- To get started, enlist the early interest and participation of your Marketing Director. He/she should be a dedicated promotional partner in getting your exhibit program launched. If you do not have a communications department in your company, consider hiring your trade show exhibit company or an outside trade show marketing consultant. If you do not have the budget for a consultant, take the time to educate yourself and your sales team on the basic essentials of trade show selling.

- Recognize the importance of trade show exhibiting and give it your very best. Business-to-business marketers in greater numbers every year are adopting the trade show exhibit function as an increasingly valuable component of their promotional toolkit. A study on the nine basic marketing approaches used by the nation’s top companies, trade show exhibits rank #3 in marketing dollars spent, only behind advertising and sales promotions and ahead of sales force management, direct and online marketing, premiums, public relations among others. What this means is you need to spend time and effort on exhibiting at trade shows to remain competitive.

- Set standards for trade show exhibit quality, design and staff conduct to optimize the trade show exhibit area experience. A well-presented exposition area can be a very compelling attraction especially if you make it a first class event with strict standards for quality trade show displays with a set of guidelines. Portable and custom modular exhibits are now available through professional exhibit specialists who handle the entire design and build function from initial graphics to delivery of the finished exhibit at the trade show site. New lightweight materials and collapsible construction make assembly, breakdown and shipping both easy and affordable.

- Train your staff to effectively sell at your trade show booth. Keep in mind who you are exhibiting to, what your specific message is and why visitors to your trade show booth need to know about your product, service or message. Practice your message with your staff to make it clear and brief. Be sure you have the informed staff at your booth to answer specific questions in detail. Make sure they are effective representatives for your company and that they have proper trade show booth etiquette -no eating, no lounging, no chatting amongst themselves and ignoring client prospects.

- Seek guidance from reliable sources. As the trade show exhibit industry has grown, so have its resources for providing support for those interested in making the trade show exhibit function an important part of their marketing efforts.

As you plan your sales and marketing function, take a closer look at the added value of a well-conceived or upgraded trade show exhibit. In today’s business environment, where the high tech conveniences of e-commerce and cell phones eliminate face-to-face encounters, your company is probably craving the high touch experience a trade show exposition can add to assist your sales team.

Dick Wheeler is President of Professional Exhibits & Graphics headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. His firm is a full-service premiere trade show exhibit, graphics and management services company. Go to http://www.proexhibits.com for more information on excellent full service trade show display, graphics and management services.

Not having a business card is as bad as using an
eMail address that ends in AOL.com
It’s just not professional.

With domain names costing less that 9 bucks a
year, there’s no excuse for anyone in business to
have an AOL.com address. With business cards
costing less than 9 bucks at the big box store,
there’s no excuse for anyone in business not to
pass them about.

Here are BIG Mike’s 10 Nifty Tips for Better
Business Cards

Don’t Do It At Home
For what you spend on blank microperf cards and
the time to get it right, you could pay to have
them look professional instead of home baked.

Get your Own Logo
No logo at all looks better than a logo from a
clip art book. Same with cards with bars of color
or circles. Your card should be you, not something
from a can.

Put YOU in the Middle
Your name is the most important part of the card
put it in the middle and big enough to see
without granny glasses.

Forget the Beeper Number
No need to list cell phones and beeper numbers.
If you want a customer to have them, it is far
more impressive for you to hand write it on the
card (”I’m giving you my private cell phone
number…”)

Throw ‘em Away When ANYTHING Changes
Don’t be a cheapskate. Spend the bucks for new
cards rather than penciling in corrections.
Be professional.

Keep it Simple
One phone number and one eMail is enough.
Be sure to put your website on the card, too.
Some cards work great without a street address.
Do you need it on your card? Why?

Use Both Sides
The back of the card can be used to reinforce your
selling proposition. Think of your card as a
little newspaper ad. Use both sides.

Stick with White
White, glossy, shiny cards say “Business”. Pastels
and swirls say “Avon Lady”.

