Trade shows are very effective places to gather market intelligence. Your competitors are showcasing their latest innovations, your clients are looking for new product and service ideas and there are a lot of attendees who are not yet your clients.
You need solid market information to make sure you stay ahead of your competition. Here are six key factors in using trade shows for gathering this information effectively.
1 Choose well
The two most important choices to make are what shows to attend and who to bring. At the very least, attend your industry’s largest show – the one that most of your competitors and clients will attend. Since this is an opportunity to gather some key intelligence, choose staff who will further that goal. Send outgoing, energetic listeners. “Engage and then listen” should be your show mantra.
2 Test the market
In advance of a full-scale launch, expose a product in a limited way by introducing it to a select audience at the trade show. Ask for feedback, listen to the responses and then implement the suggestions. To maintain confidentiality, you can allocate a private area in your booth for demonstrations. Have your engineering and product-development teams there to receive immediate feedback.
3 Make sure senior management attends
Senior managers generally know they should meet clients and catch up on the latest industry trends, but time is always their enemy. A trade show provides an opportunity to get away for two days and focus on gathering market intelligence. The time commitment is minimal and usually planned a year in advance. This is also an ideal chance to conduct focus groups with clientele.
4 Have a place for meetings
All exhibitors need places to talk with clients. Depending on the business, such spaces may range from a table with a couple of chairs to a private meeting room inside an exhibit. If your display won’t accommodate a meeting space, you may want to choose a location within the convention hall close to the exhibitor lounge. You may also consider a hospitality suite in the hotel attached to the convention centre.
5 Walk around and be social
Your competitors are putting their best feet forward. Watch their marketing efforts and adopt their best practices. Their exhibit spaces can be good indicators of how they’re faring. A new product introduction may indicate a progressive company, while poor attendance at a booth may point to diminished market relevance. Meeting your clients in social settings outside the trade-show floor allows more candid discussion of market trends and needs. By engaging in conversation and listening, you can glean strategic information that is difficult to come by in office settings.
6 Follow up
Success at a trade show is magnified through effective follow-up. When the show is over, work with management to determine what areas to address in your follow-up. Call your clients and prospects to engage in meaningful conversations about the latest market trends. Ask what they found interesting. If you have products that meet their current demands, remind them; otherwise, have your R&D arm address these shortcomings.
Did you know?
- A statistic that has remained consistent over the years is that over 80 per cent of the average trade-show attendees are decision-makers who influence the purchase of products and services. In addition, over 50 per cent of all qualified sales leads are closed during trade shows without the need for additional face-to-face contact. (Source: Exhibit Surveys, Inc., Trade Show bureau.)
- With decision-makers making up such a high proportion of the attendees, management can meet senior personnel from client companies that normally would not be available. Do your homework and set these meetings up ahead of time.
