Author name: Mollie Ring

Exhibitor Tips, Return on Investment, Uncategorized

The Role of Metrics in an Exhibition Success Strategy

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Maximize your trade show ROI metrics by evaluating some of the important metrics that will help you to set and track goals.</> Trade show events require a significant commitment of time and resources. Measuring and analyzing data after you’ve completed an event is therefore critical from both a ROI and knowledge building perspective. Using metrics will help you evolve your exhibition success strategy, create team accountability, optimize event selection and execution, and ensure that you continue to get more and more out of trade shows and events over time. What do event metrics look like? First, event metrics should be aligned with your growth goals. Additionally, if you are reporting to someone else, as may be the case between exhibitors and pavilion hosts, these metrics should be aligned with their goals as well. (See our recent post: Trade Show Strategy ROI for the Greater Good for more on the function of post-event reporting.) Sample metrics may include: Number of leads (the number of customers, partners, channels or distributors) Cost per lead Appointments generated per lead Proposals generated per lead Revenue generated per lead Sales cycles may be long. While twelve to eighteen months wouldn’t be unusual for a B2B sale, it could possibly take two to three years to recruit companies to your region. As a result, it may be difficult to employ revenue per lead for decision-making in the immediate aftermath of the event. Your exhibition success strategy should recognize that while earlier decisions, those you make immediately following the event, will be based on the number of leads, appointments, and proposals generated, over time as you start to build sales and conversion history, additional metrics will serve to better inform your decisions. The best way to collect event metrics is to engage your stakeholders—the various participants in the booth and pavilion—in a post-event survey. Question topics may include: Quality of contacts Booth traffic Set-up Location within the trade show or pavilion Your goal is to get a 360° view of the exhibitors and pavilion performance. Using Metrics to Build Knowledge From a knowledge building perspective, metrics are particularly useful for comparing production capacity across various events. As you begin to plan which events to participate in, you may use this data to approach event organizers, specifically those whose events you would like to attend but demonstrate below average results in your matrix. The beauty of a data-driven approach is that you can relay this information matter-of-factly. From there, you can engage organizers as partners to explore what can be done collectively to improve your metrics. Whether it’s moving your location or lowering the cost of entry, there are a number of ways that organizers can help to improve your results. And again, all of this is measurable. Using Metrics to Build Partnerships In the B2B world, we invest in many types of marketing to get in front of a target customer. The cool thing about trade shows and events is that they do just that—put you right in front of customers. The challenge however, is that your target customers are mixed amongst a sea of other customers that all look the same as they walk by. The right offer will lead them to jump out and identify themselves. Bringing in event hosts as partners will help to ensure that nothing stands between your offer and your target customers. If event hosts are not willing to jump on board with your exhibition success strategy, that should tell you something. In our experience, if you approach event organizers with good information, i.e. clear metrics that they can respond to, it is likely that they will work with you to help achieve your goals.  Event hosts have a great deal of flexibility as far as how they can enhance the experience of each exhibitor and pavilion host. The key is to leverage that. Seeking continuous improvement, negotiating concessions, adjusting strategy and being flexible as you go, these are the fundamental components of an exhibition success strategy. Measuring your results makes them possible. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Exhibitor Tips, Return on Investment, Uncategorized