Never Leave Home Without One
Always carry a supply of cards. You never know.
And keep them handy in a ready pocket, not tucked
away at the bottom of a bag, so you can present
one with a flourish on demand. Keep a backup stack
in the car.

Present It With A FLAIR
Practice offering your card with BOTH hands.
It makes a BIG impact. You goal is to get people
to remember you and save your card. Do that by
using both hands.

For more on business cards, get my article
“What Does Your Business Card Say”.
Click the link to send a blank message
BizCardSay@BigIdeasGroup.com

Sig: ©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights Reserved
Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com

http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

Subscribe to “BIG Mike’s BIG Ideas” Newsletter
MailTo:subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net

We can all learn a lot from the World’s largest employer on how to run a business. Wal-Mart seems to get the program and understand all aspects of their business; from distribution to customer service. Speaking of customer service, Wal-Mart does an excellent job in customer service, they really do.

If you need to return something they have a great return policy. If you need help in their store they have a podium set up in the middle of the main isle behind the cashier area. For those that argue the Wal-Mart does not have good customer service I beg to differ.

In fact, if you do not believe me why not try out their customer service yourself. If there is an item you cannot find asked a clerk. If you have a question about Wal-Mart go to the podium in the middle of the store and ask them a question. They will stop what they’re doing an answer your question directly.

But don’t take my word for it; go try it. I did and I have done this at hundreds of Wal-Mart stores around the country and I always get the exact same thing; great customer service, individual attention and all my questions are answered.

Better yet all the questions are answered exactly in the same polite manner no matter where I am or what state it is. Like I said we can learn a lot from Wal-Mart in how better to run our own individual businesses. Wal-Mart has great customer service; check it out sometime. You might learn something.

Who wouldn’t like to reach 96% of their target market with one business to business marketing plan? According to a survey published in the September 1, 2005 issue of “Electronic Design” magazine, it can be done. When asked, “Where do you find the most useful information about new products and technology?” the respondents ranked print magazines (54%), Web searches (23%, Google primarily), and E-mail newsletters (19%, which includes RSS feeds) as the top three sources. This covers 96% of the bases, relegating trade shows (2%) and word of mouth (2%) to being almost inconsequential. This comes as good news for anyone using business to business marketing for lead generation.

These numbers show that print is roughly equal to the Internet in value; you can’t neglect either without significantly hindering your marketing campaign. Of the electronic half of the marketing publicity equation, Internet searches on Google account for a slightly larger percentage. However, unless done correctly, simply posting optimized” press releases on the Web will not necessarily land a company on the first page of a search.

Most companies have done some search engine optimization (SEO) for their site, so the playing field is level. Taking optimization to the next level, a marketing or public relations firm must generate optimized releases and articles that go out on major wire services with embedded links to the relevant pages on a client’s website. And they should be syndicated with RSS content feeds to increase visibility with new audiences.

Rounding out a close third are Internet newsletters. In particular, RSS newsletters are quickly becoming an excellent marketing tool as this medium makes it easy to display high-quality, relevant news on a company’s Website, and to syndicate its news and content elsewhere.

Just as for news releases, though, anything written for RSS must employ all available SEO techniques so critical for visibility when a prospective customer is searching your keywords. Once correctly optimized, major search engines seek out RSS feeds and view them as legitimate news sources.
Here lies one of the greatest strengths of any marketing publicity effort: that customers readily recognize the editorial copy of electronic or print media outlets as fairly objective arbiters of the “real” story. For this reason, editorial copy is read six times more than advertising, according to some studies.

Without print, optimized press releases and RSS feeds, there will be gaping holes in your business to business marketing strategy and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get to the 96% saturation level. But with the right online marketing plan, lead generation should more than take care of itself.

By John Elliott. Founder of Power PR, a business to business marketing firm based in Torrance, CA. http://www.powerpr.com/why_business_to_business_marketing.html
Power PR specializes in marketing publicity using both offline and online news media. Contact John at 3711 Lomita Blvd., Suite 200, Torrance, CA 90505; (310) 787-1940; fax (310) 787-1970; on the Web at http://www.powerpr.com

It happens more often than you’d ever guess - in fact, it might be happening at the booth right next to yours. Recent surveys of trade show attendees show that the most dissatisfied attendees are those who purchase something that they really didn’t want. Needless to say, these attendees don’t have a high opinion of those companies that �strong-armed’ them, and report that they’ll be unlikely to do business with them again.

