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Tradeshow Tactics to Maximize your ROI
By Kelly Amenson, Project Manager

With the new year approaching, many businesses are gearing up for another year of tradeshows. These events are perfect opportunities to get face time in with current and potential customers and can get you a great return on investment if you take advantage of the opportunity. Below are several suggestions to step up your game and get the best ROI possible.

1. Staff your booth. For whatever reason, many exhibitors set up their booth, only to abandon it for a majority of the time. Even if you have an eye-catching booth with handouts set out, people are unlikely to stop by if no one is there to draw them in or answer any questions they may have. It is always a good idea to have a few (but not so many that it’s crowded and intimidating) staffers on hand. That way, if someone needs to participate in some other networking engagement, the booth will still be staffed.

2. Staff your booth with friendly, knowledgeable sales people. All too often, exhibitors will sit in the corner of their booth, arms folded, waiting for someone to come to them. Unfortunately, that rarely happens. The exhibitors who see the best ROI are those who are standing at the entryway to their booth (not blocking it), greeting people as they pass by and even engaging some in conversation – even if it does not necessarily lead to a customer. You never know who the people you talk to know.

You may even want to make a rule that the chairs are only to be used at the table if meeting with a prospective customer. It is a good idea to have cell phones and laptops off, unless you are going over something with an attendee. Don’t forget what you are there for.

3. Give attendees a reason to stop by your booth. Use this opportunity to build your database. By finding a way to entice people to your booth, you have a great opportunity to build your database. Many exhibitors will give away small and fun trinkets, but also hold a drawing for a nice prize, which gives attendees a reason to give you their contact information. You can take it a step further by asking them to fill out a questionnaire to be eligible to win. This way you gather their contact information while getting some research as well.

Another way to look at it is that you can spend a couple thousand dollars in cheap giveaways with your logo that you give to everyone who walks by your booth or you can spend that money on fewer but nicer items that you use to entice potential big leads. One thing you can do is send a postcard or letter in advance to these leads, asking them to stop by your booth to pick up their item. For example, if you were to buy 20 nice desk clocks to give to the top 20 attendees that you view as potential big leads, send them a letter in advance telling them you look forward to meeting them and if they stop by your booth, they can pick up their clock. Make sure you include your booth number, where the exhibit hall is and what times your booth will be staffed.

When they come to pick up their clock, offer to have their name engraved. For those who take you up on that offer, deliver the engraved clock to their office personally and you have an instant in. Just make sure you call ahead to make sure they’ll be there and will have a few minutes to chat.

4. Be prepared. The show organizer has probably sent you correspondence with event details such as set-up times, loading dock rules, food/beverage rules, gift rules, how to order extra items for your booth, shipping information and other details. Do not ignore these letters or emails. By knowing what you are doing ahead of time, you will be better prepared the day of set-up and should have little or no problems. This will also help ensure you have your booth ready on time and are not setting it up when the show starts.

5. Follow-up. Once you’re back in your office, follow up with leads. Some are higher potentials, so be sure to pay extra attention to them, without ignoring the others. If you sit in your office waiting for the call, it’s unlikely to happen. If you’ve planned right, you should have all the contact information on potential leads, as well as knowledge of their decision-making status.

6. Look for sponsorship opportunities. Many shows offer sponsorship opportunities in addition to or in lieu of the exhibit hall. Do your research to make sure you aren’t missing any pertinent opportunities. You may even find that you’ll get better recognition from your audience as a sponsor rather than an exhibitor.

Once you determine what tradeshows to attend, follow these steps and you are on your way to a better ROI. Good luck with your 2008 events!

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