If this is your first show, welcome home. Take some time to unwind from all that is swirling around in your head. It's something all of us who've attended shows were when we first went to a show. We all remember what is was like. If misery likes company, you were not alone. The average for trade shows is that for 50% of the buyers/attendees this is the first time they've been to this show and for 50% of them, this is their very first show. When you returned from your industry's trade show were you in a confused state? And, one might also ask, "Why is a trade show so confusing?"

As a first-time attendee the biggest problem is will be your unfamiliarity with the show. It is not unlike one's first day at college. Everyone else seems to know where to go but thee! Using the school metaphor, you had a text book (the show catalogue), lots of visual aids (the displays), but you lacked a teacher such as this article to help you use your time and effort effectively. If you attend the same show again, it will not seem so confusing.

There are other reasons why trade shows are difficult to work. Some of the problem can be laid at the feet of the producers of the show and some are the fault of the exhibitors. Producers of trade show face a dilemma when it comes to arranging the booths. Do they categorize the areas so competing vendors are in the same area or not? Categorizing vendors certainly makes it easier for buyers to work a show but it may inhibit the discovery factor of finding something from a source one would not normally look at much less buy from. When the vendor categories are intermixed it helps the vendors by giving them more exposure to the total market as everyone will be covering the entire show rather than just their area of interest.

For most exhibitors and those who staff the show this is not something they enjoy doing. It is a lot of work over just a few days. Exhibitors rarely look at their displays from the new buyer's point of view. Most displays are set to look good when no one is in the booth. The result is that it is not easy for the staff to work with buyers. Unless one is gregarious and enjoys the challenge of meeting and talking to people, working at a trade show is the last thing he or she wants to do. When the booth isn't busy the staff gets bored and when it is busy they get tired. Even nonsmokers find excuses to take numerous smoking breaks. Unfortunately, the common practice is to have those drawing the shortest straws assigned to work in the booth. This does not make for a good selling attitude -- who can do a good job in a place they don't want to be?

Among the experienced buyers I know, they all have their own method for working a trade show. It seems there is no best way but there are some habits they all have to ease their task. In discussions with a number of them these eight points were ones they all agreed upon:

1. Come very well prepared! Know what you are looking for, what you want to replace, need and what you heard or read about or have been asked for. Also, come with an open mind.

2. If you are having a particular problem with a vendor and you believe top management might be at the show, before leaving for the show make an appointment to meet with them. It is best if these appointments are made for the first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. Do not show up in the middle of the day and expect to get a sympathetic ear.

3. If you are in an industry where buying at the show is not necessary, do not go with the intent of buying; go to see what is new, what has been repackaged or improved, and, most important, what might be coming in the future. Write orders only for samples and special purchases. Save ordering until you get back to your business. Having time to think helps making better buying decisions. Writing orders at home to current vendors allows you to combine new goods with reorders. If you are in an industry where the orders must be placed at the show, especially for seasonal or new goods, come even better prepared because every decision to buy will have a direct effect on your business.

4. Cover the entire show more than once. One buyer said she covers every show at least three times, more often four: One, to see who is where; two, to compare like items from various vendors; three, to make notes or decisions on what to order; four, to critique their displays and how they treated you and other buyers. Look at every vendor whether you have a need for what that vendor offers. In addition to this exercise, you may learn of things that customers may be asking for or you'll find lines that could be just what you are looking for but didn't find elsewhere in the show.

5. Take copious notes. Review and rewrite at the end or each day and add comments or reminders.

6. Plan to meet vendors and others in your industry on a social basis over breakfast, dinner and other evening gatherings. A lot can be learned and done that cannot be learned or done at the show.

7. Although the buyers I talked to didn't all express it in these words, all of the said it was necessary to challenge every vendor in some manner. It is a buyer's job was to get information that they would not normally be told without doing this.

8. On the way home and when you get home, look over your notes, see which ones require more thought or looking into or crossing out. Don't throw away the ones you crossed out. The very next question you get could be on the notes you destroyed. Very often you'll be responsible for telling what you eliminated and why.

These guidelines will help you have a better understanding of how to make a trade show less confusing and, hence, better use of your time and your firm's money.

Ask yourself: What do attendees want?

Knowing the answer is key to the success of any event. To get the answer, you really need to ask the attendees themselves. Knowing how to do this effectively can mean the difference between having critically useful information to help your event succeed or having useless information that may actually hurt your event if you act upon it.

