Sales & Marketing Authority, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

If you haven’t been to a trade show before, 2009 is your chance to shine. Going to trade shows, whether to advertise and promote your business or simply network with others, is an excellent way to make your name known.

Most salespersons attend trade shows with the intention of booking space, setting up a great display, and advertising their products or services. This is a great plan, but if that’s the extent of your plan you have a lot of work to do. There are quite a few things you need to consider before leaving the office if you want to walk away from your first trade show experience feeling like a success.

Do you have a clear goal?

You should set clearly definable goals before attending any sort of business function and trade shows are no different. Is your goal to formulate a list of prospects, network with those in your field, or actually close a sale? You can have as many (or few) goals as you like, but they should all be realistic and crystal clear. You should never sit at a trade show wondering why you’re there.

How did you choose your trade show?

Did you choose a random trade show to attend or did you choose one that somehow relates to your industry? It’s easy to look at a list of trade shows and evaluate the market they’re targeting. Do you have something unique to offer that market? If you sell widgets, you will want to avoid the “Widget Maker’s Trade Show” and perhaps instead focus on a trade show geared at those who might need to buy widgets in order to manufacture their own products.

Does anyone know you’re attending the trade show?

It is one thing to book a space and set up a table, but it’s another to advertise your presence. Don’t rely on the trade show hosts to effectively advertise the entire show. Make sure you let your family, friends, current clients, prospects, and anyone else you can think of know you’ll be attending a specific trade show. Shoot them an email, place a schedule on your website, and even make a few phone calls. The more visitors you have to your booth, the better your response will be.

Planning to attend a trade show can be a time consuming task, but it should also be a fun and enlightening experience. Later on we’ll talk about some of the things you can do to make sure your physical display draws as much attention as possible.

Until then, I encourage you to take a look at your calendar for the upcoming New Year. Do you have any trade shows on the books? If not, try to schedule at least one. You won’t regret attending.

Sean

Sean McPheat

Telephone 0800 849 6732