Create Trade Show Strategy ROI for the Greater Good

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To know about how to plan a trade show, you should check once MEET ROI.</> It is the event planning company which helps you in generating best returns. As a pavilion host, your exhibitors are a reflection of you. The better they perform, the better your pavilion will perform overall. Not only because exhibitors are generating sales, but because their positive performance reflects well on your region, making it more attractive to businesses that are looking to open new offices, find new suppliers, or build new manufacturing facilities. In our webinar on Pavilion Pitfalls, we talk about trade show strategy ROI and how to ensure that client companies or exhibitors are both high performing and highly invested in the pavilion. At MEET, we recommend a co-investment and training strategy that not only raises the bar for exhibitor performance but offers capacity building resources that raise the tide for all boats. A common complaint we hear from pavilion hosts is that it’s hard to find enough enthusiastic exhibitors to fill all the booths. As the event approaches, hosts find they need to cut prices in order to fill slots or even give booths away for free just to fill them. One way to ensure that exhibitors are invested in the pavilion is to promote it as a cooperative marketing opportunity. Not only is the cost to participate in a pavilion booth significantly less than exhibitors would have to pay for an independent booth, the leverage and promotion capabilities represent unrivaled added value. Similar to the envelope you receive in the mail containing many different store coupons, cooperative marketing offers a less expensive, less risky trade show strategy ROI. Beyond how you promote the booth to exhibitors, pavilion hosts can use a number of co-investment strategies to help guarantee high performance. Here are three co-investment techniques to consider: Direct cash investment The more (and we want to emphasize that more is better) that exhibitors are willing to pay for a booth, the more value they are likely to derive from it. Assigning a high price to join the pavilion sends a message about the value of the event. Setting a low price has a similarly negative effect. 2. Minimum standards Setting a minimum standard for participation in the booth sends an important message about expectations and sets a performance threshold that exhibitors can use for goal setting. By joining a pavilion, exhibitors are representing themselves as well as the region or industry. As such, they need to perform at a much higher level. Their ability to meet some of these minimum standards in advance can help to enable their acceptance as a pavilion exhibitor. Meeting all minimum standards be used to determine future participation. 3. Post-event reporting Creating accountability through post-event reporting is fundamental to trade show strategy ROI. Ways to incentivize this may be through a money-back scheme whereby exhibitors who complete all required training, meet minimum standards and submit post-event reporting receive a rebate on their investment. There’s no one size fits all; figuring out what works best for your participants is key.  The MEET team spends a lot of time strategizing with its clients to customize the pavilion exhibitor system, optimizing the approach for specific audiences and goals. Finally, there’s capacity building through training.  Offering a comprehensive training that sets expectations for exhibiting teams will boost performance on an individual booth level and for your region as the pavilion puts out a more energized and synchronized vibe. Sample topics include pre-setting appointments, the role of the sales and booth teams, networking, and how to support peer exhibitors, in addition to basic ground rules such as dress codes and cell phone use. When pavilion hosts employ trade show strategy ROI that is focused on investing in and building the capacity of exhibitors, everyone wins.  That is a greater good. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Return on Investment, Uncategorized

