Using LinkedIn for Effective Sales Prospecting

LinkedIn has now passed the 225 million mark of users, with 40% being in the North America. It has become the number one business social media site by a large margin. It is one of the best, up to date and most compelling databases of individuals known in the business world.

If you are not using it as a Salesman to find leads, qualify prospects and promote yourself, you are missing out. For B2B, LinkedIn is the critical tool that can make your prospecting faster, smoother and, ultimately, more profitable.

So how do you turn LinkedIn’s vast database into a steady stream of leads that can negate the need for you ever to cold call again?

Get Your Profile Right – Your online Business Card.

More and more, business professionals will view your profile on LinkedIn prior to a meeting to gain a better insight into whom they are having a discussion with. What you have on view is a dynamic and involved business card; it tells who you are, what solutions your company offers and what makes you stand out. Make sure your profile is professional and informative and will impress. Photo, Headline, Summary, Contact and details of your experience.

Photo: Make sure you have a solid, business-like picture of yourself up. It’s nice that you are proud of your kid’s baseball team or your partner, but this isn’t Facebook. Ensure that it is good shot of head and shoulders and you are dressed appropriately; after all a picture tells a thousand words.

Headline: Your headline should be a summary of who you are. Imagine you are at a party and someone asks what you do. In one short line tell them. That’s the Headline. LinkedIn will automatically define this as your job title at your company name – not that inspiring and not too informative. Rather than “Salesman at Acme”, what about “Solution provider for Packaging Lines” or “Custom Systems specialist for B2B Cloud Service”.

Summary: Still at that same party, but now you are going to give them a little more information. Get out your Elevator Speech. Who you are, what you do for you company, what your company offers customers; one paragraph and punchy.

Contact: If you are a salesman you want people to contact you, so make it easy. Make sure you have phone numbers and email address. By the way, you may have signed up for LinkedIn using a personal email address, make sure your contact information reflects your business email. Nothing worse than seeing John@ILikePonies.com (unless you work for that company of course!) 

Experience: If you are promoting yourself as a provider of solutions for your customers, rather than just a seller of goods, then this can reflect your skills and capabilities. Keep it brief and pertinent (unless of course you are looking for jobs, then more is needed) OK, so you’ve set your profile up and you look like a professional solution provider that is trustworthy. So how can you use LinkedIn to your advantage?

Connections – the Heart of LinkedIn

Connections breed connections. Your first level contacts open up a route to a wide range of second and third level connections. This is how you scale your network. Whenever you meet anyone (online or off) always follow up quickly with a connection request while you are still fresh in their minds.

Having said that, there is a common mistake made by lots of people on LinkedIn and that is to make a connection with everyone. The more names you have the more successful you are. Wrong! Choose your connections wisely. Your realtor or hairdresser is not a connection you need frankly (unless you are in that business). Keep your personal and business lives separated. Remember that LinkedIn is for helping you connect with the right people to further your sales career. I have seen too many people with connections that are out of control and don’t assist them in doing business.

Groups are Critical

As a sales professional this can be your lifeblood; a great place to go fishing for new leads. Ask yourself why anybody joins a specific group? Because it is relevant to their needs and interests. One of the standard ways of finding leads is to profile a specific customer who you have sold to and then go out and find individuals and companies similar to them. That can be very time consuming. However with LinkedIn, just look at the Groups that your customer belongs to and search within that Group for more like them (only possible if you pay for a premium LinkedIn account). It is a great way to pre-qualify prospects.

Follow Companies and Find out More

Similar to making connections with individuals, you can make a connection with a company by Following them. It’s a good way to stay in touch and find out what they are doing. Many companies will constantly refresh their company pages with information on new products, events, news jobs and more. It is an automated way to keep informed provided the company has an active policy of making changes on an ongoing basis.

Pay for It for Success

Simple logic here – LinkedIn is a business. If you want to release the full potential, you have to pay. A Business Premium account is going to set you back a miserly $20 a month. If you can’t afford that for the benefits that it provides then you are destined never to be a successful salesman and you need to focus your career aspiration a little different.

