You should make an effort to get to know the people from the Trade Show producer, especially the people who are in the trenches, on the floor, doing the grunt work to insure the show will start on time and run efficiently with little or no problems. They can be your friend or they can make your trade show a nightmare.
For example: A trade show client had given me the responsibly of not only the training of the booth personnel but also the set up and the management of the booth. Little did I know that one of his company’s people had taken it upon himself, because he was going to make a great impression on the owner of the company, he was going to get the booth set up regardless of who he had to pester, threaten or insult.
By the time I had found out about this, he had alienated the person in charge of convention center workers who you hire to set up the booth. At this point in time the company was going to be one of the last booths to be set up and no doubt it will be late and therefore the company I was responsible for would have to pay over time to get the job done.
What you don’t want to happen at any trade show is to have your booth delivered late to your booth location, and you definitely don’t want to have to pay overtime for setup. It is not uncommon for additional expenses such as overtime and late delivery to double the cost of your trade show.
Well, after having a heart to heart conversation with the manager in charge of services, who I had met, and became friendly with at previous trade shows produced by this company, he relented and because it was me, helped me to get set up and not having to pay overtime fees. When I arrived back in New York I had the company send him a nice liquor basket (I knew he was a scotch drinker) thanking him for his help in make this trade show a success. I have no idea what happened to the company person who was the problem in the first place. All I know in future dealings he was no where to be found.
When you get the opportunity to meet the people from the trade show producer who work on the floor, treat them with respect because they have a tough job to do. When the show is finished, and you did have a successful trade show send this person or persons a letter thanking them for their effort, and copy their management as well. It will go a long way to you making a friend, and I am sure that they will remember you in the future. Many company exhibit managers, trade show consultants if they really know how to work a show will never forget to say “Thank you” to the trade show producers’ people on the trade show floor.

You have researched the show where you want to exhibit. You have purchased a space and started to do your pre-show marketing. But, there is more to know than just your location.
You will receive a show manual from the show management. This manual contains everything you need to know about the show rules and regulations as well as the union rules. This will become your bible, read it carefully.
Check all the dead lines and target dates. Knowing this can save you money and headaches. Also see what the rules are for the sizes and shapes of exhibits in your area. There are different rules for inline booths, peninsulas or end cap booths and island booths. What are the rules for hanging signs?
Each show is different. One show might allow 22 foot high exhibits. Another may only allow 16 foot high. Some shows have rules where the sides of an inline booth must be only 4 foot high. Another show wants the whole booth to be 8 feet high.
Shipping your exhibit into a show on the wrong date can incur penalties. The manual will give you the date and time that shipments will be accepted for your booth number. Being early or being late can be a problem. Make sure your carrier is aware of the target dates. Also make sure your carrier is aware of the move out dates as well. Most important, hire a carrier that is familiar with trade shows and make all your arraignments well in advance for the inbound and out bound shipping. If the exhibit and materials are going to another show or coming back to you, make sure all the bills of lading are correct.
Ordering show services also has dead lines listed in the manual. Items and services you might need such as electric, electrical labor, carpet, rental furniture, waste baskets, booth cleaning, plumbing, internet access, union labor to install the exhibit and dismantle it at the end of the show, etc., should all be ordered before the posted dead lines to insure a discount. After the dead lines or ordering on the show floor, will increase the fees substantially.
Many items you can take care of your self. Read the manual carefully. For example, you must order electric for the both space, but you might be able to hook up lights yourself if the show and convention center rules permit it. Rules do vary from place to place. Also, if you own your own carpet, you still might have to order labor to install it. Know before you go. This way there will be no misunderstandings.
Also, keep rental items to a minimum or eliminate them all together. Bringing your own waste baskets and power strips for example can save you a bit of money. Renting those two items for a three day show would cost on average about three times as much as if you bought them, or purchased them locally.
Understand drayage or material handling. You will be charged for any material that comes into the convention center by its weight. There are minimums imposed on each shipment, so combine your shipments. If you are shipping brochures and giveaways make sure they go together with your exhibit. Most convention centers charge a 100lbs minimum for material handling. So a 1lbs FedEx envelope sent to your booth will be charged at 100lbs. Try to have items like that sent to your hotel. Even if your hotel charges a fee, it would be much lower.
If you need union labor to set up and dismantle your exhibit, you do not always have to hire the convention center’s contractor. Hiring their labor might have a four hour minimum. There are authorized labor companies that install and dismantle exhibits at the same or at a little higher rate per hour, but do not have the four hour rule. So if your exhibit only takes two hours to install, you can save a lot of money. A list of these authorized I&D (Installation & Dismantle) companies can be obtained from the convention center. You will have to fill out an EAC (exhibitor authorized contractor) form for this. It is in your manual.
READ the manual. Learn what you can do yourself and what you can’t. If you choose to hire an exhibit house to handle everything, ask what their mark up is on ordering show services and rental items. Any honest exhibit house will tell you. Mark ups can run from 25% to 100%. That’s right; some exhibit houses charge what ever the traffic will bear. For example, Drayage is very costly at most shows, if you pay for it yourself, you can save a lot as opposed to having the exhibit house doing it. Any item you can pre-pay on your credit card at a show will save you money. Also look out for hidden extra items such as carpet tape, visqueen (plastic sheet that protects the carpet during installation) cleaning supplies, extension cords, etc.
Yes these items are used, but make sure you are being charged your fair share. Don’t pay the price of a whole case of Windex when only one bottle was used.

