1. Make an effort to visit as many vendors as you can at any trade show and collect information that are useful for you regarding their offer, which are their ideal client and their target market. Therefore do not let the opportunity to meet the exhibitors at any trade show slip out of your hand instead try to seize the best out of it.
2. Be a good listener than a good orator because you need to find out their business and their personal interests that matches yours so that these collected information at trade show are easy to reach later when you follow-up.
3. Try to make your networking efforts at any trade show interesting by planning to meet at least one new person every 10-15 minutes, collecting reliable information for your follow-up rapidly and not at a snail pace otherwise you will be the loser.
4. Value the people you come in contact in the trade show and set yourself as a significant, easily approachable resource of solution to any problems. Even if you are unable to find solutions to their problems you can direct them to the exhibitor you met earlier who might have a great solution for them or introduce them to someone else you know at the event who you think they might be able to make a good connection with.
5. cards are a significant tool in maximizing the networking opportunities at any trade show. It is important to make a couple of notes about what you learned about them or to write a quick like note that will add value to your card like the name of a website they might find useful, a book, another networking event, after asking for a business cards or prior to handing someone your own business card respectively.
6. Follow-up is probably the most important tip of all to maximize your networking opportunities at any trade show. Your networking efforts at any trade show will surely bear fruit of success if you make contacts during the week following the show, with each person you met through hand written note and a voice mail, brief phone conversation or an e-mail. It does not matter how you contacted but the time plays an important factor in building a relationship. The lesser is the time gap between the events and the contact the more is the surety of success.
1.Work with a tradeshow planning team or key personnel to decide who your target market is and what your objectives are.
2.Identify the tradeshows that appeal to your market and offer the greatest exposure for your message. Research the target market and your competitors to determine which tradeshows they frequently attend.
3.Time your trade show exhibit appearance to meet prospects at the beginning of their buying cycle?not after purchasing decisions have been made.
4.Do your homework. Double check tradeshow management statistics to confirm participant demographics. Obtain audited information, if available. Talk to former tradeshow exhibitors and attendees about their trade show booth experience.
5.Visit the tradeshows that you are considering. Evaluate educational seminars and supporting events for other opportunities for appearances by your company personnel.
6.Consider the location of the trade show. Since 40%?60% of tradeshow attendance usually lives within a 200-mile radius of the show, you may want to match your company's distribution area and target market with the geographic source of tradeshow attendees.
7.Evaluate the timing of the trade show. Avoid conflicts with events or business activities that may draw your target audience away from the tradeshow (i.e. Super Bowl Sunday, corporate annual meetings, holidays, etc.).
8.Be wary of first-time tradeshows. Even though a heavily promoted first-time event may sound like a winner, without a proven history it may be a risk for your company's initial tradeshow appearance.
9.Pick your trade show booth space wisely. Get familiar with the floor plan of the tradeshow exhibit space. Consider how close you want to be to industry leaders, main attractions, competitors, restrooms, food stations, entrances, exits, escalators, elevators, stairs, windows and seminar sites. Avoid low ceilings, obstructing columns, dead-end aisles, loading docks, freight doors, dark spaces and ceiling water pipes.
Dick Wheeler is President of Professional Exhibits & Graphics, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The firm is a full-service premiere trade show exhibit, graphics and management services company. For addtional information, go to www.proexhibits.com. ? Copyright 1996-2006, Professional Exhibits & Graphics. All Rights Reserved
Both Benny & Dick Wheeler are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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