So what are the benefits?

• Expanded Who viewed your profile
• Full Profiles available
• InMails
• OpenLink
• Premium Search

Of these, the two most important are InMails and Premium Search.

InMails – Connect with Ease

InMail is LinkedIn’s internal email system and allows you to send an email to any LinkedIn user without requiring an introduction. It is especially useful for 3^rd degree and out of Network connections. Basically, it ensures your email gets through to their inbox.

I have heard all sorts of statistics on the effectiveness of InMails from 30 to 50 times more successful than a cold call or a standard email contact in getting through but I would claim much higher in my experience.

InMails are only available on paid accounts. The higher level the account you have, the more you get. On Business Premium account you’ll get three InMails each month. This means you’ll want to reserve them for when everything else fails. But the good news is that if you do not get a response to an InMail within seven days, your credits are refunded.

Search – the Power Tool

The key for LinkedIn in finding new prospects. You only get out what effort you put in so you need to be sensible about how you search. This is no different to working with Google or Bing – you have to be smart with your search keywords and methods.

With LinkedIn’s advanced search you can find people by title, company, location or keyword. If you have a paid account the you can add company size, type, and seniority level too and most importantly search by Group. By intelligently mixing the different filters you can get really deep and identify key individuals quickly and easily. You can also save your search criteria and get a weekly report listing anyone new who matches the customers you’re looking for.

Who’s viewed You – New ways to Connect

With LinkedIn, you can see who’s looked at your profile. Unless visitors have set their profiles to anonymous, you can click on the “Who’s viewed your profile?” link and see a list of them.

This can work for you as a method for contacting people.

The fact that someone looked at your profile is a good excuse to reach out with a connection request. Furthermore, if you look at other people’s profiles, a certain proportion will always look back

Even when you get visitors described as “Procurement Professional from the Pharmaceutical Industry” you can still click on them. LinkedIn will then give you a list which will include the actual visitor. It then takes just minutes to quickly visit each profile to show you’ve looked back.

Use Google as an Additional Tool

So you’ve done a search and you have found some interesting people to contact and you want to know more. If the person is a 3^rd Degree connection often you will get a picture and then a name that is just “Linda W.” and the only way to connect with them is via a precious InMail credit. How do you overcome this? Simple, use Google.

You know some basic information – a first name, a company they work for and a job title. Put it all into Google and hit search. Hey presto a URL link to that person on LinkedIn. Click on it and now you are seeing the full details of the individual plus you can now just “Connect” to them saving your InMails for others. Get used to using LinkedIn together with Google to find out more on a potential prospect.

Steal from your Competition

I wrote about this in a previous Blog (Stealing Customers though LinkedIn). This is a critical part of using LinkedIn’s ‘hidden’ capabilities. There is nothing wrong with it and you should use this tactic ruthlessly. You will be surprised how much information you can gain and how many more leads you can garner using this technique. As the blog details, just don’t let it happen to you.

You will be surprised how many sales people are totally ignorant on LinkedIn and how to use it effectively. Make sure you are aware of the power of this important sales tools and how to use it to find and qualify prospects, Investigate contacts, find out what customers and companies are doing and most importantly generate leads and sales.

Happy Hunting!

Stealing Customers though LinkedIn

If you are a truly successful sales person then you can’t have ignored the latest trends in sales and marketing in the B2B arena when prospecting – LinkedIn. However, do you know that you may be allowing your competition to know exactly what you are doing and who all of your customers are?

Now there’s a scary thought!

Information on customers is highly valuable to the salesman. In fact I have seen many salesmen hiding much of the information from their own company as a way of protecting their job security. Its one of the reasons that there is so much push back on implementation of CRM systems such as Salesforce.com or ACT!

So where is the backdoor to this mine of data?

