After the Show: It's NOT Over When it's Over!

It is the end of March, and the Marketplace Events spring home show season is winding down. With only one more event on the spring schedule, the Central Florida Home + Garden Show at the Orange County Convention Center, April 4-6, 2014.

By now all of our spring home show exhibitors have taken on new projects, and the days working the show floor are just a distant memory... BUT...

Remember, "it's not over when it's over." Make sure all your post show follow-up work is completed on a timely basis.

Two Weeks After the Show:
Information and samples should be sent to those who requested them within two weeks of the show's conclusion. According to the CEIR Center for Exhibition and Industry Research, 80% of exhibitors DO NOT follow up with show leads. In addition, a survey conducted by the University of Massachusetts Center for Marketing Communications showed only 43% of prospective buyers receive material they requested after they have already made a buying decision. Another 18% never receive the material at all. Backing up these statistics, the home show office's regularly receive post show calls from buyers trying to connect with exhibitors that did not follow up with their inquiries. We also see many emails sent through the exhibitor listing tool requesting brochures and information for a second time.

One Month After the Show:
Follow-up actions and responsibility should be assigned to specific individuals on your team. At the end of 30 days, many companies request a summary from those team members listing the status of each lead including whether it has been converted to a sale, or is still pending, and what the next steps are. This process ensures that all sales leads are handled properly.

One-to-Two Months After the Show:
Continue to monitor the progress of lead conversions. Your staff may already be working on new opportunities from other sources, and consequently, may view the show leads as already stale. However, every lead should be pursued as a potential sale!

In addition to those prospects who were "very interested" or were "ready to buy," don't forget to follow-up with those attendees who only had a question, complaint, or comment. This gives you an extra opportunity to reinforce the positive benefits (time or cost savings, for example) of using your product or service. Everyone that entered your exhibit did so for a reason. A short note or small product sample may turn someone with a question into a customer ready to buy.

Also remember those attendees you wanted to see who didn't make it to the show. A quick email or phone call reminding them about your company, maybe including a video or pictures of your booth, and extending any show specials can go a long way in creating a new customer. 

Want to keep the buzz going? Exhibitors are always welcome to reach out to the Marketplace Events team via social media. If you have a current promotion, or exciting news you'd like to share feel free to reach out to our team. You can find team members on Twitter by viewing the following list:  http://twitter.com/HomeShows/marketplace-events-team/members


Marketplace Events
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The Real Value of Your Exhibitor Listing

In addition to booth space, exhibitors are encouraged to take advantage of all marketing opportunities available to them when taking part in a Marketplace Events produced home show. Aside from the standard show guide listing during the event, we also provide a listing on the home show website. The exhibitor listing remains active from the time you sign up for your booth until the end of the renewal period after the show closes.

Many of our exhibitors have experienced great success with their website listing. Visitors to the home show website are able to contact your company directly through this tool - therefore it is an additional method available for you to generate sales leads before, during, and after the home show. In addition to the "Request Information" form on your listing you also have the option to provide your social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter) along with a link to your company page on the Better Business Bureau website.

The exhibitor listing pages help both customers and businesses connect before and after the home show. If you have booked space in an upcoming Marketplace Events home show and have not yet submitted your listing, please reach out to your sales consultant for more information and they will provide you with the login password.

When setting up your listing, follow these handy tips!

1. Enter a full description of your company - The more information you provide the better as it will help visitors find you using the search tool.
2. Use as many keywords as possible - Keywords will help you appear in the search results. If you sell different types of products... List them all!
3. Select the category that best represents your company - You will be listed under this heading.
4. Include your booth number - Make sure customers can find you at the show.
5. Offer a show special or discount - Use a promo code or offer a percentage off to people who mention your listing. A great way to track the results!
6. Follow up with email requests - Be sure and reply to potential customers who submit requests for more information. Why not make appointments with them during the show?

Watch Outdoor Lighting's testimonial on their experience with Cleveland's 

Great Big Home + Garden Show - 5% of their web traffic came through their listing on

the Home + Garden website:

Benefits of creating your company listing:
VISIBILITY - Receive a full page on the home show website! Detailed company information will remain live for the entire show season.
SALES - Consumers can contact you by searching and emailing you directly using the submission form.


Marketplace Events
US Shows | Canadian Shows

Visit HomeandGardenBlog.com for tips + trends!
Facebook.com/HomeandGardenEvents
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Before the Show: Develop An Effective Lead Card

Leads are one of the main reasons most exhibitors participate in home shows.  Some might actually write orders on the show floor, but many take leads.  The following are four basic concepts that will make the difference between being profitable at shows or just covering costs:

1. What is a lead card
2. When to use it
3. Follow-up
4. Tracking and reporting results

Leads represent the return on your investment.  When the home show is over and everything is packed up, the only thing you have left for the money spent (aside from any orders you've taken on-site) is the stack of leads in your hand.

What is a lead card - A lead card is a simple piece of paper that causes many other things to happen:

• A lead card can initiate the qualifying process
• A lead card can indicate the next step to take - i.e., sending literature or making a sales call.
• A lead card can provide research data about your attendee's interest and preferences.
• A lead card can provide another name for your mailing list.

The physical attributes of a lead card are important.  If it's too big, too small, too thin, or doesn't contain the right spaces to fill in FOR YOUR BUSINESS, then it will not do the job.  The following are three simple steps to designing a lead card that your salespeople will use:

• Make it small.  A good lead card fits into your open hand.  It is the size of a 3 x 5 index card.
• Put a backing on it.  A card stock backing will give staff a surface to write on.
• Make it multi-part.  A multi-part form can be especially useful.  One copy can go to the person sending out the literature, another to the person sorting leads for immediate follow-up, and the last can be a permanent record.