If you do want your exhibit house to pay for part or everything that is required, you will also have to fill out a Third Party Billing Form. It is in your manual.
Become familiar with all the forms in the manual. Note that on some items such as carpeting, they list the higher priced ones first. Read the whole form before making any decisions.
The show manual is your friend. Yes it can be very thick, but it holds the clues to saving money and having a smooth show.

Just listing the Company name, address and general telephone # in the trade show directly is telling the attendees that this is just another trade show. But if you list telephone # a person’s name to contact, now you have told the reader that we have assigned someone to this trade show and if you call we will be familiar with the trade show and the products or services that we had on display. One of the major problems of large companies is that when they are at a trade show their booth personnel are helpful, friendly, ready to assist when possible, and when the attendee leaves he or she feels like they have made a connection.
Now the trade show is over and everyone is back at their respected offices. A telephone call comes in from a person that had stopped at your booth, and they are now put through an inquisition. The conversation goes something like this.
Office: Good morning XYZ Company,
Response: My name is John Doe I stopped at your trade show booth in Las Vegas and I want to speak to someone in sales.
Office: what is this in reference too?
Response: I want to speak to someone in sales.
Finally the receptionist gives you to the Administrative aide or secretary in the sales department, and you have to state your business all over again.
If your caller had a name and a direct number of someone in the sales department that you could talk with all this wasted effort would be eliminated, and would certainly put your prospect in a better frame of mind, even wanting to do business.
(Note: some companies list a bogus name, and if a person calls to speak with that person the company knows that the person was at the trade show and anyone in the sales department will know the products or services that were on display at that trade show and can respond effectively).

Not allocating sufficient time for the people you invite to your trade show is a major problem with many exhibiting companies. If you were to contact a president of a company for an appointment it may be 3 to 4 weeks before he or she can see you. If you invite that person to stop by your booth at a trade show it may take that person 3 to 4 weeks before he or she can make that type of commitment. If it is a trade show, out of state, it may take 4 to 6 weeks for that person to make a commitment.
Yet, today companies contact key people in a company and invite them to a trade show that opens in a week, to stop by their booth. How many key executives do you think will show up under these conditions? What impression do you give to a company, especially to a key executive, that you are trying to impression with your products or capabilities?
By not planning your contacting of key personnel in a timely fashion you give a poor impression to the individuals you are contacting, and in turn your company gets a bad rap as well.
If a trade show does anything it is suppose to expand your sphere of influence? Think about it, if this is a national trade show that is usually 3 to 4 days long with seminars and well known industry personnel as key speakers.
People from all over the United States, if not the world, attend major trade shows. Your company’s has the opportunity to make new contacts, establish new relationships and put your organization in the position to expand your business.
Company’s that you have already done, or are doing business with, want to see you expand and grow. They look forward to you increasing your sphere of influence. Although they are happy for you, what they really like is the fact that as they look as you are growing and expending you will be around for a few more years so that gives them comfort, as well as looking forward to new products and perhaps better pricing because more people are investing in your products.

                           Form letters to Clients, Prospects and Suspects.

If you are going to invite your clients, prospects and suspects to visit you at your booth you have to contact these people. You need to write copy for regular (snail) mail, E-mail, and if you use it, FAX. Yes, there are phone calls involved as well

No one, especially business people today read long verbose documents, especially letters. Business people today, brained washed by the e-mail revolution expect to read curt, cryptic, bulleted items telling in as few words as possible what they are reading is all about.

Form letters need to be written in such a way so the person reading the letter can “Skim read” and still get the gist of what you want them to do.

E-mails are even briefer. The person reading the e-mail will first look at the Subject line. If the person who sent this e-mail did not articulate effectually what this e-mail is all about, there is a strong possibility that your e-mail will be deleted.

You have to have a plan in place in order to have a successful mailing campaign, which is part of your overall trade show marketing plan. This is true for regular mail and e-mail as well. The ideal way to approach this effort is to analyze, plan and anticipate what you will be doing before the trade show, then what needs to take place during and after the trade show.  When I say during the trade show, some company are very organized and structured and with the latest CRM software in place that can be used effectively at a trade show. For example, at a trade show: An attendee come to your booth, the booth personnel qualifies this person, usually using a handheld device. When the qualification sequence is completed, the booth person sends the information to the company’s main computer. The computer enters all of the information into the database and sends either a letter, or an e-mail thanking the person for stopping by the booth. Depending on what the outcome of the qualification sequence will determine exactly what will be sent to the attendee either via e-mail or regular mail. This is all done before the attendee leaves the trade show. What usually happens by the time the attendee returns to his/her office. Either a letter, E-mail or both along with literature will be at their desk.

