhibiting at tradeshows, what kind of information do you need to have?

A: Top management is very bottom-line-focused. What are they trying to achieve in terms of corporate marketing objectives? What you do at tradeshows should complement the overall corporate marketing objective. This isn't magic; it's got to be tied into what the company wants to do overall.

Q: The exhibitor kit you get from a show manager can be an intimidating document. What are the most important things in it to pay attention to?

A: The main thing is to focus on the deadline dates for services. You have to think ahead about what services you are going to need. Be conservative and order more rather than less. However, again, talk to people who know and ask the question. Say, "I'm the new kid on the block. I need your help." Show management, if they're anywhere decent, they're going to help you because they want you to become a long-term exhibitor.

Q: The cost of booth design and construction has already eaten up three-quarters of your tradeshow budget. How do you stretch the rest to cover marketing, promotion, staff, services and other costs? Or do you need to rethink what you're spending on the exhibit?

A: Booth space and booth expenses should be about 55 percent of your budget. Show services are around 22 to 25 percent. Then advertising, personnel, marketing, travel and everything else takes up the rest. If somebody can follow these kinds of guidelines, you're not spending all your money on your booth.

But remember, the booth will never make a sale in itself. Never ever think that a booth is going to sell your product. I'd rather people put their money into pre-show marketing than another graphic for the booth.

Q: How do you explain to someone who's never heard the word drayage before how to plan for these services and what they cost?

A: It's probably one of the most misunderstood services there is. You have to carefully read and understand all the potential costs. You want to know what your crates weigh, both empty and full, because you'll be charged accordingly. You want to be sure you're not being overcharged. Know exactly what these different services are and what they're costing you. Obviously, your first show will be the toughest one because you don't have anything to compare it to.

Q: How important is location on the tradeshow floor? If I see what looks to me like a good spot on the floorplan but the show manager says, "You're new at this, take my advice and put your booth here instead," should I automatically trust him or her?

A: Location is very important. However, there is no panacea. I say stay away from refreshment stands and restrooms. Then people tell me they do well there.

You need to ask yourself how much space you need. How close do you need to be to your competitors? Do you want to be close to an industry leader? A lot will depend on the size of the show. The larger the show, the fewer good places there are to choose from.

Look to the right-hand side of the exhibition hall at any event. Stay away from the extreme ends. Look at cross aisles. Understand traffic flows. If you can, walk the show in advance; that's a good thing to do, but not always possible. Stay away from entrances, refreshments and restrooms, any kind of major attraction.

Q: What's the most important thing a first-time exhibitor needs to know about dealing with a show's general service contractor?

A: Check the invoices.

Q: An exhibitor has heard it's cheaper to use his own subcontractors for things like booth furniture and decor, but the service contractor tells him the officially sanctioned company is more reliable. What's the truth about how to decide what subcontractors to use?

A: Ask more than one person. Talk to people who deal with them. There's usually a show advisory board and their whole purpose is to help exhibitors. Somebody on there is responsible for small exhibitors. These are veteran exhibitors.

Q: Sometimes it isn't until the show opens – and it's too late to do anything – that you realize you've made a big mistake with your booth, your location, something, and people just aren't stopping or paying attention. What do you do to cut your losses and salvage some value from the show?

A: Hopefully, you find that out on Day 1. There may be something called a show daily. Look at getting interviewed for that. Think about some guerilla tactics. Think of putting some literature in places where other people are not. All this is frowned upon, of course, so you've got to be careful. You can be thrown out of shows for some of this. You've got to really brainstorm some creative guerilla tactics.

Q: I've never run a tradeshow exhibit booth before, but I'm in charge and I've got to train and supervise my company's other employees who are staffing the booth. What's the most important thing I need to tell them?

A: The major message they need to hear is that they are ambassadors for their company. This is a very public environment; this is not a sitting-around environment. They've got to fly the company's flag. It may be that you might have just one chance to make an impression. What do you want people to think or feel about your company?

Q: Say I've managed to get a real live breathing attendee to stop at my booth, what do I say after "Hello" to keep them there long enough to get them interested in what we sell?

A: I'm a big proponent of making sure people are asking the right questions of their prospects. You've got a limited amount of time. It's best spent asking some key questions: What are their challenges? What are their problems? Then you can have a meaningful conversation rather than saying, "Let me show you the latest and greatest our company has to offer."

Q: Let's say that after the show things pile up at the office and, even though I know I shouldn't, I procrastinate about getting in touch with the leads I developed at the tradeshow. When is it too late to follow up?

A: The answer to the question is, "Never." Everything has to be followed up. Just say, "I goofed, are you still interested?"

Q: Let's say I don't necessarily write up a big order right on the tradeshow floor but feel strongly that the show was worth returning to next year. What do I tell my CEO to make him or her believe the same thing?

A: First off, look at it in light of what your quantifiable goals were going in. How many leads are you going to get? Be conservative. I'd rather have, say, 50 quality leads than 3,000 that aren't. Then you can say, "You know, we were a little conservative. We actually talked to 60 people." And that's when you go right into follow-up mode.

It's all in tracking once you come back from the show. You want to be able to say that the one big sale you made the next year can be traced back to a contact you made on the tradeshow floor.