Maximizing Trade Show ROI

Maximizing Trade Show ROI How To Get The Most Out of Exhibiting Investments by Jeffrey Blackwell, President, The Rogers Company A Free E-book from The Roger Company 2010 www.therogersco.com

Part 1 - Trade Show ROI: Start With What You Know Determining trade show ROI is a long road paved with facts and stats, but like the old saying goes, every long journey starts with the first step, so when beginning the journey of determining trade show ROI, start with what you know. Instead of beginning with so many unknowns, start with something you do know. Ostensibly you know your customers --- they're a wealth of knowledge about your trade shows and events and your overall marketing program. They can tell you what's working and what's not. So it's easy, right? If a customer says "I met you at a trade show and liked what I saw. Three months later, I purchased your product." then you can put them solidly in the trade show ROI column, right? Hold on! What about the brochure they received? What about the advertisement? What about the call from the salesman? Doesn't all that count? Isn't there a way to determine which of those things contributed most to the sale?...you know your customers - they're a wealth of knowledge about your trade shows and events and your overall marketing program. There's no easy way to tell because at that point you're trying to get inside your customer s head. Asking them to determine which marketing tool had more influence would require some very sophisticated survey techniques that may not get you to the truth. So how do you get useful information from your customers? 1.) Start with a profile Divide your customers into broad categories: Completely new customers who basically walked in the front door ; returning regulars who seem very loyal to your brand and methodical clients who researched a long time before making a decision. These can be 2

anything you want, but limit it to four or five categories. These profiles will help you organize information more easily as you identify what kinds of customers you have and why they bought from you. 2.) Look at Their Stories Why did these customers buy from you? What influenced their decision? Where did they talk to you or first hear about you? This "customer narrative" gathers the facts about how and why you made a sale and continue to make sales. Existing sales can also tell us what the gateways are to a sale and how they re connected. So if a customer says that they were influenced by an advertisement, a trade show, and a sales call, try to put that together into a story. Which came first and what followed thereafter? What wouldn't have happened without the other? 3.) Look at the Facts It's important to create some pertinent facts about your sales and marketing. How many companies that appear on your lead list, are actually already customers? How many customers came to your booth at a trade show? How many leads did you collect? How many of these leads were followed-up? These hard facts help separate theory from reality. Many times people at all levels of business have pet theories about marketing activities. Make sure that, at the very least, you understand some of the things that are working. There will still be a lot of holes in your knowledge, but at least you'll know what you know and what is still to be learned. 4.) Determine What You're Losing There's a story from WWII that is possibly fanciful, but could shed some light on this problem. Looking at returning bombers from missions over Europe, aircraft designers were trying to figure out where on the planes they should add extra armor. They could see heavy damage in certain parts of the planes more than others, but finally decided to place armor in those areas where they didn t see any damage. Why? 3

Because the theory was that the planes damaged in those areas, simply didn't return from their missions. You have the same issue in determining ROI or the effectiveness of your trade show campaign. Your customers can tell you which tactic worked for them -- but look for the piece that is consistently missing. Where are you not reaching customers? Why aren t they finding you? If you're getting customers A,B, and C, why not D,E, and F? Build on what's working but also examine if some of the things that aren t effective for customers A, B, and C might work for the others. In the end focus on what works with each specific market or customer and leave everything else behind. There s no magic answer to ROI. But there is a process for determining what is working... Finally, there's no magic answer to ROI. But there is a process for determining what is working within your company and what is not. It may sound simple to do more of what's working and less of what's not -- but that's the essence of successful marketing. A trade show is no different. Your quest for ROI really is a quest for more leads and, ultimately, more sales. Instead of cutting based on lack of ROI or poorly defined ROI, use the tools above to determine where the shortfall is and concentrate on fixing it. 4

