■Booth etiquette: Wait your turn. Trade shows cost a pretty penny, and time is of the essence. If someone is busy on a booth, don’t interrupt them if you’re trying to sell them something. It’s incredibly frustrating when you’ve paid a fortune for a booth to market your own business and someone interrupts your real estate to sell you something. Be considerate, do another loop and pop back later — respect the hustle.
■Cold networking: Cold networking at events is tough. I generally avoid the exhibitor free-drinks networking hour if I don’t know anyone. Instead, I reach out to clients, suppliers of fellow New Zealand delegates, to meet up at the drinks or have a separate dinner outside of the show. After such hectic days, people just want to be happy during happy hour.
■Socialising vs networking: Stay with friends or travel with a work buddy if you can. Doing something social that is not networking will really help with your mojo. It took me 20 years of travelling to learn that networking is not socialising — it uses energy — but if you’re an extrovert like me, you recharge through having people around you.
On my last trip to Houston I travelled with my work buddy Shaz. Outside of the conference we squeezed in a couple of concerts and a pretty serious shopping afternoon — it made the whole week so much more enjoyable. In Sydney I stayed with my cousin and caught the train into the conference each day — much better than a hotel.
■Unplug from the office: Put on your out-of-office, advise you won’t be reading emails and are unlikely to reply until at least a week after your return and set expectations with everyone back at the office that you are only contactable if it’s urgent. This will allow you to be fully present when you’re away.
■Follow-up: Write names and notes about your discussion to jog your memory later on. Don’t follow up immediately unless it’s urgent, as no-one has time. A lot of people followed up with me while I was still at the conference, but I didn’t have time to look at their messages while travelling. By the time I got back to my emails, they were lost in the hundreds that had built up. Contrary to popular belief, I reckon three weeks is about right.
■Pre-preparation: Use New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s team if you’re going to a show overseas. They have a fantastic team whose whole job and life passion is to help sell Kiwis on a global stage. Look up who is exhibiting or sponsoring, send that list to the regional NZTE person in the market and they’ll find a way to do a personal introduction. Having the government on your arm makes a huge first impression with major international buyers.
■ Clear objectives: Be clear on your objective; it doesn’t always have to be about selling. Conferences are perfect for market research. If it costs an airfare and some accommodation but gives you thousands of your target market in one space, it’s often about market intelligence and validation — so do make sure you prepare ahead of the show on what it is you want to know and make sure you ask lots of questions.
In the case that you’ve invested in a stand, it can take two-three exhibits at the same show before you really build up a repeat clientele in that market. A stand is all about establishing your position — you’ll also get a lot more out of it if you contact prospects ahead of time and prearrange meetings.
■Patience: It takes time. We’ve got some great work coming out of Australia now, but some took three years from the first meeting to get across the line. Understand your product and market to have realistic expectations of what you can get directly out of a show. It’s about building relationships so that the next time something new comes along, you’re top of mind.
Trade shows are like a stage where the unprepared are merely spectators. It’s not the show that defines your success but the preparation and strategic intent you bring to it.
So next time you find yourself questioning the outcome, remember the magic happens not in the spotlight but in the shadows of preparation. Happy trade-showing.
■Sarah Ramsay is chief executive of United Machinists.
