Dear Scott:
It sound like your company is in the dark ages when it comes to advertising and trade shows. They should be working together to complement each other, not trying the one up-man-ship that you are faced with.  I wonder if this ad person can justify her ad campaign, and show the ROI on her ad campaign. If she is not going to make the investment in the pre-show effort why are you even participating in these trade shows? You are really not an exhibitor, but an attendee with a booth. The Pre-show effort is to tell your clients you are at this trade show, tell you list of prospects that you look forward to them stopping by your booth, and your suspects that you have something to show them that you know that will be of interest to them.  You need to invite people, if you want people at your booth! Over 40% of people surveyed were asked why they didn’t go to this industry trade show, and their response was that no one invited them. It is obvious to me your ad person does not know about trade shows and she is treating them as an expense, not an investment, and your marketing effort is being jeopardized!
To your continued trade show success
John Hill, Trade Show Coach

In some small companies the President takes the entire A” or hot leads and gives 1 or 2 leads, depending on the number of hot leads they received, to each member of the management team with the following edict, “Contact this person or persons today, and see what we need to do to get the order. If you, or the prospects, have any questions please contact me, I want a report back on this before noon today”

The President of the company has made these leads a priority. Everyone is accountable. With this type of follow up the President will be able to determine if this trade show was worth while, how much did each lead cost, and how much it will cost to close these orders.

The problem in large companies’s is the bureaucratic game of structure and accountability many times gets in the way of getting business. Everyone is so worried about do what is company correct they loose sight of the fact that in our very competitive world today if someone requests information from a company regardless of their size and if they don’t get what they requested in a timely fashion they will be looking at some other company regardless of how big you are. Major organizations, realizing this have taken departments and made them into a company within a company relying on accountability and profitability as key rather than structure and redundant effort.

Building a relationship with another individual or company takes time. You cannot just say ‘we are going to partner’, you must agree on how this partnership will work. It must be equally rewarding for both parties, and they also must enjoy working together as well. Considering the fact that often you spend more time with your business than you do with your family and friends, you want to “partner” with someone who complements your efforts and has the same type of work ethic. If this partnership is going to coexist while you each maintain other businesses, it’s important to be clear about how to use each other’s strengths in a complimentary fashion – you certainly don’t want a “Clash of the Titans” scenario developing between partners who are both business owners or executives with a strong need to control. Understanding both the similarities and the differences between you will help carve out the niche whereby coming together, you create a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Is this a partnership that will exist to help double your marketing muscle and halve your cost? Will it add relevant value for an audience you both serve, non-competitively? Is this a partnership that will give you both an opportunity to serve a new audience with the combined skills and resources you possess as a team? For example, as we, John Hill & Andrea Feinberg, became familiar with each other, we discovered a number of important similarities: we both truly enjoy our work and a consultative style of serving clients; we have a strong orientation toward providing quality work of high professional standards and accountability. We both enjoy writing and we have no problem in getting up in front of an audience, and presenting the foundation of our services. The nice thing about partnering is you have the opportunity to learn from each other and offer suggestions, as well as constructive advice that can be extremely beneficial to the growth of you, your company, and the partnership. Since this relationship is still in the start up stage, we have not had any disagreements, and perhaps it’s still too early, but it is something we both have to think about. To me, friction is healthy and, when viewed that way, it’s yet another benefit of partnership. The more points of view to which we’re each exposed, the more we can explore ideas our own mental framework may not have considered. As a result, our choices are informed ones; we add to our respective ‘tool kits’ and to our value proposition on behalf of clients and prospects.

Business is not black and white, but a series of grays, that require constant attention, patience and the ability to make the hard objective decisions when necessary. The criteria that we establish in this relationship must be something that we both agree upon and can work together to accomplish our goals and objectives of this relationship. What will we each invest- funds, time, expertise, resources? What do we each want to gain? Do we want to tackle each element as a team? Do we want to identify specific activities we’ll handle individually on behalf of the team? To just say that we want to “partner” and not take any steps to actually develop a plan that can be used for us to present to prospective clients would be an exercise in futility, and a waste of our time and effort. In my mind it follows that business rule; “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” We both have far too much business savvy to allow that to happen.