Anecdotal experiences based on individual interactions with attendees can provide some useful information to help answer this question. But, while this is quick and cheap in the short run, it usually defaults to squeaky wheel management. This is a reactive, not proactive, approach, and most likely will please the most vocal attendees, not the general audience for your event.

Advantages of Attendee Surveys

Conducting a good attendee survey can help uncover your audience's needs and inform your efforts to more effectively meet those needs. This approach has numerous advantages over squeaky wheel management, including:

" being more objective and quantitative, which helps reduce internal bias, as well as making the actions you take based upon the survey results more defensible to the "powers that be" (which may be you or someone else);

" obtaining feedback from a representative sample of your attendees, not just the most vocal or most active attendees, which often care the most about the event (which is why they squeak so loudly) and are usually among the most likely to continue to attend your event;

" being proactive by assessing unvoiced needs and concerns, as well as future needs, by testing ideas to improve your event BEFORE YOU HAVE INVESTED THE RESOURCES TO IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS;

" permitting segmentation of feedback according to attendee demographics, which can be useful in developing and marketing a more valuable event;

" showing your attendees that you care about what they think;

" providing an opportunity to educate attendees about opportunities to make your event more valuable to them; and

" providing quotable praises for your next event.

Be Considerate

Be forewarned that the primary obstacle I have found as a survey consultant is not the lack of questions to ask, but how to bring focus to the survey. Typically, we want as much information as possible. However, it is important to respect attendees' time and the fact that they usually have more immediate and insistent obligations. This means that most attendees are not likely to want to spend more than about 10 minutes completing a survey regarding your event, even if your event is very important to them.

Tips for a Successful Survey

The key is to ask your attendees for the most important, actionable information that they can provide. The following general guidelines are designed to help you do just that:

1) Very few attendees want to answer a 200-question survey. For each question, ask yourself: "What action will we take based on this question?" If you cannot come up with any actions, then do not ask the question. Asking only actionable questions has the advantage of reducing the cost and effort of conducting the survey, increasing the response rate and reliability of the information and reducing the burden of response for your attendees.

2) Use rating questions (see example below), not ranking questions. Rankings do not reveal how far apart the various items are in your attendees' opinion; ratings do.

Rating Question Example:

Usefulness

Not

Useful At All

Extremely Useful

Please rate the usefulness, from a technical perspective, of the presentation on widget optimization NA 1 2 3 4 5

To the extent possible, use the same rating scale throughout the survey, as it permits comparisons among different questions. I generally recommend a 5-point scale. It is simple for participants, but measures strong, weak and neutral opinions.

3) For most ratings questions, ask attendees to rate BOTH importance and satisfaction. These are two sides of the same coin and knowing one without the other is not very useful. RMi uses a proprietary metric, called the Opinion Intensity (OI) Factor to measure and weight the intensity of individual opinions, so that our clients can tell who it is that is most satisfied or dissatisfied with specific aspects of their event. This is very helpful when it comes to prioritizing.

Think about it: If those who are dissatisfied with an aspect of your event are also those for whom that aspect is very important, then that is good to know. It is also useful to know that those who are most dissatisfied with an aspect of your event do not think that aspect is particularly important to them. The first situation is more worrisome than the second situation and deserves more attention.

4) Be considerate of your attendees' time. Whenever possible, use demographic information from your registration database (or, if you work for a membership organization, your membership database) to avoid asking unnecessary questions on the survey. This leaves you more room for new, useful information.

5) Conduct a reality check. Pre-test the survey on a handful of representative attendees. This group should number between four and ten. Balance this pre-test group with regard to relevant factors (e.g., type of organization, size of organization, years in field/industry, etc.). The pre-test group should not complete the survey. Just ask them for feedback on clarity, burden of response, relevancy and significant omissions.

6) Use the right method to contact your attendees. If you have email addresses for the vast majority of your attendees and they have ready access to the Internet, conduct a web-based survey. When you use a web-based survey, you can invite all of your attendees to participate, not just a sample, and you can get the results faster. Web-based surveys also eliminate data-entry costs. If you think that a web-based survey would not yield representative results, due to the nature of those who attend your event, then consider paper or fax surveys that attendees can complete at their leisure. I usually recommend avoiding telephone surveys. They are quick, but they are expensive on a per-response basis and are more intrusive than other methods, since the telephone interview happens at the interviewers' convenience, not the attendees' convenience. In addition, the attendee cannot return to a telephone survey at their leisure to finish it.