Part 2 Trade Show CRM Do CRM's Tell the Whole Story? Determining Trade show ROI with CRMs and Other Tools CRM programs were supposed to be the cure to the woes of sales and marketing. If you don't know already, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software that can track every single contact, transaction, sales call, bill, and delivery that is entered into the system. Basically it puts an incredible amount of information at your fingertips to help make smart choices. If you don't have CRM software in place, there are a whole range of options in terms of price and functionality. Goldmine, ACT, SalesLogix, and People Soft are some popular choices. Many of these programs offer free trials and on-line tutorials in order to determine their efficacy for your company and its products and services. With all of the information CRM systems provide, you would think it would be easy for a company to determine their ROI from a trade show or any other marketing effort. Unfortunately, it's not always that easy. A spread sheet may not reveal the full extent of your trade show success or failure. Here are a few strategies for getting more out of CRM systems when it comes to trade shows: 1.) Walk Down to Accounting Many times marketing and sales just never talk to accounting unless there s something wrong; but your financial folks can be of great assistance in helping determine trade show and event ROI. Along with your IT department, they can work at the front end of the process when researching CRM programs to see if the CRM can integrate with your other accounting software including and most especially Order Entry and Shipments by Client. In addition, accounting can provide information that can either verify or inform output from a CRM. Who are your biggest customers? Who are your smallest? Who are your top twenty customers? What percentage of total sales do those top twenty represent? Were any of them a new customer this year? When did their orders come in? By asking questions like these, you can get clear information based on facts. Accounting doesn't deal in vagaries (or at least it shouldn't). Asking accounting some fact based 5

questions can help you create a connection with your trade show marketing. If a trade show contact is recorded in your CRM, compare the sales timeline with accounting to see if the trade show had an impact. If there are new customers this year, were they noted in the lead list from a trade show? Did you see your top five customers at a trade show? Or did you see the 20% or your customers that make up 80% of your business? (Sometimes CRM systems are actually linked to accounting -- so the trip down to their office may not be necessary. But do it anyway, chances are you ll learn something and they'll enjoy the company.) 2.) Look at What You're Not Getting A CRM can tell you who you met at a trade show and whether or not that lead turned into a customer, but you have to use that information to find out who you're missing at your trade Exploit markets you currently aren t reaching with new strategies. shows. Companies tend to look at success and build on that. It's a sound strategy, but if you use it exclusively, you'll miss opportunities at trade shows. Also look at the types of customers you're not seeing at your booth. How can you attract them? How can you design and promote your trade show booth to appeal to a new demographic without alienating the old one? Building on the holes in your CRM can also help you build business, even in a slowing economy -- there are only so many investment dollars to spend and you may have tapped out an existing market. Exploit the markets you currently aren't reaching with new strategies. 3.) Create Customer Stories With all of the complex data that a CRM can output, it's tempting to just look at it as a pure expression of fact. In fact, a CRM may be able to recite 100 facts about your best customer, but it cannot tell you exactly why they are your best customer. Use the information from the CRM as well as from sales staff to find out why some relationships begin at a trade show and why they grow. If the CRM shows several leads turning into sales in the months after a trade show, talk to the sales staff to find out why. These narratives can 6

be powerful because they combine the gut feelings of sales with the hard facts that only a computer can retain. Creating customer stories will also make it easy for sales and booth staff to understand last year s successes so they can duplicate that success this year and beyond. Another strategy is to create aspirational stories -- who are the customers you want? What impact Aspirational stories help determine everything from exhibit design to trade show execution to sales strategies and marketing collateral. will your trade show exhibit have on them? Are you trying to work with bigger companies? What scenario might attract them to your booth and win their business? Aspirational stories help determine everything from exhibit design to trade show execution, to sales strategies and marketing collateral. CRM programs are incredibly helpful in tracking the marketing and sales activity that go into a successful customer relationship. CRMs not only can help you measure the success you've had at a trade show, but they can help you shape a more successful marketing and trade show strategy in the future. Bottom line -better ROI. 7

