Trade shows can be an excellent place to find new clients and leads, but without proper planning things can sure go wrong in a hurry. That is the lesson that Colleen, the manager of a small packaging business, learned the hard way a few years ago. In the weeks leading up to her trade show she thought she was well prepared. She had secured what she thought would be all of the items needed to make a positive impression on those that attended the show.
After arriving at the trade show, Colleen realized that she had completely forgot to bring the most important items for her business; the actual packaging samples. It is important when attending the trade show, that you bring along as many different samples of the work that you do as possible. It will ensure that you are able to accurately show customers what they will be getting from using your services. You need to make sure that you put together a good selection of your products for visitors to look through. Bring more than just one sample, so more people can be engaged simultaneously. And if applicable they can see that you offer a range of different products or services.
As you might expect, the trade show didn’t go as Colleen had hoped. It can be very difficult to sell your products to people, when they are unable to physically see the products in front of them. Throughout the show Colleen found it hard to convince people of the value of her packaging without real samples. This example shows how short sighted preparation can actually hurt a company at the show.
By forgetting one key ingredient you can negatively affect the opinion of everyone that visits your booth. This should be avoided at all costs. The best way to avoid this is preparing well in advance. Getting all of your materials together well beforehand, so that when it comes time for you to head to the trade show you can be certain that you have all of the items that you need.
In subsequent trade shows, Colleen made absolutely sure to bring appropriate packaging materials with them. Trade shows provide businesses with a unique opportunity to promote themselves and make great, personal connections. By including samples, videos, pictures, pamphlets and work examples into a presentation you can maximize your effectiveness.
It is easy to see how a mistake such as this could lead to a variety of different problems, and depending upon the company, ‘packaging’ can refer to a range of different materials. You need to be sure that you are able to determine what the important materials for your business would be well ahead of time, and make sure to bring them with you to the trade show. Preparedness can help to keep you from making the same mistake as this packaging company, and will also help you to ensure that you deliver a high quality, informational trade show booth to prospective clients that are interested in your services.