Maximize Your ROI at Tradeshows

By Kim Ades

Imagine this. You are a hockey player. You are the goalie and you are poised to win. You skate onto the ice and place your chair carefully in the center of the net and you sit down, pull out the sports page and start reading. The puck drops and the game is on. But you are oblivious. You are letting shots get into the net. You notice that your team is shocked and disappointed. You think to yourself, "At least I showed up. What are they so upset about?"

Just showing up isn't good enough for hockey and it's not good enough for a tradeshow. Sitting at your booth, talking on your cell phone, checking your e-mail, recovering from the previous night's wild extravaganza, and waiting for people to come by your booth is equivalent to pulling up a chair on the rink in the middle of a hockey game. If you've made the decision to exhibit at a tradeshow, then play full-out.

1. Be present

Put away your Blackberries and cell phones-you are there to be with your target market, so be with them. Do not eat at your booth. Do not sit at your booth. Do not talk to other booth-mates instead of talking to prospects. Do not wait for them to come to you-you have to go and get them.

2. Attend key seminars-and participate

Spend some time going through the conference itinerary and identify seminar sessions relating to your product or service. Attend these sessions and make sure that you are seen and heard. Ask a question that draws attention to your product or service.

3. Look around-who else is there?

Tradeshows are great opportunities for strategic alliances-walk the floor, talk to people-find out what they are doing and how. There are a lot of companies who are willing and interested in co-branding, referral arrangements, reseller arrangements, product integrations, marketing trades, etc.

4. Close deals

The biggest mistake I see vendors make is that they spend hours and hours talking about their product or service with prospects and then just let them walk away. Do not be afraid to ask for the sale.

5. Work after hours

At a tradeshow, you are always on-there is no rest. You are selling from the moment you reach the airplane to the moment you get into the cab to go back home. There are all kinds of social events at all tradeshows-go to them all. Wake up early and have breakfast meetings, lunch meetings, coffee meetings, cocktail meetings, dinner meetings, and after-dinner meetings. Do not go to your room-stay on the ice and play the game.

The single most significant aspect of your success at any event is your decision to be in the game and play full-out. Decide that this is the Stanley Cup and you are not going to let a single shot go by you. RE

Kim Ades is the president of Opening Doors, a company whose mission is to help service providers blow up their sales to the real estate industry. Kim can be reached at kim@openingdoors.tv.

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