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Beware the Chicken Little Consultant
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Trade Shows
Trade shows show promise as a "golden" marketing opportunity.
Many business owners are stepping outside of the traditional box
and investing in portable signage. Talking one-on-one with
potential buyers provides an immediate gratification that...
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Creating A Trade Show Budget
Setting up a display at a trade show is expensive business. You
have to rent the space, create a display, promote it, stock it,
and staff it. Before you decide to get involved, take a serious
look at the costs of all of these components.
Start planning well ahead. You already know this, right? Keep
yourself as organized as possible right from the beginning --
even before you book your space. You know how carefully today's
brides plan their weddings. Months, even years ahead, they start
thinking about the church, the reception, the dresses, the
flowers, the cake. And of course, the cost. Well, you're the
bride. Grab your planning book and start writing down everything
you must do to get yourself ready for a successful trade show
season -- next year's.
Even before you decide to go into a show or two, you should have
a hard look at the costs and expected returns. This is why you
create a trade show budget. Whether you admit it or not,
everything has a cost, and trade shows are no exception.
Remember that your objective is to make sales, or at least
generate opportunities to make sales. So you have to view your
costs in that light. Everything should be done with an eye on
its potential return.
**How to Start your Trade Show Budget Planning**
The normal starting point for your campaign is the trade show
budget. If you work from a budget, you have an outside chance of
keeping your costs under control. Of course there is a certain
amount of hocus pocus involved in budgeting for things like
trade show marketing -- especially if you've never seriously
done it before and have no track record to go on. Still, you
should give it your best shot. This is not rocket science, and
any research or analysis you do will be better than just
"winging it". Try using a "brainstorming" process similar to the
following.
First, ask yourself some BIG questions:
Question 1. Do I really believe I can recover my costs within a
short enough period of time to make it "profitable" (make more
than it costs)?
Answer 1. Like most promotion and advertising, until you've done
it, you have little idea how successful it will be. First you
will have to summarize all the costs, and then try to figure out
how many sales you're likely to get from this sort of exposure.
Question 2. Do I have any idea which trade shows are more likely
to be "profitable".
Answer 2. There are trade show directories and reports that can
tell you about industry-specific shows. Usually they will tell
you the number of attendees, and hopefully something about their
buying habits. Find the relevant directories, and figure out
some method of choosing between shows.
Question 3. Are there obvious ways to enhance my "Conversion
Rate" -- the number of attendees who buy from me?
Answer 3. Yes, of course. Having an attractive, eye-catching
display is a good start. Getting a good location on the floor
will help. Setting up your booth properly will help you
"process" the attendees more efficiently. Having a
lead-gathering system will help you do more profitable follow
up. Giving out memorable hand-outs will enhance your chances of
being recognized later on. Training your booth staff could make
an important difference.
Ask yourself a few more questions like this to get yourself in
the right frame of mind. Then you'll be ready to start preparing
your trade show budget.
**Let the Planning Begin - Selecting Appropriate Shows**
Begin by assembling the following information (and anything else
that seems relevant as you go along):
Find a trade show directory for your industry (online is the
best source), or check out the major trade show venues or
exhibition companies. They will put you on the right track very
quickly.
Select the 10 most promising looking shows -- based on your "gut
feeling" about their potential for your campaign.
Make a chart and list the five or six most relevant bits of
information for each of your most promising venues:
- Location - Date - Number of attendees - Geographic area served
- Target market (who will be attending)
Calculate Your Costs for Each Show
Now add some columns to your chart where you can list the costs
that are specific to each show:
- Booth space cost - Other space-related costs - Travel costs to
and from the show - Things to rent or buy at the show (tables,
power, etc.) - Accommodation costs for booth staff - Shipping
costs for booth display(s) and materials - Vehicle
rentals
required
**Campaign Costs when Entering a Number of Shows**
Now think about the actual "sales process" and make a list of
what you will need in order to have a successful trade show
experience. These will usually be things that will be used for
several shows, so think of them as "campaign costs" that will be
amortized over a number shows:
- Display booth design and production - Product literature -
Hand outs - Staff training - Show promotion (free passes to
clients, etc.)
If you estimate that your campaign costs will service 4 shows,
then take these costs and add 25% of the total campaign costs to
the cost of each show. That should give you a realistic estimate
of the total cost of each show:
Cost to to Attend Show = Specific Show Costs + pro-rated
Campaign Costs
**Calculating Your Break Even Point**
Now that you have a fairly clear idea of your costs, it should
be possible to arrive at an accurate estimate of your Break Even
Point for each show -- the number of sales you have to make to
cover your costs.
For instance, let's say you calculate that your costs for Show A
are $3,000 (including a pro-rated amount for the one-time costs
such as the booth). And let's say you can relatively easily
calculate your "gross profit" on each sale (gross sale amount
minus out-of-pocket). For example, in the case of the wedding
photographer let's say his gross profit margin is 50%, and the
average sale is $1,000. That would give him a Gross Profit of
$500 per sale.
In order to recover his $3,000 he will have to get 6 sales (6 x
$500 Gross Profit on each sale)
**Factors Affecting Conversion Rate**
What are his chances of getting 6 sales from a specific show?
Well that depends. If our photographer goes to a wedding show
with 1000 warm and willing blushing-brides-to-be battering down
the doors of the show, then perhaps 6 is a conservative
estimate. However, if the show has only 200 attendees, it might
be much more difficult to get 6 sales.
But that also depends. A smaller show may have fewer exhibitors
(less competition), will have a more intimate feel about it,
will give you more time with each prospective client. And, of
course it will cost considerably less than a bigger show -- so
his break even sales point may be considerably less.
The same goes for much larger shows: more attendees (prospective
sales), but higher costs, and much more (and more intense)
competition. So the "conversion rate" (number of sales per 1000
attendees) will be lower. There will be more people, but they
may be harder to sell.
Once you have a feeling for the idea of "conversion rate" you
can start to see how other factors have an important bearing on
it: the price of your service, the attractiveness of your
presentation, the quality of your samples and handouts, and so
on.
Every show and every product will have its "conversion rates",
and the only way you can establish the numbers for your own
business is to research, experiment, and constantly "tweak" your
presentation.
It certainly wouldn't hurt to talk to friends and acquaintances
who have trade show experience. Ask them about their own success
rates. Ask them how many actual sales they get from a good show.
Ask them which shows have been most successful for them, and how
often they have broken even.
**Putting it together...**
The only way you can arrive at hard conclusions is by trying.
That will allow you to establish a track record. If you think
the numbers for a particular show almost add up, then take a
stab. Go to a show or two, and when it is over do a careful
analysis of your costs and returns. Then you can establish a
reliable "Target Conversion Rate" -- a number you can seriously
shoot for and expect to reach -- and then you're in business.
Preparing a trade show budget for next year will be a piece of
cake.
And of course, once you do commit to a show or two, your focus
has to immediately shift to hitting (and smashing through) that
Target Conversion Rate. Design a better display, have more
impressive samples and portfolio books, fine tune your product,
get some memorable handouts, memorize your sales pitch, take
voice lessons, get a hair cut...
About the author:
Rick Hendershot is a marketing consultant, writer, and internet
publisher. This article was orignally published in Trade Show
Buzz. For quality trade show displays see Trade Show
Displays.
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