First, let’s look at LinkedIn briefly and some basic human characteristics when networking on this social media tool for business. Here are some assumptions:

• The majority of people when sent an invitation to connect will do so.
• The number of connections someone has on their profile is often seen as a measure of how successful they are (wrong).
• When a salesman visits a customer he often connects with them via LinkedIN directly afterwards.
• Most people leave their connections wide open to viewing by another connection
• Verticals are incestuous and it’s not uncommon to have competitors in your past connections

So, with all this said, it is not difficult for a savvy competitor who is a 1^st degree connection with you to go through all of your connections trolling for companies of interest. All they have to do is click on the “connections” link in your profile and hey presto, a goldmine – every one of your contacts available to see. And LinkedIn makes it easier by allowing them to search within your connection to make the process even smoother.

About now you should be worried.

So what do you do? 

Option 1 – The Gatekeeper

You can go through all of your connections looking for competitors and then remove them one by one (go to “Connections” and then “Remove Connections” and choose who to get rid of. They will be informed that you have done this, by the way).

A little intensive and takes some time with always the worry that you will miss someone. Plus, let’s be mercenary about this, connections to other sales contacts can also serve as a life blood to future career options so you shouldn’t burn your bridges whenever possible.  Plus competitive reps can be very creative about finding avenues to become one of your connections if they are suitably motivated.

Option 2: Lock Down

The best way and the simplest - just shut down the ability for anyone to see who your connections are. With a closed network your connections can see your entire profile, but cannot see your full list of connections.  The one exception is that your connections can see connections that you share together. 

So go to “Settings” on your LinkedIn account and under Privacy Controls, select the text link titled  ‘Select who can see your connections’. Toggle the drop down from ‘Your Connections’ to ‘Only You’.

In addition (and don’t forget this), ‘Activity Broadcasts’ provide auto-updates from your account.  Take time reviewing the privacy controls and consider your options. Lock this down also.

Ok, take a moment and breathe a sigh of relief. You are now safe from prying eyes.

And then take the next step…

“If someone can do this to me, why can’t I do this to them?”

One of the hardest parts of selling is getting to the right person. Who are they, What is their job title, What do they really do? It can be a huge time waster. If your competition has already done this, then why not stand on their shoulders.

Look through your connections and see if you can find a competitive salesman. If not, try and connect with them. Try three or four within a company; at least one, if not more, will accept. Then click on their connections and off you go.

The joy of LinkedIn is that there is no audit trail of what you are doing once you have made the connection and closed off your Activity Broadcast. So nobody will even know.

Is any of this wrong or illegal? Not in the slightest. If your competition broadcast this information then why not use it. Just make sure they can’t do it to you first.

LinkedIn is a wonderful tool for prospecting but to use it effectively you have to know the advantages and disadvantages and how to use both to further your sales goals.

Good hunting.

Marketers vs Engineers

If Engineers had to invent the wheel all over again we still wouldn’t have it; they would be trying to fine tune it, put additional features to and would never be happy with it. If marketing professional devised it, it would be square and they would convince you that it had a built in braking mechanism for no additional cost.

Both methods are equally wrong

Let’s face it; the two don’t play nicely together.

In the world of engineering, marketing is a place where people make subjective decisions. Usually they work, but sometimes, they don’t. And because there doesn’t appear to be any scientific cause and /effect relationship you just can’t trust marketing. It is not a real discipline but more of a confidence trick.

Marketers on the other hand, don’t help the situation. Engineers are the enemy! They slow the whole process of ‘quick to the market’ down to a grind; they put obstacles in their way. Engineers don’t get the big picture; they keep talking about the minutiae. And that is tedious.

The harsh reality is that marketers need engineers and engineers need marketers.

Engineers need to realize that marketing is a discipline. Markets are financial systems and the true role of marketing is to help the transfer of money from the market into the company by ensuring that the company is delivering something of value. There is a balance to this that obeys the laws of equilibrium. If either side of the system lacks what the other needs, the exchange doesn’t happen. If the right product, the right message and the right timing happens, then the trade is made. Marketing manages, defines and tracks this system providing a constant loop for future development and refinement.

The point is that marketing is a science and that engineers shouldn’t feel threatened or irritated by them. They are closer to each other than they like to think. When the two disciplines get together they can make a huge difference to a company’s success for now and the future.

