Lean Exhibiting

Don't Make It Hard To Do Business With You

I'm doing a first-time exhibitor marketing kit for the Global Pet Expo. Part of the package includes telephone interviews with show attendees, and this morning I spoke with GPE attendee Connie Packard Kamedulski. Connie owns the Animal Fair Pet Shop in Ridgefield, CT, and she shared a big frustration she has with exhibitors.

Connie described the numerous times she has stopped in an exhibitor's booth only to discover they were totally unprepared for a conversation with her. As an independent retailer, she has different needs from a big box store or a distributor. Yet too often the exhibitor didn't seem to get that. She gave the example of exhibitors who say, "We don't have a distributor for your area yet, so we can't talk with you right now."

Connie would explain, "Well, if you take my order and then get other retailers like me to order, I'll bet a distributor would be happy to fulfill those for you!" But too often the exhibitors shook their heads. Unbelievable, but true.

She talked about stopping at other exhibitors only to be told, "Minimum order is 500 pieces. You need to buy a container load." Then later she would find out that exhibitor DID have a distributor who could sell her smaller volume. The exhibitor just didn't want to get into that conversation.

Connie's not alone. Attendees at shows in all industries (not just consumer products) tell me similar stories about exhibitors suffering some type of marketing myopia. Even Gary Angel mentions this in his posting, View From A Booth: "For me, working a booth feels kind of like a "Groundhog Day" where you are helpless to change the outcome – because you have to say the same words over and over and over."

Look, I understand how hard it is to work a trade show or fair. It's hard work! But I wonder how many Connie Packard Kamedulski's are leaving events frustrated they couldn't get exhibitors to help?

It doesn't matter whether you're exhibiting at the Global Pet Expo, the Radiological Society of North America annual conference, or INFOCOMM,  there will be qualified professional attendees of all shapes and sizes; each with his or her unique needs. Our job, as exhibitors, is to be ready to talk with all of them.

Don't make it hard for them to do business with you.

Brand Awareness vs Brand Insistence

What is with this broken record, "We're here to build awareness," crap I keep hearing from exhibitors (usually the big ones) at trade shows?

I personally think this is a copout, as it's simply saying, "We have no idea how to connect the dots between our trade show participation and real, meaningful results."

Build awareness? What does that get you? I've personally never heard of any company cashing a check on awareness. Are you aware of American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Southwest Airlines? Bet you are. Do you fly them all? Bet you don't. What about Ford, GM, Chrysler, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, and Rolls-Royce? Bet you've heard of all of them, too. Examples abound.

There's a huge difference between brand awareness and brand insistence. Brand awareness only means they know about you. Brand insistence means they will consciously choose you when the need arises. I have a mantra, "The PURPOSE of marketing is to be on the mind of the prospect when the prospect is ready to buy." When that lightning bolt comes down from the sky, hits your prospect on the head, and they realize they need something, do they think of you first? Do they think of you second? Do they think of you at all? Brand awareness means you might be on the list. Brand insistence means you're the ONLY one on the list.

Creating awareness at a trade show is actually pretty easy. Build a huge exhibit! Make it loud! Have lots of flashing lights! Give away 20,000 logoed tee shirts! Serve food!  I guarantee your booth will be crowded and after the show you can say, "We built awareness!" And six months later, when I ask what results you got from the show, you can say again, "We built awareness!"

Customers just need to get things done. When people find themselves needing to get a job done, they essentially hire a product or a service to do that job for them. If you've convinced them ahead of time your products/services will do that job, they'll buy from you. That's brand insistence.

A trade show is a marketing tool, pure and simple. Connecting the dots between exhibiting and results is not rocket science. How can you use an upcoming event to attract the exact right targeted prospects into your booth and convince them that you can do a specific job for them?

If you do that, then when that lightning bolt strikes, they'll insist on your brand. The dots will connect themselves.