Part 3 Trade Show ROI Closing the Communication Loop Trade Show ROI: Fact or Fiction? Objective or Subjective? Measurable or Intuitive? Recently I was talking to a senior marketing executive for a major trade show organizer and I asked if they were getting besieged by exhibitors demanding a better return on their trade show investment. Were people asking them to help improve their trade show ROI? I expected him to say, Oh yeah, this is the number one issue we re facing other than rising show costs. Instead he said, No not at all. You can t measure trade show ROI. It s impossible because every company is different. Okay I agree with the latter part of his comment but it s because every company is different that it is indeed possible. Many companies can calculate their ROI; they just don t, for a variety of reasons. Typically not measuring trade show ROI goes unnoticed when sales are robust and profits are good or if the overall economy is strong. But when the bottom drops out, as it always does, for some reason or another, we re left with CEO s, COO s, CMO s, and the scariest C of them all the CFO asking why the heck you re spending all this money on trade shows?! What s the ROI? Many companies can calculate trade show ROI; they just don t for a variety of reasons. Some great companies, regardless of size, have figured out a way to measure ROI. Whether they re using some of the methods noted earlier in this e-book, including full utilization of CRM programs or a home-grown program to measure their results, they re quantifying and they re spending accordingly. Others don t have a clue. They just go to trade shows because, as we ve heard them say, they re worried that they d be conspicuous by their absence. So what s the solution? Well, it s as simple and timeless as a golden ring: close the loop. Track costs. Track sales. Simple, eh? Not hardly, but it is possible, it is achievable for most 8

companies if they learn how to communicate their needs to those who can give them the tools to measure the results. As a means of face to face marketing, trade shows or trade fairs are the oldest form of marketing. No one needs a history lesson on this it s simply a fact. Companies who make widgets that attach to other widgets inside of a big widget don t typically advertise on TV or in the Sunday circulars. Yet their customers know about their widgets and they buy their widgets in large part because of their exposure at trade shows. So historically we know that shows work it s just that now everything needs to be quantified. In today s world every company faces the same challenges and the same decisions, especially when it comes to marketing. Is print still viable? Does Twitter make sense? Am I better off with a website or a blog? How do I track leads? Where do I get leads? Are my salespeople selling or just taking orders? Am I getting anything out of my trade shows? We, like you, don t have definitive answers to any of these questions because every company is different with different channels of distribution, so the answers will be unique to your company, your budget, your systems and most importantly, the quality of your communication. In this series on Trade Show ROI we ve tried to present some solutions using both quantitative (CRM) and qualitative (Start with What You Know) methods, but in the end, in this world of constant electronic linkage, the only thing that s indispensable is excellent communication because everything begins and ends with it. Do your marketing department and your accounting department talk to each other? After all, marketing is the "hunter" and accounting is the "gatherer". The two functions are closely tied to each other but how often is accounting involved in decisions relative to customer relationship management systems and trade show ROI? Talk to management tell them of your intentions to measure trade show and event ROI. Be proactive make them your champions if you can. Then talk with accounting and IT. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar especially if the vinegar is mandated from above. 9

So you be the honey. It s your job to let the experts in their areas give you the tools to do your job Buy lunch for the accounting department; bring the IT guys new Wii games. In other words, enlist their help. Trade show ROI is measurable but only if you close the loop. You get leads from the show. If you can t take the time to qualify them and you know your salespeople won t follow-up on them, there are companies who will provide this service for you. Some solutions can be very economical, so that at the end of the day instead of having a pile of We are the most connected generation in history, yet there are times when we actually communicate very little. 300 vague leads from a show, you have 30 qualified leads that your sales force will be happy to go after. So you can outsource this function in needbe. Put your leads from each trade show in queue. IT can help with this. Put them somewhere so they can be tagged by show and then tie that to order-entry so that it can be tracked for one year after the show. After one year, you now have your costs from the prior year s show and you have your report showing how many of those leads converted to sales. Now you will have a ratio which is something that accounting and management will love. For example, if your trade show cost, $100,000, and first year sales from leads received at that show, were $500,000 this gives you a 5:1 ratio not bad. Most folks in accounting and management would be quite happy with that. In fact they would probably be ecstatic. If your CRM doesn't work with your accounting system then sit down with your finance department and develop a strategy so the two can work together even if some type of "bridge" needs to be created in-order to link the two. We are the most connected generation in history, yet there are times when we actually communicate very little. As Descartes once said, I think therefore I am. Well in today s economy it would be just as fair to say, I measure therefore I still have my job, and good communication is the key. 10