Trade shows in the U.S. are not designed specifically to write orders at the
booth. The exhibitor is there to show the line, “meet & greet” and plan
customer visits to “talk turkey” later. Overseas the thrust is to close orders
that have been planned previously.
The exhibitors in the U.S, are the
producers who mfg. the line. Overseas the exhibits are frequently the
distributors of the line. They are the mainline of getting your product to be
seen by the attendants who visit the show. They write business ON the show
floor.
In the U.S. the fabricators time the show well in advance of the
buying cycle in order to gear up for delivery on time.
Overseas the shows are
timed so that orders written ON the floor will be delivered at the time the
product is in demand during the buying cycle.
PRE-SHOW PLANNING
Since
the foreign mfg’s. write business ON the floor, the U.S. marketing plan has to
be adjusted accordingly. A thorough canvassing effort has to be undertaken to
introduce your line to prospective as well as existing customers.
A well
prepared e-mail, snail mail, webinars, texting, social media info, etc. goes out
NOT necessarily to elicit a reply, rather to start the ball rolling with what
you have to offer. In tanded with that the sales team has to fan out with door
busting personal visits to BOTH prospects at well as existing clients.
IMPORTANT: Invitations to be sent out via any means MUST be directed to
the decision maker. It is indeed an “invitation” and the customer expects to
be treated as a guest. Since you will expect to close some deals, all the
more important to make it into a quasi hosting.
Overseas trade shows are
always open to the public, either prior for a day or post show for a couple of
days. Purpose is to engage the end users - this is true whether or not it is a
consumer goods show or an industrial equipment show.
We’ve talked this
before: 1. Catalogs in local language; 2. Pricing as specific as
possible (CIF is best - C&F is essential); 3. Clear terms of sale -
i.e. L/C, S/D, etc. and 4 Spelled-out logistics.
Do you want more
help? Contact: Hank Samuel; Certified SCORE counselor at:
dutchuncle2@gmail.com=
visit us at:
www.scoresouthflorida.net