The key to great leads is having a place for all the right information.  Ask show management for an example of an effective lead card. Many home shows will provide lead cards for you in the show office.

Customize your own lead card!  Make it work for you!  Just remember that attendees will answer only a certain number of questions.  The design of the lead card will shift slightly depending upon how your company sells its products and services.

When to use it - Use the lead card often and early.  When a salesperson uses the lead card at the beginning of the sales process as a place to write notes, he or she is working as a consultant.  If a salesperson really cares about solving the attendee's problems or serving a need, he or she needs to fully document it on the lead card.  Taking the time to fill out the lead card shows respect for the attendee.

Follow-up - A well-designed and professionally executed lead card is worthless if follow-up is not done properly.  Assign someone to collect all of the leads daily and see to it that they get to the next point in the sales process.  If your lead card has multiple parts, be sure that they are distributed appropriately. Remember to follow-up on your collected leads as quickly as possible after the show.

Tracking and reporting results - Tracking and reporting the results of your exhibit efforts are the final steps of participating in a home show and are often the most overlooked.  Once the show is over and the leads have been sorted and prioritized you are anxious to get on with other things.  It takes relatively little effort to analyze the success from lead cards. By marking your completed sales and tagging them as generated at the show, you'll be able to add any sales dollars collected after the show to your final return on investment.

There's an App for that - Rather than using the paper cards, you may wish to use tablets or iPads.  The key to using technology at the show is to make sure there are enough iPads or tablets for all your salespeople during the busy days. You may wish to set it up kiosk-style. If your team is waiting on one machine to capture leads, the time wasted means you will be missing out. There are a multiple apps available to do the job, a few of which we've listed below. Many others can also be found with a bit of internet searching.

• iCaptureLEADS
• Chimpadeedoo
• QuickTapSurvey
• QuickTapLead

Marketplace Events
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Lead Cards. A Must.

Is your company's goal to schedule appointments and qualify buyers at our home show? The answer should be "yes" if you are in the business of remodeling, flooring, landscaping, roofing, gutters, etc...

Using lead cards while talking to your prospects is critical; you must get the important information right! We're not saying you have to use pen and paper, there are digital methods as well for iPads and tablets that will get the job done. You may find a standard lead card and pen is always good to have on hand for those moments when you run out of battery.  ;o)

Here's the great news, our show teams have lead cards for you - simply check out our websites under "Confirmed Exhibitors" and all you need to do is print!

Lead cards capture important info such as:

• BEST time to call
• BEST number to call
• Timing of their project
• Budget for their project
• Interest level
• Personal information -- Did you meet the family? Write down their names! Did they recently purchase their home? When? Are they going on vacation? Where?

The more you KNOW, the better you will do.


P.S. Do not put all home show leads in the same "pot" "bucket" "list"  ...All home shows are not created equal, trust me. Tracking leads from each show separately will allow you to qualify each home show by the type of leads collected; as well as calculate the ROI from the business generated at each show.

Sue Huff
Vice President, Sales
Marketplace Events

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Boost Exposure at the Show with Internet Advertising Opportunities

It has never been easier to get more bang for your buck! All of the advertising (TV, radio, print, outdoor, and online) and PR campaigns that each show executes direct consumers to our home show websites. Once there, people are prompted to buy tickets online, subscribe to our email lists, and find out all the information about the upcoming show.

Companies taking part in our shows also utilize our websites to obtain pre-show information including exhibitor kits. In addition, our blog HomeandGardenBlog.com and Home and Garden Events Facebook community of 54k enthusiasts across North America now allow us to reach our audience year-round. These facts translate into a lot of qualified eyeballs – over 1.7 million eyeballs to be exact.

Any exhibitor taking part in a Marketplace Events produced home show is welcome to advertise their products and services to our targeted audience of potential buyers. The home show websites can promote your show specials and drive visitors to your booth or website.

Here are a few of the marketing opportunities available online:
 

1. Banner Advertising – You ads appear on all pages of the home show website in rotation
2. Email Blasts – Provide an image or text advertisement which can be included in a pre or post show email campaign. Our subscription lists are permission based and targeted by region with over 540k subscribers across all of North America.
3. Lead Generation – Want to run a contest but are unable to host it? We will happily host your contest on our website and collect entries and subscribers for your company.
4. Ticket Sponsor Package – Offer a ticket discount to our customers and have your logo included on our ticketing site, ticket confirmation, websites, and in all advertising. Includes lead generation and data collection.
5. Sponsored Blog Post or Series – We are happy to run exhibitor spotlights on HomeandGardenBlog.com. Exhibitors can answer a few questions about their service or product and we will cross promote each post on all social media channels. Remember, we only want to bring useful and interesting content to our readers.
6. Gift Guides – On special holidays we like to run gift guides on our Facebook page which promote new and unique products that are perfect for gift giving… if you have a product that is perfect for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or Christmas let us know.
7. Show Coupons – We’d love to create a page of show coupons for consumers to use at the event. If you have a show special – or want to extend your show special after the show closes – and are considering creating a coupon that is redeemable in your booth or in your store, the home show website is the perfect place to promote it.

If you have any questions about any of our digital marketing opportunities feel free to reach out to your sales consultant.

Joanne Carry

Marketplace Events

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