Thursday, January 23, 2014

Exhibiting at the same trade show year after year...good or bad?




You're standing in your booth space, scanning the trade show crowd and you feel somewhat surprised at how many people stopped their everyday business to attend the show.  Coming from local and faraway places and yet all are there for the same reason.  But does exhibiting at that same trade show year after year with so many familiar faces seem tedious and repetitive? Do you feel your efforts are worth it in the end? 

Well, repetitive exposure even if to the same people, is an important piece for any successful Trade Show!  But what if you don’t have the ‘WOW’ in your Trade Show display you wish you had, what if you don’t have that ‘something new’?  What’s the point then?  The point: if nothing else, a Trade Show is no better a place to form new relationships while maintaining and reinforcing the existing relationships.


Here are FIVE strategies to keep your business looking fresh and new at the same shows because the point is: repetitive exposure is reinforcement of strength in both presence and relationships.


Tip 1: Focus on Features.
Does every user of your product or service know it completely from the in to the out? Doubt it! Try taking your most overlooked features and push them. Get them recognized as a 'new' benefit.

Tip 2: Focus on the Future.
Is something new and exciting coming but not quite there? Are you starting to focus on eco-friendly processing but it's not quite ready to unveil how. Start the buzz talk now, ahead of time, to get your new and old prospects talking and especially wanting that new service or item. Jump start it now.

Tip 3: Focus on the Product.
Use the Proctor & Gamble strategy to make something old something 'New and Improved'. Here and there you may notice they use that on their laundry detergent, shampoo brands, etc. If you have changed your product and it is New and Improved well say it. No need to reinvent the wheel when you can just enhance what you already have.

Tip 4: Focus on the People.
Take your best faces and best workers and put them out there. The ones who make your products, the ones who make your services run smoothly. Put a face on the action behind the scene.

Tip 5: Focus on Service.
Have great customer service and keep on proving it. Highlight your best services that make your customer's happy to work with you again and again. 



So, even if you think you don't have something new to say or exhibit, step back and really think about it. The point is: you can find something new by looking what you already have in a different light.