Very little literature is handed out at the trade show because the knowledgeable trade show exhibitor knows that most of the literature handed out at trade shows is thrown away before they return home, or to their offices. These are great marketing and sales tools, but they can be costly.

Your mailing program should include at least 3 to 6 variations of your basic letter, with certain changes that will still spark the readers’ interest. One client of mine had six letters that focused on one of the six products that were being presented at the trades show. It is not necessary to have multiple products in order to have 3 to 6 different letters. It is important that you develop your letters so that they will stimulate enough interest to insure that the reader will continue to read past the first sentence or first bullet.  What you want to have happen is that they will become interested, and they will want to visit your booth. After you feel that you have generated sufficient interest you should consider what you will do after the trade show. The follow is the sequence that has worked for a number of my clients:

1. Letters to your clients, prospect and suspects minimum 3, no more than 6.
2. After the show letters to:
1. Those that came to your booth
2. Those that did not come to your booth
3. Those who you made appointments to see
4. Those that you contact to set up appointment at a latter date.

(Note) Letters, e-mails, Faxes would be treated the same.

Not allocating sufficient time to exhibit

Many companies still make decisions to invest thousands of dollars in a major trade show and do not leave themselves sufficient time to plan and coordinate this effort. Under these conditions they end up making decisions in panic, and managing in crisis. A company needs to investigate, discuss, plan, coordinate and commit to all the facets of a trade show if they expect to have a successful trade show experience. Considering that only 15% of the exhibitors at any trade show are successful, it is important that a company has sufficient time and that everyone within the organization is aware of the importance of this effort.

You cannot and should not consider doing a trade show and not giving yourself and other members of the company sufficient time to get their act together.  What I mean by this is, if you have products to display, you need to get with manufacturing, production or engineering so that you can put on display the best possible product that really shows the true capabilities of your company. Just displaying any old thing that you had in the back room certainly does not give a positive message to either the company employees, or the attendees at the trade show that will be looking at equipment.  How will the presentation of the company person in the booth go? “Well, this is not our latest equipment, this is what we had available” What are you telling the prospect that has stopped to look at your products? This company has so much business, they really are not interested in new clients, or they really don’t care. What type of effort, and how does your company approach going to a trade show?

Does your company have a booth script? Are different attendees getting different stories from different booth staffers? Enjoy this excerpt from an interview with Trade Show Expert John Hill – Topic: Develop A Booth Script

 One: First thing at almost all trade show tables given away is candy.  A big bowl of candy is in front of your table with Hershey’s or Lifesavers or hard candies. What good and lasting effects what this does for you. A great item is Tootsie Rolls, but it does nothing for your company.   If your giving pre wrapped hard candy get your name on it. There are a bunch of companies who do that.   Ones I like best are done by Mid Nite Snax candies.  They make great lifesavers with your logo on them.     Best of all candies are the ones by a company called Lanco. It’s the AL100 a 1 inch by 1 inch candy either in milk chocolates or Dark chocolates. with a hint of raspberry in it.    Now how do you choose which one to give out? Simple if your giving out to a men’s group Milk chocolates is best.  If it’s a women group Dark chocolate is great.  Cost factor is about .20 per unit, plus a set up charge.   Your name is imprinted on this and what a hit your company will be.  If they taste the candy expect a return visit for more.  Credit Card mints are great also- depending on how much you want to spend.  Mid Nite Snax again has a 4 color unit that is great for color logos – Lanco has a nice simple one color unit.  This candy is proven in my stores.  People kid me as they give me there order they are here really for the candy.

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.

The trade show directory can be a major marketing tool for any company providing they do their home work and list the relevant information.

The information listed in the directory should be clear enough so that if someone wants to contact the company they will contact someone in sales that is familiar with the specific trade show and can answer any questions pertaining to what was offered by the company at the trade Show.  The information should  consist of company name, location, products or services on display that follow the theme of the show, but most of all identify someone with in the organization as the person to contact regarding company product information that listed in the directory.  If possible, put the name of one of the sales or marketing managers who did participate in the trade show, and perhaps even stood booth duty.

Some companies use the directory to their advantage in the sense that they want to keep track of all leads that came from a specific trade shows. Trade show directory are usually taken back to the attendees office to use as a reference guide. They use it to see who of their competitors exhibited at the trade show. They review other companies’ information to see who introduced new products. Just because the trade show is over does not mean that you will not get some residual effects from have good information on you company listed in the trade show directory.

If you want to do business, make it easy for someone to contact you. If the person calling your organization, and is put though a series of questions to get someone in the sales department, it doesn’t start off the relationship with your company on a positive note. But if a person calls your organization, and has a name of a person to contact the caller will feel more comfortable, and you as the person in the sales department will know exactly what they are calling about.

Make the trade show directory work for your company. The attendees may throw away the majority of the literature that they pick up at the booths they visit, but the trade show directory, in most cases, will be with them long after the trade show is finished.