There was a time when companies I worked for did a dozen or so tradeshows a year – COMDEX, SIGgraph, PC Expo, you name it, I’ve been there. Back in the day, if your company wanted to be a player…urm “playa”…you did tradeshows. Today…not so much. So why am I doing it?

Aside from my “day job” running a marketing/advertising/design agency, I’m trying to bootstrap a company to manufacture and sell high-end guitar stands and other accessories for musicians. Doing this on a shoestring and a prayer is, to put it mildly, challenging. I don’t have a big budget, nor do I have any cushion – one little misstep can kill the whole thing. In order to jump-start the company, my plan is to exhibit at the Dallas Guitar Show, and take orders for as many stands as I can. This particular trade show attracts thousands of guitarists with discretionary income – my target market. I suspect this will prove to be the most cost-effective way to reach a large number of prospects – far more efficient than display ads or any other method.

Tradeshows are (generally speaking) expensive, time-consuming affairs, that often don’t return in sales what you spend on them. That’s not necessarily the fault of the show. Most of the time, it’s because companies don’t know how to take advantage of them, and get the biggest bang for their marketing buck. But getting the most out of a tradeshow is not rocket science. (Unless, of course, it’s a tradeshow about rocketry, catering to scientists.) Here are some common mistakes – and some ideas of how to do tradeshows the right way.

1. PLAN AHEAD. Most companies I’ve worked for never had a solid plan going into a tradeshow. They never said, “What do we expect to accomplish?” Their thinking was more along the lines of, “If we attend, we’ll get leads.” That’s not an effective way to work. You need to look at attendance numbers from past shows, look at your booth location for traffic, and guestimate how many people will see your booth – then extrapolate how many leads you think you can get. Estimate the value of the leads and you’ll see how much you are likely to earn from the show. If you’re spending more to do the show than that, you’re either engaging in brand-building, or you’re wasting your money.
2. QUALIFY YOUR LEADS. Not everybody who stops by for a look is going to buy your products. Some are just curious. Others are tire-kickers. Some want your product…but not now. Some are ready to buy. How do you tell them apart? It goes without saying that you need lead cards – take down their information so you can build a database. (You knew that, right?) You need to rank the leads with a code – “A” is somebody who’s an immediate, hot prospect. “B” is someone who’s interested, but won’t buy within the next 30 days. “C” is someone who’s interested, but not a decision-maker or somebody without buying power. A “D” lead is a tire-kicker…somebody who’s just wasting your time out of boredom.
3. FOLLOW UP WITH CALL-BACKS. If you learn nothing else, learn this: If you don’t call back your “A” leads within a week, the become “B” leads. If you don’t call your “B” leads within 30 days, they drop down to the “C” or even “D” categories. You have to ask for the sale. If you’re not going to follow up on leads and ask for the sale, why did you do the trade show in the first place?
4. DON”T LEAVE LITERATURE OUT ON THE TABLE. You’ve gone to the expense of printing up some expensive brochures. You’re proud of them. You want them to work for you. Great. Now hide ‘em. That’s right. Hide ‘em. Pull them out for “A” leads no matter what. Give them to “B” leads upon request. By keeping them out of sight, you’ll prevent literature grazers from wasting your money.
5. TREAT YOUR STAFF WELL. Tradeshows are NOT a paid vacation. I once worked for a company that would have me fly out to Vegas two days early for setup, work the show 8 to 10 hours a day, then stay for two days after for booth teardown and pack out. They believed that just getting to go to Vegas was a priveledge, and that we should all be happy to be allowed to work the show. Bull. Tradeshows are WORK. None of us felt like painting the town red after a day of being on our feet. Hire enough booth staff to keep your booth manned with fresh bodies. Working people to the bone is a recipe for offending prospects with cranky, unhappy staffers.
6. DRESS APPROPRIATELY. I’ve done the suit and tie thing, the khakis and polo shirt thing, and even the costume thing. You have to go with your company’s policy on this. But one area where I will NOT compromise is on shoes. You gotta wear comfortable shoes. Rockport makes some great men’s shoes that look like wingtips, but feel like sneakers. Buy em. Ladies – I dunno. If you’ve gotta wear pumps, rotsa ruck. I can tell you my secret for dealing with muscle pain, though. Each night after the show, get a half-gallon of apple cider vinegar. Pour it in the hottest bath you can stand, and soak in it. The vinegar will leech the lactic acid out of your muscles through your skin, taking away your muscle pain. Try it. It works.
7. NO BOOTH BIMBOS. I’m as interested in looking at attractive women as the next guy, but when you hire booth bunnies to staff your booth, it screams “our product is so bad, we had to resort to cleavage and short skirts to distract you.” Unless you’re selling sex to begin with, avoid this.
8. WEAR NAME TAGS. Sounds simple, but your tradshow badge is seldom the best way to get people to identify you. A custom badge is an effective way to tell prospects who you are.
9. FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE CRITICAL. While you’re “on duty” you are your company. You don’t work for them. You become the physical embodiment of your company. Act accordingly. It only takes one rude remark to turn a prospect into an evangelist who is dedicated to spreading the word that your company is to be avoided at all costs.
10. KNOW YOUR PRODUCTS. There’s nothing worse than walking up to a booth to ask a question of somebody, only to find out they don’t know the answer. (Another reason to avoid booth bimbos.) If you’re gonna represent your company, know your products – features, benefits, and talking points.
11. GIVEAWAYS. People love free stuff. That can work for you or against you. Wanna get people talking about your product at the show? Trinkets and trash are one way to spread the word. I favor things that they’ll wear – buttons or shirts. But speaking of shirts, you can lose yours if you give away so much stuff that you blow your profits from the show on giveaways. Think before you commit to logo’d products, and don’t be afraid to be stingy. Gifting your “A” leads makes sense. Giving some prize to every Tom, Dick and Literature Grazer that stops by is stupid.
12. SMILE. A LOT. Ever seen somebody light up a room? Ever notice someone who is instantly a people magnet at a party? They have a couple of things in common – they smile a lot, and they listen a lot. They make you feel as if you’re the most important thing in their universe. They make you feel special. Find people that have those qualities, and your tradeshow will be a huge success.

That’s about it. Follow those principles, and your tradeshow should be a huge success. Ignore them at your peril. Oh, and if you’re into guitars and around Dallas next week, look me up at the Dallas Guitar Show. I’ll be the guy in the Guitar Furniture booth, smiling and pressing the flesh.