7) Consider outsourcing the survey. This can result in responses that are more candid and a survey that is more professional and useful. Designing a good survey is painstaking work. Delegate this task to someone who likes this kind of hell and does it for a living!

Beware!

Badly or ambiguously worded survey questions can spell disaster. Consider the following two simple bad questions:

Bad Question 1:

Please rate the following aspects of our event on a scale of one to five:
____ Location
____ Exhibitions
____ Food
____ Weather
____ Speaker
____ Networking
____ Opportunity to Sell

This question has several problems, including:

" Which is best on the scale, a one or a five?

" What is the basis for the rating? Satisfaction? Importance to the attendee? Need for improvement? Basis for deciding to attend?

If you do not clarify this question, the results would be at best meaningless, and at worst, misleading. It is also a good idea to mention the actual name of your event as often as possible in the survey; it provides better focus and consistency of response and is also good reinforcement marketing.

Bad Question 2:

Please rate the clarity and relevance of the speaker's presentation:
____ Poor
____ Fair
____ Neutral
____ Good
____ Excellent

This question is actually two questions:

(1) How clear was the speaker's presentation? and (2) How relevant was the speaker's presentation. The answers, if aggregated will represent a rating of some unknown combination of clarity and usefulness. While this information would not be completely useless, it is more useful to know attendees' ratings of these two aspects, independently of each other. A presentation can be clear without being relevant and can be relevant without being particularly clear.

Action!

Finally, you must act on the feedback. Don't conduct a survey to "go through the motions". Asking your attendees to spend their time to give you feedback and then not acting on it is likely to cause resentment. You can't act on every comment, but if the feedback reveals widely perceived problems, you should try to do something to address them.

Many Sales Executives and their sales teams have recognized that face-to-face contact is more important than ever in today's business ever changing business environment where, among other things:

" Most products, services and solutions are perceived as commodities.

" Mergers and acquisitions have prospects and customers wondering "Who am I doing business with anyway ..."

" Most customers can't define their best suppliers' current capabilities.

" Most marketing, sales and sales support personnel can't properly answer the question "Tell me a little bit about your company..."

The stereotypical view is that most sales people don't want to work shows and events. Like most stereotypes, this one isn't necessarily true. More and more, salespeople are recognizing that shows and events are evolving from marketing events into marketing and sales events. They've learned that for many prospects and customers, a show or event is the one and only time they will ever have face-to-face contact with anyone from their company.

Shows and events as sales activities are, more than ever, the most cost-effective and time-efficient way to:

" Create sales opportunities
" Accelerate the buying and selling process
" Ensure that prospects' and customers' perceptions are updated and accurate
" Differentiate a company, its people and its capabilities
" Reduce or eliminate competitive options
" Enhance existing relationships
Why do salespeople stereotypically not want to work a show? One answer is the opportunity cost. A salesperson with a $1 million budget has an opportunity cost of $500 an hour. A rep with a $2 million budget means is expected to sell $1000 an hour, fifty weeks a year, forty hours a week.

If a sales person is asked to work a three day show, they often think "Three days at the show, a day for travel and a day to get caught up - a five day investment. At $500 an hour, my opportunity cost is $20,000." A two million dollar budget translates into an opportunity cost of $40,000. From this perspective it's not difficult to understand the stereotype about salespeople and shows.

Thankfully, more and more sales professionals are realizing that if they plan properly, they can often accomplish as much (if not more) at a show or event than they would in a month or more in the field! How can they do this? Let's take a look.

Goal: Generate qualified leads in the most time-efficient manner

Lead generation - identifying new sales opportunities - with either existing or new customers, is an ongoing need for a professional salesperson. At a well-attended show, the average booth worker will generate two to four good leads for each hour in the booth. At a three day show which is open seven hours a day, the average booth worker will generate between 42 and 84 leads. To be conservative, cut the number in half and say that the average booth worker will generate 20 to 40 leads. Ask a salesperson how many long it would take to generate a comparable number of leads through canvassing, telemarketing, an e-mail blitz or any other marketing vehicle.

To increase the number and enhance the quality of leads generated, a salesperson should be involved before, during and after the show.

