A friend of mine attended an industry trade show in Las Vegas that was supposed to be the coming out event for his fledgling dot-com venture.
He invested tens of thousands of dollars, flew out a team of employees and shipped hundreds of T-shirts and hats embroidered with the company’s logo across the country to the show.
He made the call based on the promoter’s sales pitch that there would be between 8,000 and 10,000 visitors at the show. The young entrepreneur even spent additional money to become a show sponsor and get that extra visibility.
As you might have expected, the show was a disaster. Not only did the promoter, Miller Freeman Co., not deliver on its promises for the sponsorship, but fewer than 1,000 attendees showed up. My friend’s company suffered a small, but painful, set back. He called me to ask what, if anything, he could have done differently.
I suggested he pursue some sort of compensation from Miller Freeman, based on the undelivered promises. Other than that, I was short on ideas. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that perhaps there was something he could have done to minimize the disaster.
I called Jimmy Gartner, president and CEO of XYZ Corp., with whom I’ve spoken on numerous occasions about the keys to a successful trade show, to explore the idea further.
“Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do,” Jimmy told me.
That began a lengthy conversation about steps any business owner can take in advance of a trade show to keep the losses to a minimum, even if the bulk of the problems are out of his or her control.
Do your homework. Before you sign a contract for space or a sponsorship deal, ask enough questions to determine whether this is the right show for your company. Even if it’s in your industry, that doesn’t ensure that its target audience is your target audience.
Ask for a list of last year’s attendees. That will help you gauge the type of people who will attend this year, and whether they represent who your company wants to reach.
Set a budget. Trade shows can be a large line item on your company’s budget. Airfare, hotel charges, meals and a host of hidden costs can turn that $6,000 booth space into a $25,000 expense. Set a budget that details how much your company is willing to spend. Include goals of what you expect to get out of the show. If you want to pick up $35,000 in new business, make sure it’s worth the investment.
Create an alternate budget that allows you to pare down how elaborate your company’s booth will be. As the show nears, revisit the budget.
Follow up. A few weeks before the show, contact the promoter and get a read on how many people have registered. If the number seems drastically smaller than what was predicted, use your alternate budget. It’s better to have a few people waiting in line to speak with your employees than to have people standing around costing your company money during an empty show.
As for my friend, he was able to salvage a few solid deals out of the experience and says he’s learned a valuable lesson about trade shows for the next time around. Dustin Klein ([email protected]) is editor of SBN
