Exhibit halls are still packed and bring together buyers and sellers in an environment where you companies are looking for solutions.  Helping them, helps you.

Tradetec – Skyline Chicago is not only your source for Trade Show Displays & Exhibits, we are a solution provider and a partner for your trade show management success.

With the addition of Manage My Trade Shows we will help familiarize your trade show managers and coordinators with a powerful online trade show software so that they will be able to report, schedule, follow up and refine your trade show program.

Having recently read that 80% of trade show attendee’s never receive a follow up call after the trade show has ended.  The major reason for exhibiting is to reach potential buyers, where do your leads go? If those 80% are not being contacted by your competition, it’s time to put in place a lead follow up program.  With online event management software, you can easily determine your marketing ROI and cost per lead.

Having the ability to print reports and analyze your companies strongest trade show performances will give you the ability to focus on your overall marketing goals and shed light on where your company may not be as efficient or cost effective when it comes to your trade show marketing.

There are several factors that need to be addressed to make for a flawless and streamlined exhibiting experience:

Trade Show Labor
Furnishing & Carpeting
Material Handling
Graphics & Exhibit Design
Exhibit & Event Rigging
Cleaning Services
Transportation & Freight
Show Books
Exhibit Fabrication & Management

Trade Show Services can be baffling to new and experienced exhibitors alike, with many hours going into a project only to find out one or more of the small details of your trade show services were overlooked. A Professional Trade Show Service Team that works with exhibit halls, shipping firms, and designers on a daily basis, can offer your company a support system that will work together to solve any issues before, during and after your trade shows. Giving to you innovative solutions that will create valuable results to your bottom line.

The exhibit design, fabrication and logistics is an investment that requires proper planning. Often times exhibitors can loose focus on the details of trade show services, investing time & money in chasing down details and/or issues, trying to find the right person that can help them with an answer. With an online trade show service management program you get quick access to:

· Save time by quickly tapping into all event-related information

· Access and share marketing objectives and goals

· Organize trade show schedules, graphics, properties, and records in real-time

· Meet a multitude of deadlines

· Collaborate with team members 24/7 from the show floor, office, or on the road

· Access historical information on events including layout, costs, and show details

· Jump-start new employees by providing work flow based event information

· Manage the total cost of an event through Budgets and Expenses

· Create and access surveys for pre-show and post-show reports

· Access staff profiles and itineraries

· Determine ROI and maintain leads

Many exhibitors are attending more shows annually, and need to have their exhibit properties sent from show to show, tracking efforts can add hours onto an exhibitors day. With trained project managers, an online event management program can eliminate any confusion and will allow your team daily reports of exhibiting schedules and asset management reports.

Your approach to trade show services can be identified easily with a trained trade show service manager, our approach begins with identifying what it will take for clients to successfully meet their trade show goals.

A Service Team with trade show knowledge should come from years of experience from designing, manufacturing and managing exhibits. With marketing & technical expertise on the trade show floor, making sure the process runs smoothly from the beginning of the trade show, right down to the inspection of your exhibit properties when they come back to the storage facility. Keeping track of items that need to be restored or re-furbished for your next trade show.

Whether your exhibiting in a 10’ x 20′ trade show display, 20’ x 20′ trade show display rental or even a 40’ x 40′ trade show exhibit, you will see the creativity and innovative solutions that a full trade show service team can bring to your experience on the trade show floor.

As you begin the process of exhibiting at trade shows and find yourself looking for advice on your trade show program, contact a dedicated service team. It all begins and ends with the “statement & impact” that you would like to make when the doors open at the convention center.

Whether your trade show is in Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, or even an International Trade Show venue – a dedicated trade show service team is invaluable at creating the results with ease.

I was thinking about the communication of your message in terms of your Trade Show Exhibit & Displays Design, I could relate this to an article written by Frederic Premji at I Need Motivation, Frederic made a great point on #3 – of 10 Rules to Give Great Customer Service.  Communicate your message effectively …..

Creating a message via trade show graphics, can give you a one-two punch when trying to establish traffic into your trade show booth.  If your company plans on attending several trade shows annually, targeting specific events that you will want to focus your New Product Launches.  Unveiling a new product with powerful high quality trade show graphics and bright colors will draw attention and traffic to your exhibit booth.

Anya Portnik – wrote a great article that fits into a recent post here at Trade Show Tips about Trade Show Lead Follow Up, with several great pointers when you are emailing your prospective customers.

Anya wrote:

As a sales superstar you need to maximize your efforts and your results by utilizing modern means of technology to supplement and support your sales efforts. That’s supplement and support not replace!

A point that I agree with 100%, as stated in Trade Show Lead Follow up, being in front of your prospects, live and in person as you are on the Trade Show Floor, should not stop once the Trade Show Convention or Event is over.  Managing your own trade show services and exhibit can be a tremendous task, with high quality customer service support from an experienced exhibit house, you can free up some time to continue to be in contact with your own customers and prospects.

Here are some tips for managing the leads that you and your staff work so hard to collect. First, we hear from a reader who has a suggestion for capturing more complete information on the visitors to your exhibit.