Pre-show activities including:

" Working with marketing to develop a lead form that captures specific qualifying information -- from a salesperson's perspective - including the size of the opportunity, timing of the decision, budget, the person's role in the decision process, competition, etc.

" Supporting marketing's pre-show promotion efforts by providing lists of:

o Existing and former customers
o Prospects from other divisions or departments of existing customers
o Hard to reach decision makers
o Geographically dispersed prospects

" Making follow up phone calls to increase the number of attendees that visit the booth

" Pre-arranging appointments with priority names from the pre-show promotion

At-show activities including:

" Providing the trade show or event manager with their list of pre-arranged appointments

" Conducting all of the appointments they've arranged

" Supporting their associates and not just focusing on own accounts or territory

Post-show activities including:

" Quickly following up on leads generated

" Tracking post-show contact and lead conversion activities

" Reporting these activities and revenue generated to help calculate the show or event's ROI

Goal: Enhance competitive posture and relationships

In order to enhance their competitive posture and relationships with existing customers, reduce or eliminate competitive options with active sales opportunities, many sales people are pre-arranging meetings that include:

" Tours of the exhibit to ensure that prospects' and customers' perceptions are updated and accurate

" Executive-to-executive appointments to build or enhance relationships at the decision making level of the customer organization

" Demonstrations of products or equipment that would otherwise be difficult to display " Personnel the customer would generally not have access to including technical people, research and development staff, senior managers, PR and others

To derive this value, a salesperson should support:

Pre-show activities including:

" Scheduling and coordinating the appropriate people for the at-show meetings

" Establishing and conveying to their associates specific goals and objectives each meeting

" Providing background information to all involved to help them prepare for, and be productive at, each meeting

" Defining and helping to secure whatever resources will be required

" Working with the trade show or event manager to help coordinate the venue where the meeting will occur (other than in the booth)

At-show activities including:

" Checking the meeting venue, its set-up, audiovisual, food etc.

" Conducting the meeting

" Debriefing with associates after the meeting

Post-show activities including:

" Following up to honor commitments made

" Tracking their post-show or post-event activities

" Reporting results and revenue as appropriate

Goal: Accelerate the decision process

According to research conducted by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR.org), shows and events reduce the number of sales calls required to close business. From the trade show manager's perspective, this is a quantifiable value (savings on sales calls) that should be factored into any ROI calculations being done. Sales people derive quantifiable value by accelerating the decision process in several ways.

Properly planned and executed at-show meetings will often reduce (or completely eliminate) the number of competitive options being considered by a prospect or customer. A second way the sales person derives value is by being able to do multiple things at a show as compared to doing the same things in the field, one meeting or task at a time. The salesperson can guide the buyer to a decision faster at a show or event than if they tried to accomplish the same things in the field. The time saved can be quantified and they can use this "found" time to create or pursue other sales opportunities. To derive this value, a salesperson should be involved with:

Pre-show activities including:

" Scheduling as many appointments as possible with prospects and customers who are actively involved in making a purchase decision

" Arranging for the appropriate resources and personnel required to move they buyer or buying team through as many steps in the buying process as possible

At-show activities including:

" Confirming that the meeting has been staged properly

" Conducting the meeting

" Debriefing with associates after the meeting

Post-show activities including:

" Following up to honor commitments made at each meeting

" Tracking their activity after the show or event

" Reporting their activities and revenue generated as appropriate

Goal: Develop competitive insight

A show can help a salesperson develop a better understanding of their competitors' products and services, capabilities and solutions, strengths and weaknesses. Although it's rare that they will get information about specific products and services that they don't already have or could get off the internet, they will still be able to gather additional insight into their competitors' strategies, solutions, key messages etc. To derive this value, a salesperson should be involved with:

Pre-show activities including:

" Developing goals, strategies and plans to develop competitive insight

" Coordinating these activities at a show

" Developing a list of specific competitors

" Developing a list of specific questions to ask or information to gather

" Assigning specific competitors to specific people at the show

At-show activities including:

" Executing the strategy and plan

Post-show activities including:

" Collecting, assembling and then redistributing all of the competitive information captured at the show

" Developing plans relating to how to use the information gathered Shows and events offer tremendous opportunities and quantifiable return to professional salespeople. Those who dread shows will continue to do so until they understand, and quantify, they value that can be derived through active participation in shows and events.