March 2005
"How I closed the big one"

Booth sales pros reveal the secrets of their biggest sales

By Maxine Golding


Willie Sutton famously robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” While his objective was dead wrong, his focus was dead right.

Show producers are rightly concentrating their exhibit sales efforts on “where the money is.” While they must always mine markets for new exhibitors, the exhibition buy is turning into a whole lot more than just space. This consultative sell is taking show producers into new realms of multiple channels, multiple media and multiple events.

Here are five stories of how show producers are pursuing expansive programs with higher risks, but greater rewards.

The Challenge: Smart exhibitors see a decided advantage in tapping multiple media and incorporating more activities to build promotional clout. As a result, show producers are applying out-of-the-box thinking in a truly consultative “integrated sale.” What’s best for the client? The answer may be a lot tougher to execute, but the rewards are infinitely higher.

The Solution: A “season-ticket” integrated package for a series of KioskCom.com events to heighten the market’s awareness of a company.

One Exhibitor’s Story: A relatively new player in the interactive self-service technology marketplace was trying to gain greater presence for its products and services and more qualified leads. The exhibitor had already grown with the events, graduating from a 10x10 booth to a 10x20 and small sponsorship, and then a 20x20 and platinum sponsorship. Now, the exhibitor wanted even more.

The Package: KioskCom.com put together electronic, print and show components to extend the exhibitor’s branding and drive traffic to the booth at three events between June 2004 and April 2005. Cards printed with a discrete number were mailed to attendees, who took theirs to the exhibitor’s booth at KioskCom.com events and punched the number into — what else? — a kiosk. Numbers were randomly programmed to win such items as a phone, an iPOD or a shopping spree. The company and its logo appeared in all show literature. Web site exposure included text listings and banner ads that promoted the ongoing campaign and, more importantly, the exhibitor’s brand. On-site signage identified booth space and location.

The Sales Process: “The complex part is probing three or four levels deeper,” says Dvorchik. “What can you best achieve for the budget they have?” The exhibitor has to clearly understand the pieces before finalizing a skeleton agreement, since the details are worked out after the deal. The sales process can be as long as six months; in the case of this exhibitor, KioskCom.com initiated talks with the company’s vice president of sales and chief executive at the end of the April 2004 event; the package was finalized about six and a half weeks later.

The Results: While the exhibitor increased its spending with KioskCom.com, it saved 10 to 15 percent per component by packaging everything at one time. And as the show producer identified how the different package parts linked together, such as banner ads and promotional mailings, more benefits were added to the package.

Rather than put all eggs in a single basket — the space on the show floor — the exhibitor saw its name front and center at different times, in different ways, and in different areas. “We feel confident that the combination of promotions throughout the year will drive a lot of prospects to the booth,” Dvorchik adds.

The Challenge: In July 2003, IDG Expo was on the cusp of nearly doubling its LinuxWorld events globally to 14 expos today. The process of signing on to more than one LinuxWorld event was complex and coordination unwieldy. Regional business units operated the events, and exhibitors negotiated separately with each office. How to deliver to exhibitors consistency in branding, lead generation and booth sizes from show to show? Here was an opportunity to create real efficiencies for customers and bring more exhibitors to the growing LinuxWorld brand.

The Solution: IDG Expo headquarters championed a LinuxWorld “global buy.” The steps: Learn the basic interests and footprint of the customer. Gather the different show offerings and format the proposal in a few pages. Include exactly what the customer asks for, such as highest-level branding or largest booth. Put all contracts in local terms with local partners. Package with valued add-ons. With bulk volume and a calendar-year commitment, discount what event participation would cost through the local agency.

One Exhibitor’s Story: LinuxWorld’s experience with one exhibitor illustrates the major challenge of a global buy — many prime customers are not internally organized for this. While this exhibitor’s international headquarters wanted to see the company represented at every event then on the LinuxWorld calendar (eight), it wasn’t clear that the local offices concurred. It took many conversations with the offices to get buy-in and “alignment of agreement,” explains Warwick Davies, Group Vice President, IDG Expo.

The Sales Process: Once the exhibitor expressed an interest in a global arrangement, a point person was assigned from the U.S. office in Framingham, MA. (Not all multi-country deals emanate from the United States, but the process is the same.) This salesperson worked with the customer on booth footprint, communicated needs to local offices — sometimes literally translating requests — and managed information flow. Responses were collated into a concise proposal, which for this exhibitor included: booth space; platinum sponsorship; meeting rooms to conduct seminars, corporate meetings or client breakfast; logos on the back of attendee badges; and branded lanyards. (Not all items made the agreement; the exhibitor did not get badge sponsorship at all events.)

The Result: It was clear that this exhibitor had to do a fair amount of work internally to make the elements of the program consistent worldwide. Decisions were delayed as offices considered the budget for the original footprint and the cost of support and logistics at individual events. A few event locations on the original proposal were eliminated from the global buy. Still, this exhibitor made an incremental buy, increasing to five the number of LinuxWorld events in which it participated. “To get customers to plan with you,” says Davies, “is a good sign of a trusting relationship.”