Three Challenges, One Solution: Strategic Partnerships

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Your event should always leave an impact to the audience. MEET ROI are one of the experienced trade show planned to help you with all your needs We were recently inspired by an article released by Octopus Ventures (a London-based VC firm) highlighting the most common challenges faced by European CEOs while expanding to the U.S. market.  Through interviews with 50+ VC-backed CEOs, they uncovered a number of challenges shared by many of our clients. At MEET, our aim is to improve trade show and event participation ROI while establishing a methodology for benchmarking and continuous improvement. In other words, we aim to address the most pressing challenges of today while minimizing the risk of future challenges tomorrow. Here’s a great example of how MEET’s services address several of the challenges highlighted in this article. According to research from Octopus Ventures, three major challenges (among many) identified by European CEOs who recently expanded to the U.S. market are: High set-up costs Timing of market entry, and maintaining stability at home during the expansion. Selecting local talent capable of keeping pace with growth goals. As the article rightly suggests, the cost of U.S. market entry is often underestimated. In addition to obvious startup expenses, there are the costs associated with senior management’s need to juggle responsibilities and the time it takes to perfect one’s strategic plan. Support for CEOs leading an international expansion is not readily available, and effective penetration into the U.S. market relies upon a certain set of skills that can effectively sustain growth at home and abroad. Finally, making the right decisions in a foreign office, such as hiring new talent, can be a challenge due to intense competition from American companies: “The job market is very liquid, driving up prices and lowering retention. Meanwhile, customers expect a local presence and local services. Strong local partners — experts, service providers, strategic partners — are impactful for success.” We couldn’t agree more. At MEET, our solution to addressing all three of these major challenges is through key, on-the-ground strategic partnerships. These relationships, with channel partners, referral sources, and other companies and individuals that have some type of cooperative alignment, allow the core team to stay focused on the primary deliverables, better control costs, speed learning, and reduce risks associated with expanding to foreign markets. The power of strategic partnerships is perhaps best illustrated by example. Back in June, MEET staff participated in the 2018 SelectUSA Investment Summit, an event hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce to attract and facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) into the United States. There we met a Polish company looking to find a manufacturing partner in Florida. As a means of facilitating this process, controlling costs and reducing risks associated with expansion into the U.S. market, MEET partnered with this company to offer several services. These include attending several manufacturing industry events in Florida on their behalf, and use of MEET’s vast network to build a list of the top-flight finalists from which they can select a local manufacturing partner. In doing so, MEET will also build a manufacturing partner identification and selection process to improve and streamline the selection of additional manufacturing partners as the company expands further throughout the U.S. over the coming years. By having a local manufacturing partner, our client will be able to leverage their years of market experience and sales network to create some initial success all the while not over-committing their own resources, i.e. people, time, and money. MEET will also be performing a variety of pre-market-entry tests at trade shows and events for the Polish company. These tests will validate the best early buyer personas, value propositions, and offers. The goal will be to ensure early traction and sustained growth. We have found that early traction is a critical element not only to the venture’s success but also to retaining key team members and investor support. Three common challenges faced by CEOs seeking success in the U.S. market; one solution that gets the job done. Expanding your business into a foreign market is never an easy task. Finding strategic partners ensures you won’t have to do it alone. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Return on Investment, Uncategorized

Looking to Expand into the U.S. Market? Invest Early

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We offer due diligence services that empower CEOs to make their best decisions, which make them easier to expand into the U.S. market CEOs looking to expand into the U.S. market have layer upon layer of critical questions to ask themselves before pulling the trigger. On top of logistics—regulatory compliance, shipping and translation costs to name a few, there’s identifying suppliers and vendors, staffing and leadership capacity. And on top of all that, there are the unique dynamics of the U.S. market—regional demographic, economic and consumer-related factors that impact growth strategy both in terms of scale and sequence. We recently came across some insightful takeaways concerning these challenges in a post: Irrational “inevitability” & other confessions of venture backed European CEOs who launched in the US, by London-based VC Octopus Ventures. In interviews with over 50 VC-backed European CEOs, they found that among the most common challenges for those who took the plunge into the U.S. market was that, despite its massive scale, CEOs underestimated (or were unaware of) their fellow foreign or U.S.-based competitors. As the article explains, companies find it challenging to adequately comprehend the breadth and depth of the U.S. market, its regional differences and the full competitive landscape. The ability to successfully expand into the U.S. market relies on one’s capacity to a) understand the unique dynamics of the market and b) execute on this knowledge. At MEET, we spend a lot of time talking about the importance of buyer personas when crafting and executing growth strategy, including international expansion to the U.S. Too often we watch CEOs apply an overly broad definition of their target market for fear of missing out on potential future prospects. Without the ability to demonstrate a bona fide, self-realized need; the resources to satisfy that need; and a sense of urgency in the market (how we define a current prospect – NEED, MONEY, NOW), CEOs are really just casting nets and crossing fingers. And in unknown waters, that’s extremely risky. When seeking to understand the dynamics of a target market and develop a well-informed growth and marketing strategy, we recommend two things: pre-market research and pre-market sales. Pre-market entry competitor, partner, and channel research, potential partner screening, and connection, allows CEOs to map out the landscape while building key strategic relationships and respected influencers before market entry, and use this data to build knowledge and ensure future sales efficiency. Engaging in pre-market entry sales tests give CEOs critical data that supports location selection, competitive landscape knowledge, the best initial target buyer persona, value proposition and offer, staffing and training needs, not to mention the ultimate decision of whether to enter the market—or not. The revenues from these sales will not only fuel the business and maintain investment, but customer-acquisition success retains and attracts the best team members and partners. Companies looking to expand into the U.S. market or any new market for that matter, often make decisions based on emotion or on the statistics supplied by economic development officers, which may or may not apply to their specific situation. At MEET, we offer due diligence services that empower CEOs to make their best decisions, including pre-market research. We call this “winning the race before it begins,” or getting to know your target prospect before laying the groundwork for expansion. When companies have narrowed their list down to a few finalist cities, MEET will develop and execute a variety of lead-generation tests with the goal of separating fact from fiction and to determine which market will actually provide the best beachhead for market entry. This is also a good way to test the introductions and support that each economic development officer makes when they are trying to convince a company to invest in their city. Pre-market entry sales are one key element of de-risking market entry decisions. Many companies don’t get more than one chance at the U.S. market. Take the steps that count by making early investments that better inform decision making. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Uncategorized

