Both Sides Now

Vendors and Librarians — Association Trade Shows (What They Should Be, Can Be and Must Be)

Column Editor: Michael Gruenberg (Managing Partner of Gruenberg Consulting, LLC) <gruenbergconsulting@gmail.com>

In my 40+ years in the Information Industry, I have attended a significant amount of library related trade shows. My wife points out that I probably have attended more trade shows than have had hot meals.

At those shows, I have functioned as an organizer, planner, participant, sales rep, and consultant. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a library trade show on behalf of a client and given what I saw there as represented by the association, the attendees, and the vendors caused me to write down my thoughts for this column. Much like in past shows that I have attended, I saw sales reps at their booths talking amongst themselves as people walked by. In addition, there were booth personnel on their cell phones not paying attention to the traffic on the exhibit floor. Clearly, the topic “lack of booth interaction with attendees” was not covered in the pre-show orientation for these folks.

It was always fascinating to me that when an association was trying to interest my company to consider exhibiting at their upcoming meeting, they stressed all the many ways they could help us to spend our marketing budget in pursuit of new sales. Items of cost were introduced: such as prime location, platinum/ gold/silver sponsorship of the event, an ad in the meeting program, underwriting the cost of an author session, coffee break and/or lunch, etc. These were some of the possibilities that in their opinion would guarantee us more sales. Many more such opportunities were available for the asking.

Every vendor will most assuredly say that they would be happy to spend whatever the cost asked by the association if it guaranteed that attendees would visit the booth and then listen to what the company sales reps have to offer. Sadly, there always seemed to be a disconnect between the time the money for these “opportunities” was sent to the association and the frequency by which a significant number of attendees visited the vendors. Increased spending by the vendor does not guarantee increased booth traffic. That outcome is most surprising since it is within the power of the association to greatly influence that a maximum number of their attendees could and should visit every relevant vendor. Let’s count the ways an association/organization can follow to make the meeting experience a more profitable one for the vendors and attendees alike.

How the Trade show Contributes to the Success of the Vendors

Let’s be very clear. An industry trade show is the best place for a vendor to see a maximum number of sales prospects in the shortest period of time. Furthermore, attendance at a trade show is a very cost-effective way of conducting business. It is therefore in everyone’s best interest to make sure that attendees and vendors meet under the best set of circumstances to ensure success.

The goal of the organization is to create an environment where most of the attendees over the course of days spent at the trade show try to visit with as many of the vendors of their choice as possible. There is no set number on how many vendors an attendee should see but suffice it to say that an effort needs to be made to see as many vendors as possible whose products are relevant to the library. Avoiding the exhibition hall is not an option. The first step is education. Each attendee needs to know that a significant reason for the meeting even taking place is due to the monetary support of the vendors in keeping the association on firm financial ground. Members need to know that vendors have devoted significant sums of money and time so that they can interest those attendees in the products and services being presented at the show. Prior to every trade show, it is suggested that a note be distributed to all members of the association indicating how important every vendor is not only due to their products but also recognizing the costs associated with exhibiting and publicly thanking them for their support.

The second step is getting the attendees to visit the exhibit area. This is the easiest part of the equation. Here are some of the ways to ensure that attendees visit vendors at least once during the meeting.

1. Create a “passport” booklet that needs to be stamped by each vendor for every attendee visit to the booth. Perhaps a prize (donated by the vendors) could be awarded to the attendee with the most stamps in their passport.

2. Schedule breakfasts, mid-day breaks, and lunches in the exhibit hall. Attendees to these shows always follow the food. And when the food is presented at different times of the day, it brings them into the exhibit area multiple times. The association should use different locations in the exhibit hall for serving the food so that ALL vendors have an opportunity to be near the food service.

3. At a recent trade show I attended, the educational sessions were given far away from the exhibit hall. As a result, when those sessions were over, rather than go back to the exhibit hall, most attendees went out to lunch with their colleagues or took in some sightseeing or went back to the hotel for a nap or watch daytime television. None of the choices listed involved speaking to a vendor. Educational sessions need to be scheduled in rooms close to the exhibit area so that it is easy to travel from the sessions to the exhibit hall.

4. Make it comfortable for the attendees to roam the exhibit hall. Provide benches throughout the exhibit area so that people can rest, collect their thoughts, meet a friend, or sip some iced tea. After resting for a short time, the attendee can resume activities.