Boosting Sales with Spiff Programs

In a previous blog, “Selling through B2B Reseller Channels” I mentioned that sales personnel are interested in Money and that this is often the best way to motivate them effectively in moving a manufacturer’s products through the channels, communicating with them and promoting product sales.

So what are the issues surrounding a Rewards Program?

Get Management/Owner Buy-in and Involvement

Without the support of an individual or individuals at the top of the company, you’re dead in the water before you even start. You need their agreement first before you do anything. Some distributors don’t allow any sort of programs feeling that it may encourage their sales teams to sell the wrong product.

Select the Target

Just because you have a Rewards Program in mind, doesn’t mean you have to offer it blindly through your entire distributor network. Incentives work best when targeted. Focus it on the customers you believe will perform the best if this is implemented.. Knowing who you want to act and then structuring a program to directly address their needs and wants will produce the best ROI.

Also be aware that certain countries may not even allow them as they can be classed as an unfair business practice

Set Your Sales Goals

Set clear and reasonable sales targets so everyone, internally and externally, knows what you want to achieve and what is expected of them. Without this form of objective setting any Reward Program could be seen as a sign of desperation. Make the goals sensible, data-driven and make them a stretch for the Reseller. 

Put a Limit on it

Not in terms of Rewards possible but the number of products the program applies for. Make it simple to understand. If the participants get confused, you lose. If they can’t repeat it back to you in one sentence then you’ve got it wrong

Set the Right Award Program

There are two types of rewards programs – points based and money based.

If you go with a point-based incentive solution, the point levels have to accumulate at rates fast enough that program participants can estimate how soon they can redeem points for predefined rewards.  The points themselves have to be seen as an appropriate reward for the effort expended. The problem with this is that you have to provide a sufficiently interesting set of rewards for the participant to use. This can be time consuming in itself, although there are plenty of companies on the web who will do this for you. The second issue is that you do have to have a mechanism for showing the participant exactly how many points they have on an ongoing basis and this can also cause logistical problems.

 

Personally, I always tend towards gift cards (AMEX, or Visa) for several reasons – one, because it can be an immediate reward for the right actions and activities in selling your products, and two, it is far easier to manage especially in the early stages of implementing a Rewards Program.

Communicate Frequently

You cannot over-communicate your incentive program. Tell your participants what you’re going to do, when you’re going to do it, how you’re going to do it and what’s in it for them. Then tell them again. Use Newsletters and emails and tell them how well their peers are doing. Let them do the comparisons themselves.

Involve Your Field Sales Team

If you don’t involve your sales force, you will not be effective. They are the face of your incentive program. Keep them up-to-date. Make it as easy as possible for salespeople to explain both the mechanics and the value of participating in your program.

Monitor and Adjust

Every initiative starts off with a bang, ramps up, coasts, cools off and then needs to be re-energized. Anticipate and plan ahead for this and prepare ideas, themes, special events, promotions, special offers and varied communications to lift the energy level or your program when it hits a lull.

Do all of the above and you have the potential to grow your sales via Resellers and Distributors rapidly. 

Selling through B2B Reseller Channels

In the B2B market establishing the correct sales channels can be just as important as having the right products. Enough companies have foundered for want of sales brought on by a lack of distribution. One of the ways to create a conduit for effective sales of your product is through VARs (Value Added Resellers).

VARs can be a great tool if used in the right situation. They can also be a distraction and a nightmare of unfulfilled potential if they are not managed.

So what are the main Advantages of VARs?

1. Low upfront cost. Theoretically you only pay them when they sell something, so you are not bearing the costs of salaries and overheads, so the costs of hiring and training staff in the initial stages are no borne by your business.
   
   
2. Scalable.  If your market grows dramatically (hopefully), you don’t have to go and find sales force in a hurry. On the other hand, a shrinking market for whatever reason means that you don’t have to deal with lay-offs..

3. Existing Relationships. If they are established then they already have customers who they can sell your product to, so growth in the initial stages has the potential to be fast.