Have your staff fill out the lead generation card rather than the prospect or customer. This way you are sure to get all of the pertinent information as well as make a personal connection with that lead. It also gives the staff member a better opportunity to find out the exact needs of the prospect.

- Denise Stabler, Future Industries

Another important aspect of managing that lead is making sure that your message survives beyond the run of the show. Here’s what another trade show marketer does to ensure lasting impact.

90% of all sales literature distributed at an event is often thrown out at the trade show, either by sales people or attendees themselves. We bring limited quantities and only use sales literature as conversational visual aides. [You may want to load the literature into a ring binder so that it’s apparent that it is not for deposit into the show tote bag.] Always take the customers name and information and send literature after the show. Only hand out literature as a last resort when customers indicate they prefer to take it at the show.

- Kelly Steinkirchner, Product Mgr, Buffalo Filter

There is a much better chance that you products and services will get better consideration in the relative quiet of the lead’s office versus the distraction-laden show floor. As the next tip points out you might also save on those expensive freight and drayage costs by limiting the amount of samples and brochures that you bring to the event.

In our business of fabric manufacture, we have found people prefer to be mailed sample swatches after the show rather than take them along from our exhibit. This has allowed us to ship less to the show site, and also enables us to contact the office daily with sample requirements that can be sent out – to be waiting for potential customers when they return home from the show.

- M. Reardon – Tweave, Inc.

Prompt follow-up can pay big dividends.

Be quick and effective with the leads, not only when you come back from the show, but also when the show is still running!! Don’t wait too long; your prospect can forget you. Be the first who come back to him with all the answers, quotes, literature, that they requested! Make sure they will remember your company …so before the prospects leave the booth, ask them for the best time to call back. Let them know what you will talk about.

- Name withheld by request

An effective means of getting the sales staff to follow up on the show leads is to keep an eye on the quality of the leads that you provide. Here is an idea that might help to get the quantity of qualified leads on the increase in your program.

The success of a trade show is often measured by the number of leads created (especially qualified leads). However, trade show staff often forgets to get the visitor’s contact info or to indicate what they are interested in. As a result you end up with either very few leads or leads that the sales team throws away as unqualified.

Use an incentive such as internal contest to see who gathers the most qualified leads among your staff. The qualification should include the basic information needed by sales; what product they are interested in, when do they plan on buying, how much money is in their budget, when would they like the follow-up call. [It doesn’t hurt to review your definition of a qualified lead with your sales team before the show to confirm their needs.] Have regular staff updates during the show to share their rankings as a way to remind them that their #1 goal is to gather qualified leads.

- John McDonald, CTO – blueC 802, Inc..

A speedy follow-up keeps the interest and continuity going from the excitement that you generate in the show hall. Here are a couple of methods that exemplify what works for many readers.

Our main objective is to capture email addresses and to send out the first email within 48 hours. It is far more effective than waiting 3 or 4 weeks to follow-up.

- Dianne Beveridge, Data Harvest Educational Group

This sentiment is echoed in this example from another reader.

Send a “thank you” e-mail the evening after an attendee stops by your booth. The e-mail should have your company’s graphic identification and your contact info. This is an immediate reminder of your company’s product or service and sets a tone of professionalism and customer-focused service.

- Martha Davis — CBCAmRent

We hope that you have gotten something of value from these trade show tips. Making the most of the opportunities presented by good lead management can give your exhibiting program quite a boost.

Tradetec Skyline Trade Show Services

You’ve heard the phrase, “Use the right tool for the right job.” You may be able to get the job done, but there are usually ramifications for using the wrong tool. Freight has different characteristics than a letter or something that can fit in a “flat-rate” kind of box, so you have to use the right company to handle freight. The Service Team at Tradetec Skyline not only has access to hundreds of transport companies in their network; they have the know-how to match your freight and service level with the right one.

Not planning ahead with the shipment of your exhibit can cost you. The only way to eliminate mistakes before they happen is to plan ahead. Make sure you have an accurate weight for your item including any packaging material and pallet. If there is a discrepancy between the listed weight and the actual package, the transport company may reweigh your item and charge you the difference. If you have scheduled a pickup, make sure your shipment and its accompanying paperwork is ready to go. Do not overnight something unless it must be somewhere tomorrow; the price to expedite something is exponentially higher than regular rate.

If this is you or someone you know, the good news is that it’s never too late to change! Recognizing the facets of exhibiting that need to managed by you or your staff and rely on the experienced, professional team at Tradetec to manage the shipping and small details of getting your booth to the show and ready for you to exhibit.

Cost for drayage is based on a contract between show management and the drayage company (usually a labor union). The critical components are weight in CWT (hundred pounds) and time. Most commonly, each venue or show hall has a minimum weight, so you will be charged the drayage cost for that weight no matter what. If your shipment arrives late, you will be charged overtime hours by the union workers to move your freight. Be sure to pay attention to shipping dates and addresses in your show book so that you do not run into issues with shipping and with drayage. For more information about managing your next event, visit Tradetec Skyline’s website.