The following is my part of this partnership story and how we came to the conclusion that it may be to our advantage to form a business partnership. I first heard of Andrea Feinberg, President of Coaching Insight and what she did as a business coach before I actually had the pleasure of meeting her in person, at a networking meeting. It is obvious; from the first time you meet her that she is a business professional. She knows her subject matter, has an opinion, and can back it up with knowledge and experience. But more importantly, she really enjoys her work, and helping people. It is so important, especially when you are in business for yourself that you enjoy what you do. It is the difference between a career and just a job. As I tell people who ask about my work as a Trade Show Coach, “It really is my passion. I cannot think of anything more rewarding than to assist a company in having a successful trade show”

And this is how I, Andrea, easily found an opportunity to partner with John: we both are focused on enhancing existing elements within a client’s process mix. We both want to see a client thrive and benefit from changes they make in the way they do things; we don’t ask a client to add a new series of skills, equipment, products or relationships; we both want to see a client mine existing treasure for greater reward. John does this with trade show preparation, participation and follow-up. Andrea does it with intangible assets: internal communications, expectations, attitudes, reputation, relationships, values and employee skill sets.

John’s focus on trade shows is but one part of a company’s marketing plan that could easily be in excess of 17% of the total marketing funds available. So while he may be addressing only one facet of the marketing plan, the dollars involved make it critical that it be orchestrated with care and an experienced hand. An owner of a business making a substantial investment in a major trade show needs a lot of justification. Yet, it is a known fact that a major three day trade show done correctly will produce more qualified leads than a sales person, in the office, making cold calls for six months, and in some cases, in a year!

As a small business coach, Andrea’s role is to help a client broaden the perspective with which she sees the many hidden treasures possessed in their business and which are often taken for granted or minimized – relationships, reputation, processes, priorities, strengths, employee skills are among those.

Working together, we each offer our clients an opportunity to expand the value of their existing assets – whether it’s a presence at a trade show or the way the company manages employees’ time, goal setting or task assignment – to improve performance, productivity, creativity and long-term health and growth. If any partnership can offer that combination of rewards to its clients, as
well as the partners, it’s a huge win-win situation.

Dear Bob:
You are not the first person who had been “talked” into a bigger booth by some sweet talking trade show consultant. What that person did was sell the obvious. Did you really need a bigger booth? Were the attendees standing on line to get into your booth?  Were your booth people able to handle the traffic effectively?  Did the people doing booth duty say that they needed a bigger booth? I have clients that have the same booth for over eight years. They have upgraded the graphics, and changed their “tag” line but that was it.  I would rather have a small booth that is always over crowded at a trade show that a large one where your booth people spend more time talking to each other than to prospects.

Now that you have a larger booth, you should invite more people to visit your booth.   The only way you can justify the cost of the larger booth is by having a larger list of qualified prospects that your sales force can close.  It will be your Pre-show effort that will make the difference.
To your continued trade show success
John Hill, Trade Show Coach

Key Chains—I had a customer wanting to give out key chains.  Now here is the problem with key chains.  Just because I gave you a key chain, am I going to switch all my keys over to your chain, because you gave it to me?   Not happening – it’s going to the junk draw when the person opens their information bags.  A nice lanyard is good but again how many people are going to switch keys.  Do not waste your money on this item.
Pens- A topic I love so much- Pens are a great giveaway but there are rules about pens.  A cheap pen is a cheap pen.  If you give out a cheap pen do you have a cheap company?  The life of a cheap pen is about 3 days, before it goes to a junk draw.  A great pen can cost you a dollar, from $.97 to $1.40 each or more. A nice metal with some weight to it and the rubber grip, laser engraved, pen with your logo and website on it.  The life of that pen is 6 months.  Key is remembering to give the pen to the person, not just having them out on the table to grab.  Gold Star and All American make nice pens as well as Hub.  A nice pen has to have balance in your hand as well as some weight.  I have given out many pens in my past.  Most of what I giveaway has been a nice metal pen by All American and Hub Pens. People love those and I see my clients using them for months. So my name is just with the client.  I have also given out pens that light up as well. Clients use them for a year, until the batteries wear out.  Great part about that is the clients still talk about them.  Talk to your promotional specialist and have him get samples to show you.
You should be using a 6 week set up time for samples and picking the pen you need.
Stress Balls – now here is an item that is going direct to the junk draw.  But let’s talk about what its saying about your company.  Is it stressful to deal with you?