The disadvantages, however, can be taxing to say the least.

1. Focus. Or lack thereof. They sell other products and trying to get them to concentrate on yours and yours alone, especially in the early stages, can be difficult. The piece of paper you signed with them isn’t really worth anything unless you get them to push your product.

2. Information Sharing. Trying to get a VAR to open up and tell you about their specific customers is not easy. It takes years to build up that level of trust and even then the sharing that you may get can only be cursory. Their value is in the relationships and subsequent sales that they bring so they will keep this information sacred. This can often mean that you don’t know who is buying your product and why and this can have a detrimental effect on your marketing and product development for the future.

3. Conflict in the Sales Channel. The more VARs you have, the more likely they will collide. You then become the arbiter, which is never a good place to be, although it is commonplace so there are methods to deal with it; this can be overcome with guaranteed and protected territories but that creates its own problems.

4. Competitive Products. A big one. If the VAR is selling into a vertical and have a specialty product focus they may often have competitive product offerings. If you are the last to sell through a particular VAR, then you have an uphill battle ahead of you. If you are the incumbent, then you have to be constantly concerned with new offerings coming into play and distracting the VARs sales teams.

There are distinct pros and cons to selling through VAR channels. It’s the disadvantages you have to concern yourself with though. You have to get their interest and keep it. And there are only two ways to do this – Hearts and Minds, and Money.

Money because that’s what they are in this for. But be aware that there are two layers to this. Money for the VAR as a Business (“what are the margins for the company?”) and money for the VARs sales Reps (“What’s in it for me?”). Don’t get them confused. I have successfully sold my product to a company and got a commitment and not shifted a single unit because I don’t focus on the sales teams as individuals. Spiff programs come in handy at this point.

Hearts and Minds. You need to keep pestering the sales teams with training, marketing materials and constant contact, especially in the early days to keep them interested in selling your products. Typically a VAR salesman will take the easiest possible route to success and unless you have trained them well and continuously, they will shy away from promoting a product they are not confident about.

VARs are not a sales channel that you can set up and then sit back and wait for orders. It just won’t happen. Just like your own sales team, they require cultivation and motivation to keep them interested in your product. They generally only get excited if they see that your product is really selling. So put the time investment into them and if you do it correctly, it will pay off.

Planning your Trade Show Presence (Part 2)

So you have the booth all planned and built, equipment is there all polished up and literature neatly stacked on racks, carpets clean and rolling presentations playing in the background. Now what? How do you make sure that you get the most out of your tradeshow presence that you have spent so much time and money on?

Well here’s some practical advice from many years of working tradeshows across the world.

As a marketing manager don’t be afraid to be a tyrant. After all, this is the culmination of a lot of work and for many companies is the focus of the entire years marketing efforts and the biggest single cost on the budget so you want to get it right.

It has to be choreographed so feel free to make sure that all the sales ‘dancers’ understand their roles in advance and then monitor them and keep them in tune throughout the show. Your job at this stage stops only when the booth gets dismantled.

Briefings

Before you even get to the show, make sure you give all of the attendees a full briefing on times, booth etiquette and the logistics. It helps to pre-warn them all. This is also the time to make sure everyone knows which customers or prospects will be attending and plan accordingly.

Dress Code

I know that a lot of companies in the USA favor the golf shirt approach, but I for one don’t. You have such a short time to make an impression at a show, so do it right. Business suits and ties are the de rigueur at all times. Show the attendees some respect. A side benefit to this is that sales people who buy their own clothes tend to treat them better that company supplied shirts so they end up looking neater. Obviously garish ties or shirts are not acceptable. You will find that most salesmen and women will not object.

Timing

On the first day, you will want all staff at the booth at least one hour before it starts so you have the time to take them through products, logistics and expectations. On the following days, 15 minutes before is acceptable. Late arrivals should not be allowed as it can be disruptive to other staff and attendees.

