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Preparing for Trade Shows Is like Preparing to Do Battle

What it takes to prepare for trade shows

Kaye Marks

January 09, 2009

Trade shows are good venues to introduce your product. They are good in the sense that they attract a wide array of people and more is always good business. However, when you prepare for trade shows, you have to prepare for the unexpected. You always have to factor in Murphy’s Law when it comes to trade shows.

When something wrong is bound to happen, it will go wrong. For instance, your print collaterals just arrived from the brochure printing shop and you discover that you have the wrong color brochure printing job.

One trade show for instance was cancelled because of a hurricane. Everything was set but because of the downpour and the strong winds, the expected crowd did not show up. Something as simple as forgetting your business card can ruin everything.

Situations like these do happen. They are part of events that you may or may not have any control over. Some you have control over like the delivery of wrong paraphernalia from the color brochure printing company. Some you just have to accept. Nevertheless, for all these things, there is really one thing you can do, be it controllable or not. You have to prepare for them.

As they say, a pound of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Here are some things that you can do to prepare yourself or your team to do ‘battle’ during trade shows:

Preparation 1:  Anticipate.

You cannot go to battle without the proper training or if you are not properly armed. You have to have a checklist of all the things you will need or you think you will need. The list should be exhaustive to anticipate any potential problems. It can be as innocuous as bringing a flashlight so that you are ready if in case the power is cut in a trade show, or something as elaborate as going to the brochure printing company several times to confirm the delivery of the right brochures.

It is also important that your team understands the plan. Therefore, even if you are not around, your team can effectively manage your booth. Remember that the world does not revolve around you, and your business should continue even if you are not physically around. Pinch-hitting is definitely an effective means to stay on top of things during events like this.

Preparation 2:  Know your Combat Zone.

It is quite obvious that you should know where the trade show will be but more importantly, you should also know some services that are available in the immediate area that you might need, i.e. closest hospital or police outpost, a copy house, delivery service, bus terminal, color brochure printing company in case you run out of brochures or business cards.

Knowing your area well in advance would save you time particularly when you need to do some unexpected errands. You can do this by buying a local map and plotting these services on the map. By doing this, you will not waste time looking for a facility or a particular service provider.

Preparation 3: Know your Enemy.

This is probably the most used principle in Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ and there is no doubt that this is the most useful.

Know who are going to be there in the trade show. What products do they offer? How different are their brochure printing from yours? How different is their pricing scheme? By knowing the competition, you can immediately assess how you would fare. In addition, by knowing this, you can adjust accordingly.

Every trade show is a battleground. The key here is to be prepared for anything. Often, seemingly big problems become insignificant if you and your team have the right battle plan.

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