5. Create areas where a vendor can quietly meet with a prospect/customer away from the sometimes-noisy booth. In addition, create a “vendor only area” where the company representatives can sit down on a comfortable chair, have a cup of coffee and a snack away from the crowd. Both suggested areas need to be equipped with efficient Internet connections.

6. Visibility of the Executive Director and/or Association Management to be always at the exhibit hall fielding questions from vendors and attendees alike. The show is a commitment to education and excellence on the part of the organization. They should show that they are interested in everyone’s opinion and that they are taking those comments seriously so that the following year’s meeting will be better than the current one.

7. Create a “check-list” for the attendees that includes every vendor’s booth number with a map on where each is located. Make it easy to identify and find every vendor. And by the way, such a map is good place to sell ads for additional association revenue opportunities.

8. Serving of “fun” food at various times of the day in the exhibit area. Did someone say ice cream? Kit/Kats, etc. Or how about popcorn? The reality is that these eight steps are not difficult to do, although they require some work to carry them through. The organization owes it to their members and vendors to make the effort to improve the quality of the current and future meetings.

And what should the attendees know about the vendors who line the aisles in the exhibit hall at their annual meeting? What do they have in common?

Firstly, every attendee and every vendor has invested significant time and money to attend the meeting. Both the attendees and the vendors have at some point driven their cars to the airport nearest their homes, checked their baggage, stood in an endless line at airport security, took off their shoes, probably had their plane delayed due to some unforeseen emergency, found every seat on the plane filled with all different types of people; young, old, and now often, furry (comfort dogs and cats). Upon arrival at the destination airport, waited for their checked bags, then squeezed into a cab to be transported to the hotel where their room was not yet ready upon arrival and then had a marginal dinner at a restaurant near the hotel. I call it “expected discomfort” all in the hopes of having productive meetings over the following days. At the very least, each attendee needs to visit every vendor that has relevant products for their organization. Attendees who avoid the exhibit hall are cheating themselves, their organization, their employer and literally biting the hand that feeds them.

What A Trade Show Should Be

The primary role of a Trade show for any industry is simply to bring the buyer and seller together in a congenial setting. Additionally, the role of the Trade show is to educate their attendees on the latest developments within their industry by bringing in experts to educate about new products and industry trends. And finally, it is the role of the association trade show to make sure that as many people as possible like the meeting so much, that they sign up for next years’ meeting.

What A Trade Show Should Not Be

Travelling to cities is always fascinating and exciting. A trade show is not designed to be just a travel destination. Organizers try to schedule these meetings in cities where there are interesting attractions to visit, but the show is designed to get people together to conduct business and education. In the past, a trade show served three specific purposes. 1. It was a place to look for a job. Still relevant and perhaps needed more by an unemployed person, but the trade show does not promise employment to those out of work. And now there are on-line services that do a great job finding suitable employment. 2. It was a place to network amongst friends. Now more than ever before, jobs in an industry are being filled at organizations in every corner of the world. As a result, colleagues who worked near one another use the trade show as a meeting place to renew friendships. Still a relevant reason to attend the trade show, but not the main reason. Still relevant, but the Internet has taken over the role of networking between friends and business opportunities. 3. And thirdly, many vendors in the information industry used to use the trade show to sell books. Today, very few vendors sell books at trade shows.

The bottom line is that the trade show is a great place to meet and greet, but its main purpose is to prepare an environment that is conducive to buying and selling activities.

Mike is currently the Managing Partner of Gruenberg Consulting, LLC, a firm he founded in January 2012 after a successful career as a senior sales executive in the information industry. His firm is devoted to providing clients with sales staff analysis, market research, executive coaching, trade show preparedness, product placement and best practices advice for improving negotiation skills for librarians and salespeople. His book, Buying and Selling Information: A Guide for Information Professionals and Salespeople to Build Mutual Success has become the definitive book on negotiation skills and is available on AMAZON, Information Today in print and eBook, AMAZON Kindle, B&N Nook, Kobo, Apple iBooks, Overdrive, 3M Cloud Library, GALE (GVRL), My iLibrary, ebrary, EBSCO, Blio and Chegg. gruenbergconsulting@gmail.com