  

Food and Drink

I have been on enough booths where all the careful planning of a booth has been ruined by a salesman dropping a cup of coffee on a pale carpet. It can destroy the whole look in a heartbeat. Furthermore, eating and drinking on a booth is not conducive to creating a welcoming environment for any possible prospect. So simple rule - no food and no drink on the booth at any point. Obviously this does not apply to attendees.

Furniture

I have had so much pushback on this part over the years but I have always insisted. Either no chairs on the booth, or a strict rule that no booth staff member can use them unless with a prospect. Why? Because it encourages a stand-off approach to getting interest in the company and its products on display. Sales staff should be always on the ‘prowl’. A good set of shoe inserts will help overcome some of the natural pain of standing for 8 hours a day.

Working the Booth

In Europe the approach is different to the States. It is acceptable to sit back as the culture is for interested attendees to approach the sales staff. In the US, it is the opposite so patrolling the perimeter is a mandatory requirement.

Don’t allow salesmen to congregate together and talk amongst themselves. It is off-putting to someone who may be interested. It will happen but as the booth manager you have to play the hard person from time to time and separate them and keep them focused. Making sure they patrol different parts of the booth is a good technique for this.

Taking Leads

This is what a show is all about and in many cases probably the worst. Salesman leave with pockets full of business cards from people who they have talked to and with very little memory the next day of what they spoke to them about.  

Capture the data!

Yes, there are the scanners available which you should always have but you also need a clipboard with a form on it so the printed paper form the scanner and or/business card can be attached together with a summary of the conversation. Put lots of check boxes to speed the process up. After the show, summarize it all and disseminate. DO NOT allow salesmen to disappear with the information.

Let’s put this into perspective, if a show costs you $100,000, and you get 200 leads then each lead has cost you $500. Be sensible.

Final warning – if you have a scanner with a USB thumb drive in it, take it out each night and back it up. I have also heard of competitors coming along after the show and copying these; rare but not unheard of.

Competitors

A note on competitors coming to your booth. Personally I have no problem with this as long as they are circumspect about it and sensitive to leaving if a prospect appears. They can always get hold of your literature so no problem in giving them some. Obviously you expect the same courtesy on their booth.

Your trade show presence is an important part of your marketing activities for the year so make sure you get it right. Prepare before and implement strongly during the event. What you do afterwards with the data and the feedback is the subject of another blog.

Planning your Trade Show Presence (Part 1)

Tradeshows – always the bane of every marketing professional, irrespective of his or her level within the hierarchy of a company. Whisper that perhaps we should reconsider exhibiting at tradeshows and suddenly everybody becomes an expert on why we have to go – “everybody will think we've fallen on bad times”, “that’s where we get our customers from” and “ we've always done that show” are just a few of the objections. We've all heard them a thousand times.

So let’s assume we are going to go to tradeshows. What should we consider in the planning and logistics stages?

Goals and Objectives

Define the goals for your business clearly – what are they? Is it brand awareness, lead generation, a centralized place to show existing customers your products or services? It may be all of the above, but be clear on what you are trying to achieve. If it is qualified lead generation then perhaps a highly focused show is better than a more generalized event where larger numbers are likely to be present. Defining your objectives up front assists greatly in targeting which show and later on in assessing ROI based on upon those goals.

Placement of the Booth

Many of the larger shows will have zones where your product may fit into however loosely. Placing your booth in these areas can be beneficial as you often have motivated and pre-qualified attendees coming specifically to this region to fulfill their needs and solve their problems.

There are some dynamics to the movement of people at a show and often I have found that as attendees come to a show they will bear right (most people are right handed) and circle around the show floor first before delving into the center. Consequently a booth on the edge and to the right tends to get the early traffic, important when “Tradeshow Fatigue” can often set in towards the latter half of the day.

If you can afford it, an island booth gives you so much more display and design space than a booth trapped between others. However you can still make your presence known with a different position if you are creative.

Size

Contrary to many theories, size isn't everything.  The size of the show—measured in attendees and exhibitors—should match your goals but also allow you to maximize your potential. Large trade shows are good for general leads—people who come to your booth just because you are there and so are they. Lead quality doesn't tend to be the highest in this scenario but the quantity may be. (Be aware of this when assessing ROI later). Large shows also can mean that you get lost in the crowd of exhibitors although this can be overcome to a certain extent by driving attendance to your booth ahead of time.