Looking for a Trade Show Staffing Strategy? Try Divide and Conquer

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Booth staff are always critical to any trade show. Reach to us if you need professional trade show staffing strategy for all your pre event activities. Peter Drucker, known as the father of modern management theory, once said: “Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.” At MEET, we talk a lot about solutions to the common challenges faced by trade show exhibitors and pavilion hosts. Our goal is to help company executives and economic development professionals skillfully utilize trade show exhibiting opportunities to find high-quality prospects, then lead, nurture and convert them into their sales pipeline. After 40 years, we’ve seen a lot of inefficiencies on the trade show floor, and a lot of ineffective staffing strategy. By helping our clients do the right things, the right way, we all come away winners. Up at the top of our list of inefficient and ineffective practices is the tendency of many exhibitors and pavilion hosts to put their salespeople in the booth to engage with prospects. After all, who better to sell your product, service, or region to potential customers than professional sales people, right? Wrong. At MEET, we argue that sales people and business development professionals are not those best suited to work in the booth, at least not as their primary function during the trade show event. When determining a staffing strategy, we recommend the divide and conquer approach. Maximize your efficiency and your effectiveness by making sure that everyone is using their skills and resources in a way that is best suited to achieve your goal. Recall in our discussion on how to determine the right offer to identify target prospects among the hundreds and sometimes thousands or tens of thousands of event attendees, that the key advantage to having the right offer is that salespeople do not have to be the ones to deliver it. Ideally, your offer is so well crafted that only qualified prospects are approaching your booth to opt-in. At that point, the engagement can be left up to transaction professionals—those whose sole job it is to deliver the well-crafted offer and retrieve the prospects’ contact information for future follow-up—an interaction that should take no more than two minutes to complete. What then do the sales and business development people do while your transaction professionals are engaged in these 2-minute conversations? You want them out of the booth, engaged in one-on-one meetings with trade show attendees who are deeper in the sales funnel like current prospects, current customer, partners and potential partners, and other strategic contacts. Allow your sales people the time and space to engage in richer, more substantive conversations than what takes place in the booth. These conversations may take place in a coffee shop or even a rented room. The sales team’s goal is to actually close business, sign contracts, penetrate existing accounts further, and develop new sales channels and referral sources. The beauty of the divide and conquer approach is that when each member of your team has their own mission, your overall results improve significantly. Bogging down your sales people with booth transactions is as harmful as bogging down the booth with these longer, more substantive conversations. Every long conversation that takes place in the booth equals 50, 100 or even 1,000 potential prospects that could not be engaged because there was no one to talk to. The goal of those working in the booth is to separate prospects from general attendees, in a matter of minutes. Helping your team deliver results while giving your audience exactly what they want requires a divide and conquer approach. Done right, it is also the most efficient and effective way to fill your pipeline with new prospects. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Uncategorized

