Tradeshow Tips

Articles...
Ten Tips For A Successful Show
Stop Taking Notes on Business Cards
Tradeshow Know How

Tradeshow Know How - page 2

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General Service Contractor (GSC)

Company designated by show management to provide all labor and services for exhibitors at the show. In many cases, you must use the GSC for everything or specific service contractors designated by the show management.

Exhibitor Appointed Contractor (EAC)

Company selected by an exhibitor to provide specific show services. EACs must usually be approved by show management.

Horizontal show

A trade show with a broad range of exhibitors and attendees. An example of a horizontal show would be the Consumer Electronics show.

In-line Exhibit

This is another name for a straight or backwall exhibit. This type is located on an aisle with a wall or another exhibit backed up behind it.

I & D

Installation and Dismantling (set-up and tear-down) of the booth. Portable and Hybrid panel systems help keep these costs low. In many cases, especially with smaller exhibits of this type, I & D can be handled by your in-house staff. Another way to save money is to save time at teardown by applying outbound labels to empty cases and shipping crates during set-up. Be sure to label the cartons "empty" for storage by the General Service Contractor (GSC) during the show. Anything you want back at the end of the show needs a label, including pallets. Anything that doesn't have a lable will probably be thrown away.

Island Exhibit

This type of exhibit can be seen and entered from all four sides. Shows usually charge a premium for islands; the surcharge is usually calculated based upon how many "extra" sides of the exhibit are open. So if the surcharge per extra open side is $500, an island would carry an additional space rental fee of 3 x $500, or $1500.00.

Lead Cards

Forms used to collect information on attendees who visit your booth.

Lead Management

Usually after the show, leads are distributed to the sales force and nothing is ever heard of them again. Nevertheless, analyzing the results of your leads remains one of the best ways to measure your results.

Start off by designing a custom lead card with the help of sales. The card should include all the info they'll need to follow up with prospects after the show. Make it simple and easy to-use.

Sample Lead Card

Event ____________________  Date _____________________

Name__________________________________

Title___________________________________

Company_______________________________

Address_________________________________

City_____________________  State___________

Zip________________

Phone (    ) ___ ____     Fax (    ) ___ ____

Product / Service now using _______________________________________________

Product / Service interested in _____________________________________________

Interest Level:     High      Medium      Low      Don't know

Purchase time frame: ________________

Within a month      1-3 months      this year      Don't know

Notes: _____________________________________________

Establish a ranking system to sort your leads into groups based on need from "hot" to "cool." Before the show, set up a system so that "hot" leads can be sent back to the office right away.

Lead Retrieval

Make sure you have a system in place to capture leads and to distribute them quickly after the show to the right people in your organization for follow up. Follow up with qualified leads with one week of the show. Lead retrieval can be as simple as typing up a list from business cards gathered in your booth or sophisticated electronic lead retieval systems that scan the badges of visitors to your booths and provide you with an electronic file of all your visitors.

Most major shows have electronic retrieval systems available for rent for a nominal fee. These "scanners" read attendees' badges and the data can be stored electronically or printed out. Many companies have computerized lead handling systems that can even prepare the prospects' follow-up letters, often with pricing information, and set the stage for a meeting with a salesperson after the show.

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