The size of the booth itself can be important, although this can be dictated to a large degree by your budget. I have seen plenty of big booths that have made no impression at all, blending in to the corporate background of Tradeshows. Conversely, small booths have attracted a lot of attention with enough creativity designed in. Of course the size may be dictated in part by what products you are showing. Obviously a machine that is 50 feet long needs the right amount of space to be shown effectively.

Competition

Go to a Mall and you will see many shops selling the same products - the nearness of competitors in one place can be a positive boon for business. This is often referred to as “Co-opetition“. The same goes for Tradeshows. Often the organizers will do this placement deliberately. It can be a good thing especially if you are not the leader in a particular market. Use their marketing dollars to attract qualified leads that will be going to their booth and if you plan it right, will see you as a possible option. You need to understand your competition well so you can counter their messages and separate your products from theirs.

Design

The big one! How do you design a booth that attracts prospects, gets over your messages and qualifies attendees? There are so many companies that will help you with this – for a fee. Don’t try and do this yourself. Get the professionals involved every time. Unless you are a graphic designer, you will design a booth that doesn’t work. However, before discussing anything with a design company make sure you understand what messages and products you are trying to promote. Then make sure that they understand the same.

If you want to stand out, study what other companies are in the vicinity at the show. Look at their corporate branding and colors and if possible see what they have done in previous years. (I always make a point of taking photos of my competition especially at every show I go to). Use this information with your design company to make something different.

Extending Your Reach

If you just rent the space, build your booth and wait for prospects to arrive you will miss out on a few other opportunities to engage customers.

Most shows have conferences built around them. Get on the speaker platform and promote your messages to motivated, interested professionals within your target market. They are at the conference listening to speeches that are relevant to them so they are qualified prospects.

Sponsorship at the show can be a very costly exercise so you should use it with caution. Having your name printed on Lanyards, signs, bags etc. can all look like a good idea but it can eat your marketing budget alive. It is better to have something that you give away on the booth that attendees take with them and carry around. There are many ideas; some that I have used highly successfully that can create a real buzz and that overshadow standard show sponsorship. (Email me and I’ll tell you about them).

Driving Attendance

You’ve booked the space, designed the booth and have the hotel rooms booked. You’ve only just begun. You need to drive attendance from within your own company.

Hopefully you have a database of customers and prospects. In the months before and then the final two weeks (most people don’t even think about the show until a few weeks before they attend), send them all emails letting them know that you will be exhibiting at this show and how to find you. Give them some information on what you will be showing.

Get your sales force involved at an early stage including your distribution network (if you have it) and make sure that they are aware months ahead of the details. Set them goals on getting customers and prospects to the show. Make sure that they schedule meetings with these people at the show if appropriate.

Many trade shows offer the exhibitors the use of the registration list for pre-show and sometimes post-show direct marketing -  of course for a fee.  Four to six weeks before the show, send a postcard or letter to this list, inviting the attendee to stop by your booth and see what you have to offer. This is often a shotgun approach and can be costly in terms of direct mail. Two weeks before send a reminder

Finally find out the list of press and analysts that will be attending the show and have you or your PR people schedule interviews with them, especially if you have an updated strategy or are announcing something new at the show. This is a great opportunity to get in front of several of the key industry influencers in one location.

Cost

The most important part with many companies - how much will it all cost?

You have put together a well-designed booth, prepared materials to distribute, and arranged sales and technical staff to travel to a distant city; the costs for a trade show can rapidly mount.

The cost of a trade show is best measured in ROI. Take into consideration the issues outlined above such as the effect your presence will have on your target audience and determine if there will be a positive return on investment. Return is most often measured in terms of leads generated and sales later closed, but for some trade show exhibitors a goal might be more focused on building the less concrete values of good will and brand awareness.

  

Part 2 to follow - Maximizing the Show