Booth Strategy 101: Save the Candy Until the End

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Secure your exhibition success with highly customized Exhibition booth design ideas that will transform your brand. Get more Exhibition booth design ideas At MEET, we talk a lot about booth strategy. Forty plus years of event experience has taught us that 90% of the success that comes out of trade shows happens as a result of the work that is done before the event ever takes place. Defining your target persona, selecting which shows to attend, identifying the right offer to attract quality prospects, and designing the most effective staffing model are all encompassed in a precise yet flexible booth strategy that is developed prior to the event. Forty plus years of experience has also taught us that in the absence of booth strategy, many exhibitors rely on free gifts to entice audience members to their booth. Who doesn’t care for candy, or a free iPad? Your prospects, that’s who. Today we’d like to focus on how to make sure that your offer aligns with your target persona or ideal prospect, and how to avoid common pitfalls associated with booth offerings. Once you’ve identified your buyer persona and determined which shows to attend, you want to find an offer that is clearly aligned with these target prospects. (Check our recent post: The Value of Logic in Trade Show Exhibiting Strategy for more on how pavilion hosts use criteria-based models to identify target personas). IPad giveaways are most common, sometimes flat screen TVs. If you’re in the business of electronics then maybe this makes sense, but even then you won’t be attracting early adopters. At the very best, an iPad giveaway is going to clog up your card bowl with a majority of people who aren’t prospects. Your salespeople will be the most frustrated by this when they discover these individuals are not interested in your product or service because of how they were recruited.  They don’t have the need, they don’t have the money, and they aren’t urgent—in fact they’re not a prospect at all. At least not right now, and right now is when you need them. Rather, booth strategy specialists need to ask themselves: “What is my target persona’s biggest concern or challenge? What keeps them up at night?” Your offer should deliver on their greatest need. It might be information on recent government regulations pertaining to their business, an invitation to a webinar, or an opportunity for an assessment. Whether it is information, knowledge or skills, you are delivering a path to solving this concern or challenge. That is what draws them in. The primary goal in booth strategy is to remove as much as possible from the booth except for the offer that truly appeals to your prospect’s needs at this moment. In thinking about how you will promote this offer, it’s helpful to compare this to how you experience billboards.  There’s a rule in billboards that you don’t want to have more than seven words. Because whether you are traveling at 20, 30, 40 or even 50 miles per hour, you have to be able to absorb the message no matter how fast you’re going. This billboard scenario is a lot like what happens at trade shows. Audience members are bombarded with sometimes hundreds of messages as they walk down the aisle. As many people are introverts, they may not be making eye contact with booth staff and when they do, their eyes are not on your booth for very long. So put away your free pens and candy until after your transaction professional has successfully engaged with your prospect. Distinguishing these gifts from your offer will mean the difference between a bowl full of dead-end contacts and a stack of true high-quality prospects. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Uncategorized

