The just-completed NACS show was a great exercise in being prepared and having measurable results at the end of it. My client, Retalix, did all of the things you need to do to make sure that the staff is prepared and knows what’s going on before, during and at the conclusion of a show.

One of the critical pieces of preparing a booth staff for a show is the pre-show meetings, including the opening day standup meeting. Doug Fick, the VP of Sales for Retalix’ Convenience Store business segment, gave one of the best, most complete captain’s speeches I’ve ever heard. In his Sunday morning speech, Doug hit on the important things he wanted his staff to know:

• What to do when a client approaches.
• Who to refer prospects to in the booth.
• How to collect and qualify leads.
• Which key customers would be visiting the booth during the show, when to expect them and to whom to refer them.

Doug spelled all this out to the staff as they stood around him. It was conversational in tone, professional and imparted useful information to the team. What’s more, and beyond the staff training part of the show, Doug knows what to do with the leads and how to classify and distribute them at the show’s conclusion. On the last day of the show, Doug was able to tell me who the key players were who visited the booth, could target and quantify the potential business from the show and was moving on to changing leads into business after the show. To Retalix’ credit, they have a central customer/prospect database and use it to further classify, qualify and track the progress of a sale. I wish more people who use trade shows would use the tools that Doug and people like him use and implement to get the results that they truly want. The result of all this was a lead count and collection of gathered data that met the expectations of the sales team and executives and can be tracked. Read More...

They look so great and graceful (well, mostly) hanging in the air over the show floor. But somebody had to get hanging signs up there. Usually, it’s up to you to get the job done.

Hanging your completed sign has a few steps:

• Put in the order for the riggers well in advance of the show.
• Assemble the sign.
• Spot the location above the booth where the sign is to hang.
• Attach the aircraft cables
• Hoist the sign.
• Make sure it is turned the way you want it.

Obviously, this is all done in cooperation with your rigging contractor. By putting the order in well in advance, you take advantage of any discounts. When you arrive at the show, check in at the service desk and, if you can predict it, let them know when you’ll be ready for the riggers to come. Read More...

I’m traveling on Wednesday to a show that is significant in American marketing and the trade show world: the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). I’ve never been to this show, so this should be a treat and an experience.

The exhibition is held in conjunction with the NACS conference and educational sessions. The conference is aimed at the owners of and suppliers to convenience stores and deals with their issues which include everything from food marketing to cigarette theft to beer and lottery sales. This organization has been around since 1961 and is really a big part of the petroleum industry. It is nothing to sneeze at or take lightly: with almost 150,000 C-stores in the U.S. doing $570 billion in business ($400 million of it in petroleum sales), they are a significant part of our retail economy. Read More...