The Challenge: Exhibitors constantly face new choices, as new boat shows launch every year. Even in light of strong history and proven success, the Newport show must continue to make its case and then fulfill exhibitor expectations. This can be harder to gauge since big-ticket items take longer to sell than the show’s four days. An added wrinkle: Space limitations make it even harder to accommodate as many new exhibitors as possible when more than 70 percent of exhibitors return and want to increase their display space.

The Solutions: Consumer shows like this one are judged on how well their marketing dollars reach — and deliver — the right audience of qualified buyers. More and more, the show researches attendees and exhibitors pre- and post-show to confirm that its targeted efforts and special promotions bring in more buyers, thus giving exhibitors greater opportunities to make the sale.

Besides the standard media — industry publications, magazines, radio, newspapers, billboards, direct mail and the Internet — the Newport show gets creative. It places boats with banners announcing show dates at visitor centers on interstate roads and other locations around the county. A huge sign is placed at the airport a month before the show. Partner programs, such as Women Making Waves and Discover Sailing, attract new bases of buyers. Every marina and yacht club gets a color poster to place in its windows plus complimentary tickets to give to their best customers. Meanwhile, exhibitors can buy guest tickets at sharply reduced rates, a program that has grown substantially in recent years and helps to feed quality attendance.

One Exhibitor’s Story: As the mega-yacht (more than 100 feet) began to gain traction in the New England market, the Newport show set its sights on a high-end European company in that category that was on the fence about exhibiting. The show producer hired a third party to conduct specific research and also used exhibitor survey data to outline a desirable attendee profile for this exhibitor: average income, net worth, boat currently owned and size looking for. Not yet ready to commit, the company was invited to walk the show with one of the salespeople and see their competitors at work and qualified buyers first-hand.

The Results: It’s not unusual for the selling process to be long — nearly two years in this case. “Exhibitors do their homework, and many will call another exhibitor,” Piffard notes. “This exhibitor was going to spend a lot of money not only displaying huge boats but getting them here.” One of the reasons the Newport show team placed more emphasis than usual on research was to prove the show would be worth it. The mega-yacht company was satisfied and continues to return to the show.

“No matter how you look at it, exhibitors come because they want to sell product,” says Piffard. “Most of the time they don’t sell a boat in four days, but six months to a year later, they’ll know if the leads to sales came from your shows.”

The Challenge: The only way marketers will believe a show is the most efficient manner of spending limited dollars is to determine accurate ROI and set expectations that are in line with reality. “With most machinery costing a quarter of a million dollars and up, and two years between shows, this is a slow, long-term industry,” says Eelman. “If exhibitors are not prepped by the time of the show, we can’t help them out.”

Solutions: To prime exhibitors, IMTS gets its kit out more than 10 months in advance. “Help-yourself options” include a list of vendors that can conduct research and track ROI for exhibitors, plus ROI information on the Web site.

The real sizzle, though, comes eight months out: an exhibitor workshop in Chicago with two intense days of general sessions, seminars and a mini-trade show featuring vendors, trainers and professional speakers. More than 500 individuals attend, with several companies sending two people. “Those two days are a help-yourself buffet of marketing and operational tracks,” says Eelman. “The goal is to provide exhibitors with the alternatives that are there; only they can determine the right solution for their needs.”

The Measure: The workshop has become so integral to the show, it’s an indispensable line expense. Exhibitors get two days of training and extensive ongoing ROI assistance included in their booth price. “We don’t sell floor space or concrete; we sell the dream — the ability to market your product through the event and all attendance activity,” says Eelman. Even superstar exhibitors participate in the training event, and many attendees repeat.

One Exhibitor’s Story: Like many companies, one exhibitor’s stock approach at IMTS was to try to get as many leads as possible through a giveaway from its well-located 40x60-foot booth. Months later, company reps would complain about unqualified leads and wasted appointments. After finally attending workshop seminars, the exhibitor realized it would be far less costly to weed out the bad leads early. So it developed a new strategy: exhibit booth personnel pre-qualify booth visitors on the show floor specifically to cut the number of leads.

“It sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s a much more productive approach,” says Eelman. “If someone on top wants to beat the lead count, and no one asks why, a company can bury itself. You can overdo the emphasis on immediate response; later, thousands of names are tossed out, and local reps ridicule the process.”

The Result: Audience research helped the exhibitor define its audience (not every attendee is interested in the exhibitor’s product, nor is the exhibitor interested in every attendee); with ROI training, the exhibitor refined its sales objectives at the show.

The improved ROI spurred this exhibitor for the first time to sign up for the next event while at the show. It also reinforced trade shows — and IMTS in particular — as viable marketing options. “It opens the exhibitor's mind to how to do shows better globally,” says Eelman, “And by applying at other shows the ROI methods learned through IMTS, exhibitors find that ours is the best show. They cut participation in others and do more with us.” He further expects the ROI training to help IMTS sell this exhibitor and others into international shows it is looking to organize.