The Value of Logic in Trade Show Exhibiting Strategy

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Looking to generate high return with trade show? Hire us the great exihibition management skilled professionals for all your such needs. Does your trade show exhibiting strategy determine which shows you choose to attend? Do you find yourself employing the “Lazy Susan Approach” with trade show selection, i.e. taking advantage of whatever is offered in front of you, or do you put each opportunity through a rigorous criteria test and look at your strategy as a system of complementary events? In our July 31st post: Trade Show Pavilion Strategy that Attracts Economic Growth, we talked about some common challenges faced by pavilion hosts, such as too broadly defining their prospects, or failing to fully leverage their exhibiting companies. Picking up on that theme, we’d like to spend some time exploring how to select the most promising events. As an economic development leader, what steps should you take ahead of time to ensure that each opportunity you invest in will deliver excellent results. Economic development agencies have broad mandates, but at the end of the day their primary goal is to foster growth in their region. Whether it’s through attracting new businesses, or expanding and strengthening existing ones, these agencies spend a significant amount of time promoting their region to entrepreneurs and companies who may be interested in making an investment. How you identify these individuals, also known as target personas, should be the number one determining factor when selecting which trade shows to attend. Target personas for economic development agencies are those who will be the most likely and most well-suited to open locations or move their business to your region. Well-suited companies are aligned with your labor pool. i.e. what type of employee base you have, the type of industries you are targeting, and your broader economic growth goals. Some questions you might ask when formulating your target personas include: What is our history of recruiting? What products, stage or size company is typically attracted to our region? Who is the best fit? What have been some of our success stories? If we don’t have a history or success stories, what is our hypothesis of who would be most attracted to doing business in our region? Are there supply chain needs or other demand-based indicators that inform our hypothesis? What type of dynamics might be going on for a company that chooses to expand to our region? If they are expanding, why is our region a logical next step? Publicly available indicators will help you determine answers to many of these questions, such as when companies may be interested in expanding and any unique offerings based on their supply chain. Check out this Harvard Business Review article to learn some of the indicators, “Does Your Business Have What It Takes to Go Global?” The key is to help you identify 10 or 20 out of 100 or 1,000 trade show attendees who match your target persona. Attracting them will require using precisely the right bait. (For more on determining the right bait for your target persona, check out our post: A Lesson in Trade Show Strategy, Use the Right Bait.) Defining the profile of a well-suited company will determine the exact persona you are looking to target through these events. The goal is to make this target persona as narrow as possible. For example, it is not enough to determine types of industries or types of companies, but who within those companies is your prime audience. Ultimately, your decisions about which events to attend should be criteria based. At MEET, we have developed a matrix scoring mechanism for our clients, weighting each criteria to form the basis of their trade show exhibiting strategy. Over time as more experience is gained, the criteria will be refined, become more focused, and deliver better results. Putting each opportunity through a rigorous criteria test will allow you to carefully track and test your hypotheses over time. In order for a trade show exhibiting strategy to deliver consistent results it must be logic based. The value of putting in the time to develop this logic will only grow, but you must plant the seed. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Exhibitor Tips, Return on Investment, Workshops and Webinars

Preparing your Team for Trade Show Success, a Conversation with Deidre Diamond, Part 2

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We provide trade show success strategy with proper guidance and direction which include assessment, sponsership etc. to make your trade show success.Deidre closed her discussion with several points about the importance of making a human connection when reaching out to prospects from the booth to make a great trade show success strategy We’re happy to share Part 2 of our discussion with Deidre Diamond, founder and CEO of CyberSN and founder of Brainbabe. Our conversation with Deidre was live-streamed on July 26th as part of a new series we’re offering at MEET: Coffee and Conversation. Join us periodically as we chat live with experts and veterans in the trade show, event, and complementary industries to hear their wisdom on common challenges and simple solutions for success. You can check out Part 1 of our recap here, or feel free to catch the full interview with a fresh cup of coffee here. We left off in our conversation with Deidre during her discussion on the importance of offering a full orientation to both new and old staff to walk through each detail of the event, the strategy, the schedule and the communications, in addition to setting up a clear leadership structure. We followed by asking about the value of role-playing in staff preparation. Deidre stated that prior to any event, everyone—whether they are in marketing or sales, role-plays the pitch of the day, the vision and mission of the company until it rolls off their tongues. For salespeople, this tends to be easier as they are constantly speaking this messaging. For marketing staff, they may be more familiar with the written message and therefore need more practice. At the end of the day, it’s about attracting true prospects, in which case role-playing requires more than repeating a script. It requires a clear strategy. Everything begins with strategy. When asked how she incorporates leaders or more experienced event staff into the training process, Deidre shared that she looks for one person to be in charge of the entire event. She holds one person accountable but requires that person to tell her specifically how he or she will hold others accountable, in the process of building their leadership skills. Leaders are required to prepare a full schedule for the event including staffing for set-up and break down. She is also looking for how the team plans to use the event’s scheduled breaks to ensure that the booth is fully staffed when the attendees are out of sessions and most likely to visit the floor. Typically she looks for senior staff to work the booth during these break sessions, whereas otherwise, they are moving throughout the event, seeking out existing clients. It is based on this master schedule that she measures their results at the end of the day. We probed further into this idea of results measurement tied to individual and team performance, asking Deidre how she personally measures ROI for each event. Her first step prior to selecting an event is to ask the host for a list of the attendees—not the actual names, but the personas. For example, she looks for data such as the percentage of practitioners or percentage of CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers) that typically attend these events, the break down of who they anticipate will actually attend, and anticipated total number of participants. She collects this data months before the event but does not use it immediately. Rather, she revisits the data closer to the event, basing her decision about whether to attend on the current focus of sales and how well this focus aligns with the projected personas of who will be in attendance. Using this data, she assesses what percentage of the attendees represent the personas of their current clients as well as their current prospects. She the applies measurable outcomes to each of these personas, allowing for clear, informed goal setting against which to measure the success of her team, and the overall ROI. Deidre closed her discussion with several points about the importance of making a human connection when reaching out to prospects from the booth. Recognizing that feelings of discomfort and shyness arise both from those selling the product and from those buying it, the value of a warm, welcoming introduction cannot be underestimated. Failing to prepare your team to make these connections on the floor not only impacts their ability to meet goals, it sends a broader message to all the event attendees about the vitality of your company. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Exhibitor Tips, Return on Investment, Workshops and Webinars