I had a Mortgage broker and a real estate broker both use stress balls in the shape of a house.  I felt they were saying that dealing with them will be a stressful event and you need the ball to calm yourself.  The best stress balls are made by a company called Jetline.   So if you must go for this item, look for their catalog from your promotional person.  Jetline has lots of great shapes and themes.

What do I recommend instead for this field- that is easy, it’s a bank. Your saying dealing with us can help you save.
Coffee cups – and mugs and water bottles a dime a dozen and who is going to change their mug for yours for their morning coffee.  To ship these items to your booth is going to send your booth costs high as well.  Damage to items can also happen. But again if you must look at coffee mugs Custom Crest makes a nice one and water bottles by Humphrey or Goldbond.

Ok, so I gave you items not to use, now here are some items to consider to give out.

Sewing kits.  Yes sewing kits are great. Women take them and put them in their pocket books and men put them in the top draw at work to help them if they need to sew on a button that came loose.  It’s a quick repair kit, and your name is in the clients hands when he needed it most.  By the way they, might even comeback and buy something else with your name is in front of them.

Tape measure- small round tape measure is great item.  You need the 6 foot units not the 3 footers.  Women again put them in there pocketbooks and measure everything with them. Real Estate brokers and those doing remodeling can use this great giveaway as the person is going ahead and doing remodeling and measuring everything.  Women with children are always measuring the waists of the kids to see clothing sizes.  So this is one item that will bring your name to the client time and time again.   CPS and Lanco make nice units.
Pill boxes for the right kind of trade show are another good item.  For senior expos and trade shows, they are always a wanted needed item. Evans makes some of the best around.  From $.60 to $1.50 let’s face it your name is in front of them, every day.

At one of our conventions we have a company called High Sierra and they put out a line of shirts. Each year at the conventions for promotional products whose booth has the longest line? You got it, High Sierra.  The Featherlike shirt has been given out for years now.  Each year they have a new colored shirt.  If you’re wearing the shirt and they see you with it on the convention floor you win $100.00, so everyone is wearing these shirts over their clothing.  40 to 50 people are waiting on line all day for these shirts.  The overall talk on the line is what color the shirt is going to be this year.    How do they get to give you their shirt?  You have to go through a maze of speeches about the new lines of clothing.  They tell you who is carrying the shirt and who can help you get their new line.  After 15 minutes in the booth and 20 minutes on line you get your shirt in your size.  Everyone puts on the shirt from that point.  500 people at the convention with have this shirt on, at anyone time.   To me that is power and you get clients to remember you.  By the way I have the Blue, Demon, Yellow and Green, missed the Purple and Red.

Next use the same ideas for your company. Get something for the people to wear about your company and have a person roaming the show floor, giving out $20.00 bills.   It’s as simple as a sticker or a flashing button.   Get known for doing this.

One company did a great promotion at a show – he makes key chains in the shape of a pill.  Inside the pill he stuff from $1.00 to 20.00 and you have to pick one out of the hat.  Before you do, you have to hear his speech.  He had me for 5 minutes of time and gave me a pill box.  I won a dollar. But I remembered him.

If you’re giving away lots of flyers get canvas bags to give away.  Put your logo on the bag and pre load the bags with your items. Again keep the bags behind the counter so the person has to talk to you and get the sample. Canvas bags are not that bad when it comes to prices, and if you have a booth person giving them to people with overloaded plastic bags, they remember.  Nicer bags get used over and over.

