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Lead Management
Converting Your NAB Show Leads to Sales and ROI
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 Time: 2PM ET

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The Most Overlooked Key to NAB SHOW Exhibiting Success
By Jefferson Davis

As a recognized tradeshow expert, people often ask me "What is the single most important key to making the NAB SHOW deliver real results for our company?" In response, they expect me to tell them things like "get a better booth location", "build a bigger, flashier exhibit", "do a better job promoting your exhibit", "demonstrate your products better", "capture better leads" and things like that.

All of these things can help. But, when I tell them the single most important key to making tradeshows deliver meaningful and measurable results is to update and expand their company's exhibiting knowledge base, they look surprised. They tell me "we know how to exhibit, we've been doing it for years." I then ask them to tell me about the results their exhibit program is delivering, and far too few exhibitors can speak of any specific results. They know what they are spending, but they often don't know or can't see what they are really getting.

The question of how to make tradeshows deliver results is a very poignant question because many companies exhibit programs fail to deliver measurable and meaningful results. And I believe strongly that the lack of formal exhibiting knowledge is one of the main reasons. Consider these shocking exhibiting industry statistics:
" 97% of college degreed marketing professionals did not receive one single hour of exhibit marketing education as part of their curriculum.
" Less than 20% of exhibitors do any form of targeted pre-show marketing.
" 84% of booth staffers have never received training on how to work a tradeshow
" 76% of sales people views tradeshow leads as "cold" calls.
" 87% of tradeshow leads captured are never effectively followed up on.
" Only 14% of exhibitors have any organized form of post-show measurement.

These statistics point to a major problem. Marketing departments spend over 31% of their marketing budget on tradeshows. Sales department are asked to staff the exhibit, often against their will or desire. Both departments invest significant financial and human capital, and both with very little formal education on how to best do so.

Tradeshows have changed in complexity over the last several years. The body of knowledge on how to make tradeshows productive and profitable has exploded. And far too few exhibitors are keeping up with the changes and seeking out the latest thinking and best exhibiting practices. Many companies are operating on an exhibiting model that is 10 years outdated.

So where do you look for the changes and latest and best exhibiting practices? While there are many good resources, NAB SHOW is a great place to start. In preparation for NAB SHOW 08, exhibitors will have free access to a series of four strategically timed webinars, and a series of hard hitting how-to articles in your exhibitor bulletin. Make sure that you and the key people in your marketing and sales departments log into the webinars and read the articles in the exhibitor bulletin. By doing so, we can assure that exhibiting knowledge will no longer be a gap in your company.

Jefferson Davis, president of Competitive Edge is known as "the Tradeshow Turnaround Artist". Since 1991, his consulting and training services have helped clients dramatically improve their tradeshow performance and results. His clients have realized over $500M in measurable value from their tradeshow investments. Mr. Davis is the featured presenter in the NAB SHOW exhibitor educational program. You can reach him at 800-700-6174 or jdavis@compedgetraining.com.

Exhibiting Dollars & $ense: Budgeting and Controlling Costs
By Jefferson Davis

The NAB SHOW can end up as a big expense (i.e., spend a lot of money and get little or nothing in return) or an investment delivering a solid ROI. It all depends on how you view the show and how you manage the exhibiting dollar.

A wise and prudent perspective is to view exhibiting as a sales and marketing investment. As with any investment, you should expect a return on your investment. How much? My ROI target is three to five dollars back for every one dollar invested in a measurable manner over time. Let's look at budgeting and cost control.

The first budgeting area to look at is the percentage of your company's total sales and marketing budget allocated to exhibitions. A Tradeshow Week study found that the average company allocates 31.6% of their marketing budget to exhibitions. How do you compare?

The second budget area to look at is how much to spend on a specific show. To establish a specific show budget, at minimum ultiply floor space cost times three if you have a small exhibit without a lot of set-up labor costs, drayage and show services. For example, if the floor space costs $3,000 you should be investing at least $9,000 in the show. However, if you have a larger exhibit with a lot of installation and dismantle labor, drayage and utility services, then budget floor space times five.

The third budget area to look at and manage very carefully is the areas where money is being spent. Here is a listing of the major exhibit spend areas along with the percentage of the dollar spent on each area:
1. Space rental 32%: The cost of the floor space.
2. Exhibit design 20%: The design and construction cost, refurbishing, display materials, furnishings, graphics, storage, installation and dismantle costs, insurance and so on.
3. Show services 14%: Electrical, plumbing, janitorial, security, telephone, carpet, equipment and furniture rental and so on.
4. Transportation 9%: Freight, drayage, customs, brokerage and so on.
5. Travel and Entertainment 18%: Staff airfare, lodging, meals, ground transportation, temp staff fees, training, staff attire, hospitality events, client and prospect entertainment and so on.
6. Advertising & Promotion 6%: Print advertising, sponsorships, public relations, direct mail, list rental, literature, promotional products and so on.
7. Other 1%: Anything that doesn't clearly fall under the above six categories like lead retrieval system rental, lead follow-up costs and so on.

To manage your budget you should have a spreadsheet with the seven major categories and specific line items listed under each category. This is your financial control center. It should have a budget and actual line along with a variance line.

Controlling exhibiting costs is critical to fiscal responsibility. Here are some specific tips to help you save money:
1. Read the exhibitor service kit and pay careful attention to meeting deadlines.
2. Order all booth accessories and services in advance.
3. Request that show labor be done on straight time.
4. Have as much work as possible done on your exhibit before it is packed and shipped.
5. To minimize I&D costs, number your crates according to content, attach a diagram and instructions on how to construct the exhibit, along with electrical requirements and repacking instructions.
6. If you do several shows use the same fright carrier and negotiate volume discounts.
7. Take advantage of show advertising packages when available.

Take control of your exhibiting dollar now by following the suggestions in this article.

Jefferson Davis, president of Competitive Edge is known as "the Tradeshow Turnaround Artist". Since 1991, his consulting and training services have helped clients dramatically improve their tradeshow performance and results. His clients have realized over $500M in measurable value from their tradeshow investments. Mr. Davis is the featured presenter in the NAB SHOW exhibitor educational program. You can reach him at 800-700-6174 or jdavis@compedgetraining.com.