Preparing your Team for Trade Show Success, a Conversation with Deidre Diamond: Part 1

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We provide trade show success plan with proper guidance and direction which include assessment, planning, sponsership etc. to make your trade show success. In late July, our team at MEET launched an exciting new series: Coffee and Conversation, periodic live-stream interviews with experts and veterans in the trade show, event, and staffing industries. Our goal with these conversations is to share the wisdom that comes from work on the ground and to identify common challenges and effective solutions. We debuted Coffee and Conversation by connecting with Deidre Diamond, founder and CEO of CyberSN and founder of Brainbabe. CyberSN, The Cybersecurity Network, is the nation’s largest cyber security staffing agency, offering job building and posting services, staffing and strategy consulting, as well as online resources. After many years of success in the tech staffing industry, Deidre started Brainbabe, a direct response to the use of scantily clad models or “booth babes” at technology trade shows. Deidre witnessed how this trend had not only fostered negative stereotypes about the role of women in tech but had created additional barriers for women seeking to build expertise in the tech industry. Brainbabe changes this dynamic by training and staffing female students to work cyber security events, addressing the cybersecurity talent shortage while simultaneously rebuking and redefining gender stereotypes in the industry. Deidre joined us to share her wisdom on this month’s topic: preparing your team for success at trade shows and in-person events. We started our discussion with a simple question: Why is it important to prepare your team for a trade show event? Why make this investment? Deidre’s immediate response was that events are expensive. Once you factor in the cost of reserving the booth, travel, hotels, and staffing—not to mention the costs associated with time lost in the office, the investment associated with event participation is high. Therefore you need to have a clear expectation of your ROI. Return on investment (ROI) is measured based on clearly communicated goals that are set prior to the event and shared with each team member. After considering the investment and ROI for each event, Deidre reflected on the importance of preparing your staff to maintain and uphold your brand. A team that presents a cohesive look and upbeat attitude in the booth directly transmits this positivity to prospects. The amount of preparation that one does with their team impacts their brand image significantly as staff feels more confident in their roles. Finally, it is important to prepare your team so that they have a clear understanding of how their performance will be measured, again based on your ROI assessment. Setting goals ahead of time will deliver a sense of accomplishment for your team members, improving their results. (We will share more on Deidre’s reflections on the importance of setting measurable outcomes in Part 2 of this Coffee and Conversation recap.) Next, we asked Deidre about some common challenges associated with an ill-prepared team. Deidre started off by focusing on a common pitfall in any trade show preparation: logistics. Teams must be prepared to deal with real challenges up to the very last minute, including making sure that supplies have been shipped and received on time, and that the event organizers are upfront about last minute changes. In light of the inevitable logistical challenges associated with large-scale events, having an ill-prepared team can turn a potential hiccup into a heart attack. Another challenge that Deidre highlighted relates to the type of experiences that inspired her to create Brainbabe. In the technology industry and trade show space, in particular, there still exists a good deal of bias around the role that women play on the event floor. Failing to prepare women for this bias (and in some instances blatant sexual harassment) that occurs in the booth is unfair and puts your female staff at a great disadvantage. The best way to prepare all staff is by offering a full orientation prior to the event. For first-time staffers and long-time folks alike, walking through each detail of the event, the strategy, the schedule and the communications, in addition to setting up a clear leadership structure are key steps to ensuring trade show success. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