Having a nice item hidden behind your display is also great.  You’re going to see a lot of your better clients at a show, this is a great time to say to say “thank you” for their work you have done for the past year.  Having items like USB memory sticks with your company logo on them or a nicer pen is great, even a mag- light, or a digital photo display.

Office items bring your name to the desk and it stays on a client’s desk for a long time.
Staplers – (tag master) – letter openers- paperclip dispensers- staple removers’ Pacific line makes a nice one of those.
Candy Jars – are great also as a give away. Your name stay with clients and the candy goes on the desk.  I have found jars I gave my clients 5 years ago still in use.  I use a 16oz jar that I get from Benner Glass.

Paper cubes are wonders to get your name out – it goes on the desk and your name goes on both the outside on all 4 sides and the left hand corner of the sheet of paper. I like Post it or American Cube. Problem with paper cubes is weight, and shipping this to a show could be expensive.
Other good office items, letter openers, paperclip holders, staplers, staple removers, and small screw driver sets.  Great items and will get used by your clients, and light weight to transport.

Always give away something new at each trade show.  You can stick to a theme, but remember to give the item to the attendee at the booth.  Say thanks for stopping at my booth, and I have a gift for you.

Don’t give away shirts with your name on it unless you’re in the shirt business or hats with your company name on it. You’re not a hat company. Hats with names on them are good at a golf outing with the outing name on it. Your name is second. Simple is real good.

So what do you do from here, how do we plan.  You need a game plan. Start with date of your event. Two months out plan what you’re going to do. Meet with your promotional person.  Have them come back in a week with ideas for you and samples of items. Next meet with your embroidery company.  Do not go to an ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) person for this. Go direct to an embroidery company.   All promotional companies say they can get this work done for you; save money go direct. Companies like mine are embroidery companies and ASI companies.  We do the direct embroidery.  In some parts of the country you have small embroidery companies like Embroider Me.  Look for your local small company for good service. Set real time goals.  Look at production times and find what it takes in real time to make the giveaways and ship to you.  Remember your paying for shipping as well.  Over night shipping is costly. Real planning, real times and dealing with a promotional person who can really help you.  Set your budget and know what you want to spend on your giveaways.

1. List any problems with the booth that should be addressed when you return to your office.
2. Put a paper inside the exhibit stating who the person was who was in charge of breaking down the booth and getting it ready for shipping.
3. Make a list of the problems you encountered with the booth at the trade show.
4. If it is a very intricate booth to set up, have someone take pictures of the step by step process that you go through to get the booth set up.  Instructions are great but a picture is worth a thousand words.
5. Make copies of the bills of lading and any other receipts or invoices that you get from the shipping company.
6. Make sure if your booth is to be shipped via Allied Van Lines, that the manager of the shipping dock does not take it upon himself to ship it with another carrier.
7. Make sure you know the people in charge of shipping your equipment to the trade show. When you have a problem you want to have someone at the shipping company to speak with, not just the driver of the truck.
8. Read all of the shipping and receiving documentation carefully. You want to know who is responsible if your booth of equipment is damaged in shipment. Accountability is key
9. Insurance is important and if your custom booth cost $100,000. You need to be assured that if you have damage or problems that you can recoup your investment.
10. You should interview your booth and equipment carrier that same way you would interview anyone else for a job. Ask to speak with some of their clients who also do trade shows. You want to be sure that you are placing your booth and equipment in capable, and accountable hands.