How can this happen? What possible way is there to force attendees into purchasing something unwillingly?

Not all the �people pleasers’ at a trade show are booth staff. Some are walking the aisle, as attendees. When these types run into an overly-forward, persistant salesperson, they can be bullied into a purchase. That’s not the way you want to do business.

Instead, train your team to have a needs-focused approach. By engaging attendees in conversation, questioning and listening more than talking, and truly focusing on solving the attendee’s problems, you are far more likely to make a sale the attendee is satisfied with.

Key to this is five questions, the Familiar Five that should be part of every sales conversation:

What: What exactly does the attendee need? Do they have problems with their existing suppliers? Are they trying to make-do with a product that doesn’t exactly fit their needs? Perhaps the product works perfectly, but it’s too expensive. You need this answer before you can move on to any other questions.

Why: Why would your company be the best suited to meet the attendees’ needs? If they mention constant technical difficulty, do you offer 24 hour support? If they need a size 3 widget, does your company manufacturer size 3 widgets?

Who: Relationships are key to business. At the same time, our mobile society means that rapid staff turnover is a fact of life. Two companies may have had - or come near - a business relationship previously, only to have things not work out. Yet this fact could be completely unknown to your booth staff. Arm your team with some corporate history, along with selling points that illustrate how things have changed in the interim.

When: When your team says something, attendees want to know they can count on that as fact. Clients want to know you have a track record and that you’ll maintain it when they remain with you. Feel free to use concrete examples: Even though we’re consistently introducing new and innovative models, we still provide parts, service and support to every model we’ve ever made - all the way back to day one.

How: How your company conducts itself is becoming a much more important factor to many of today’s decision makers. Consumers want to avoid being tainted by association with any scandal-ridden firms. If an attendee brings up a current negative newsmaker, avoid the temptation to �dish’. Instead, answer with a comment that shows your company’s strength and leadership. “We know that those types of things happen in our industry, but we’ve found the better route is the straight and narrow. That way we can stay focused on our customer and their needs.”

Now, admittedly, it can be difficult to fit all of this into the thirty seconds you have with the average attendee. The temptation is to talk faster, attempting to cram in as much information as you can. But don’t. Your job is to get them talking - and once an attendee starts talking, they are far more likely to spend some additional time at your exhibit.

Body language also plays a role in how your sales team is perceived. Here are five key things to remember:

1. Keep Your Distance: Crowding can be intimidating, especially if the staff is of large stature and the attendee is smaller. A good rule of thumb is to keep at least one arm’s length between the two of you.

2. Keep Your Arms Down: Some staffers, especially the flamboyant, dramatic types, have a tendency to talk with their hands. This works fine in a social situation, but can be unnerving or distracting when you’re trying to do business.

3. Keep Things Open: Very skittish or shy types may subconciously feel �trapped’ if you position yourself between them and the way out of your exhibit. You don’t have to be an Old West Cowboy with this - there’s no need to always stand with your back to the wall - but be aware of spatial issues and attempt to keep things open and comfortable.

4. Keep An Eye: On the way the conversation is going. If you have the slightest suspicion that an attendee is uncomfortable, or just doesn’t like you, hand them off to another staffer. Sometimes personalities just don’t click, and it’s better to step out gracefully than attempt to blunder through the encounter.

5. Keep An Ear: Open for what the attendee is saying. People can tell when you’re really listening and when you’re going through the motions. A million subtle physical cues give it away. Don’t try to �phone in’ your
interest. Pay attention!

Go over these items with your team before the show. When your team is skilled, they won’t need strong arm tactics - which will make everybody happy!

Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. For a free copy of “10 Common Mistakes Exhibitors Make”, e-mail: article4@thetradeshowcoach.com; website: http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com