Pavilions, Uncategorized

Trade Show Pavilion Strategy that Attracts Economic Growth

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We provide trade show success strategy with proper guidance and direction which include assessment, planning, etc. to make your trade show success. If you’re an economic development professional, then your primary goal is either to recruit companies to your region or to help your existing companies grow. Trade show pavilions can be an excellent mechanism for attracting new companies and growing existing ones in your region. Whether you decide to host a pavilion or represent your state or country at a national or global trade show, your pavilion strategy must be designed to specifically attract new or expanding companies. But with so many potential pitfalls, it’s no wonder that pavilion hosts are hesitant to over-invest time and resources in these opportunities. Here’s a quick look at some common challenges to activating a pavilion strategy and how to avoid them. Trade show pavilions take many forms, but at their most basic level they represent a specific region or specific type of company. Pavilions typically contain 6-30 exhibitors plus the host exhibitor, and their primary purpose is to identify quality prospects. Identifying quality prospects as opposed to converting new customers on the show floor is, in a B2B world, the most important distinction a pavilion host or exhibitor can make. Setting the right expectations for your pavilion strategy will lead to greater efficiency, better results and a happier team at the end of the day. In general, professionals in the economic development field struggle to effectively identify and enroll quality companies to move to or open offices in their region.  This may be due to selecting the wrong trade shows, not having the right offer, or even poorly prepared personnel. The first step in addressing these challenges is to establish a concrete, narrow definition of a current prospect. Current prospects must have a need, money—resources to fulfill that need, and urgency. Without all three qualities, they are not a current prospect. Exhibitors tend to stretch this definition of a prospect thinking that it will increase their yield. In fact, maintaining a narrow definition of a prospect based on these three characteristics alone will improve your success rate significantly. For more on how to select the right trade shows to attend, and determining the right offer to drive current prospects to your booth, check out our post A Lesson in Trade Show Strategy: Use the Right Bait. Another challenge faced by economic development pavilion hosts is ensuring that their exhibiting companies are fully leveraged within the trade show opportunity. Pavilion hosts may work hard to ensure they have the right offer, that they have a well-prepared team, and that their space looks attractive and inviting, but it is important not to forget about the 20-30 exhibitors also within the pavilion representing their state or region. They are in fact your best brochure for attracting investment. Making sure exhibitors are prepared, engaged, and complement one another is just as important to a pavilion strategy as making sure that you as a pavilion host are looking good. Particularly when it comes to regional pavilions, recruiting companies gravitate toward regions that are vibrant, attentive and radiate economic health. Pavilions where partner companies are not engaged and not prepared send a blatant message: “Your Business Will Not Prosper Here!”. Recently our team at MEET had the opportunity to participate in SelectUSA, a gathering of 3,000 international business investors, U.S. economic developers, CEOs, and government officials to facilitate job-creating business investment into the United States. Again we noticed the value of a fully leveraged opportunity as state representatives brought their best game in seeking to attract foreign businesses to their region. With so much competition and risk of wasted resources, it is critical that economic development professionals avoid common pavilion strategy pitfalls and deliver on their full potential. About MEET (meetroi.com) helps B2B growth companies and pavilion hosts effectively leverage at trade shows and in-person events. MEET’s processes help its clients ramp-up sales quickly and maintain a steady stream of high-quality prospects going forward. Contact Bill Kenney at MEET today for a free trade show participation assessment bill@meetroi.com or +1 (860) 573-4821.

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