EventsEye - 
Database of more than 6000 Trade Shows, Exhibitions and Conferences coming from more than 1400 Fairs Organizers  http://www.eventseye.com/

Exhibitions ‘Round the World.
Search engine of international trade shows. Most thorough listings for Asian shows.  http://www.exhibitions-world.com/

Expo24-7. 
Extensive database of exhibitions, industrial shows, and consumer events worldwide.
http://www.expo24-7.com/

EXPOguide
Listings of trade shows in the US and other countries. http://www.expoguide.com/

FITA/Global Sources Trade Show Center
Resource for B2B trade shows, conferences & exhibitions, focused on import & export, volume sourcing, with a focus on trade fairs from Greater China and Asia http://www.fita.org/gsol

Global Investor Financial Training Calendar
International calendar of financial conferences
http://www.financial-conferences.com/pages/home.htm

International Trade Administration Calendar of Trade Events and Missions.
Calendars of ITA sanctioned events and missions throughout the world.  http://www.export.gov/makesaleshappen/eventinfo.html

New Fields
Organizers and promoters of trade shows and conferences on doing business in new markets such as Iraq and Libya.  http://www.new-fields.com

Supercatex UK Exhibitions of catalogues from United Kingdom (UK) companies,
highlighting their products and services. Displays catalogs, promotional videos, promotional give-aways and in some cases innovative new products (samples).  http://www.supercatex.co.uk/

SuperCatex USA 
Exhibitions of catalogues from US companies, highlighting their products and services. Displays catalogs, promotional videos, promotional give-aways and in some cases innovative new products (samples).  http://www.supercatex.com/

TechEventsList.com
An online listing of trade shows around the world in a variety of categories.
http://www.internettradeshowlist.com/

The FITA Trade Show Schedule
A worldwide directory of trade shows provided by Trade Show News Network  http://www.fita.org/tshows.html

Tradeshow Week
Tradeshow Directory of more than 10,000 trade shows worldwide http://www.tradeshowweek.com/index.asp?page=directory

TrainingSuperSite
Seminar and Conference
Database  A guide to business and technical seminars worldwide  http://www.seminarinformation.com/

US Department of Commerce
Office of Export Promotion Services’ Trade Events List
Calendar of worldwide events of interest to US exporters. Includes trade shows, trade missions and other events  http://www.export.gov/comm_svc/tradeevents.html

VNU Exhibitions 
Directory of trade fairs in Europe and China organized and managed by VNU Exhibitions.  http://sites.vnuexhibitions.com/sites/vnuexhibitions/en/page.asp?emci=22&nav_id=3971

W o r l d N e t Production 
Directory of trade shows in Sweden  http://www.worldnet.se/

Convention Bureaus.com Links to convention bureaus worldwide
http://www.ConventionBureaus.com/

ExpoWorld.netA directory of directories and search engine linking to over 500 of the most important websites serving the events and international trade community worldwide.
http://www.expoworld.net/

MADSearchDirectory of hotels and conference centers worldwide
http://www.madsearch.com/

Trade Show Exhibitors AssociationAssociation for marketing and management professionals who use exhibits to promote and sell their products. http://www.tsea.org/

Trade Show GlossaryGlossary of terms important in trade shows
http://www.exhibitornet.com/glossary/index.asp

Tradeshow WeekMagazine and extensive Web site about trade shows worldwide
http://www.tradeshowweek.com

If you have a 10 ft booth, and three people to man the booth, you will always have 2 people in the booth and 1 walking the trade show floor.
Why? People read badges, and if they see your unique badge it just may be enough of an incentive to find out more about your company and stop at your booth.

Your company Qualification form should be unique. It should reflect what questions need to be asked by the qualifier to confidently determine that he or she has asked all of the questions necessary to determine the following:

1. There is a requirement for your product or service.

2. That funding as been allocated for this particular requirement.

3. That you have the names of the other people involved with this decision.

4. That a firm delivery date has been discussed, and agreed upon.

5. If it is a special engineering requirement, then you know the name of the person within that organization that must be contacted by your engineering person.

6. If is needs software developed, then you know the name of the person within the organization to contact.

7. That you know all there is to know, and all of the ways to contact this person; i.e. business phone #, Direct line, Cell number, e-mail address, Title, years with the company.

8. If all this is done in a professional manner, it should take less than 5 minutes to accomplish. More than that you are leaving yourself open for questions that may not be relevant to the opportunity.

I’ve also put together a FREE qualification form for you to download to help get you on your way to tradeshow success!

Click here to download:
qualification_form