Detlef Persin NAOS -new assessment of sales-

Your customer spectrum as a guest: Nowhere can business contacts be made as well as at trade fairs. Direct contact with business partners and customers opens up great opportunities for exhibiting companies. But only those who communicate properly and have prepared themselves well for their trade fair presence will really score points.

Trade fairs are not just shopping forums. They are industry meetings and therefore also information and communication events. Even in the digital age, it is rare to get closer to potential customers in such a short time. New and proven products can literally be presented to the market up close. In addition, they also receive direct customer feedback. Even today, trade fair visitors want to exchange ideas, get to know products, companies and contacts, deepen contacts or discover innovations. However, in view of the large number of exhibitors, they are increasingly spoilt for choice. Seeing and being seen is also the motto. If you want to be noticed and win new customers, you inevitably have to stand out from your competitors. "Trade fairs are an important means of communication and should therefore be an integral part of a company's marketing mix. If exhibitors do not sufficiently prepare themselves for a visit to a trade fair, this can quickly backfire, because the first impression counts when it comes to contact with the stand visitor. Before a company stand is set up and the information material laid out, there is therefore a thorough preparation for the trade fair.

There are two basic questions to be answered in advance:

• Is active participation in trade fairs worthwhile for my company at all?
• What are my expectations and goals?

Only after these questions have been answered positively can a decision be made as to which trade fairs are the most appropriate. The presentation at international trade fairs, where the world market meets, must of course be different from that at regional events. In addition, the target group must be clearly named if presentation and address are to fit. For the right preparation it is also important to select the right hall for the company's stand. There is no point in presenting a new product for mobile work organisation in a hall for game consoles. The desired target group then romps around somewhere else.

The trade fair team put together for the stand should be trained not only in product knowledge but also in communication behaviour before the first "practical run". A communication training course conducted professionally beforehand already helps to avoid the worst mistakes. A further important point, as already mentioned, is the often underestimated definition of goals, as each employee of the stand crew is subject to the misconception that they are clear from the outset.

Trade fair objectives can look as different as the following examples show:

• Increase awareness
• regular customer care
• Presentation of new products and services
• Image improvement of the company and the brands
• Development of new markets
• Conclusion of sale and contract
• New cooperation partners and "market research

It makes sense to define such success parameters because they can be used for critical post-processing of the trade fair. This should be carried out directly after the trade fair, because only in this way can the repetition of mistakes be avoided and the tried and tested even improved.

Once the preparation phase is complete, the exhibition stand set up and the first visitor there, things get serious. Now the so-called personal street skills of the employee are used. Because the strength of a trade fair presence is especially the face-to-face communication! In a personal conversation, the product is explained and, in the best case, the customer's purchase request is triggered. For this reason, the stand staffing must be selected with great care. After all, employees should convey the core message of the company and the product quickly and effectively. They must be able to identify potential customers as quickly as possible, address them, keep them "on the ball" and, if necessary, competently survive a longer technical discussion. Employees must therefore not allow themselves to make any mistakes in their communication with visitors to the stand. To do this, the stand crew must inquire about the customer benefits of the stand visitors, be able to master the unique selling propositions of their products and be able to name them accordingly professionally. This must be done in every situation in a serious, friendly and professional manner. The advantages of the personal approach can be increased even more if the personality structures of the various interlocutors are precisely identified. In this way, the needs of the other person can be met exactly. An old hand in business wants and should be treated differently than a "greenhorn". For the structured recognition of the different characters not alone knowledge of human nature is sufficient, in addition there are supporting, practicably applicable personality models. Of course, a stand employee should have sufficient empathy and good communication skills. But of course everything can be learned and refined up to a certain individual level.

Stand personnel should also be given the opportunity to leave the stand within a reasonable and previously agreed time frame and try to present themselves to a larger audience at the trade fair. This can be achieved, for example, by becoming a participant in an expert discussion round or by giving specialist lectures. As trade fairs increasingly take on a congress character, there are more and more opportunities to give a lecture or participate in a panel discussion.

Today, an eye-catching stand is no longer enough to generate visitor numbers. Therefore it is indispensable to address visitors in a competent and target group-oriented manner, to have a digital, CRM-supported invitation process as well as fixed customer appointments in advance. No matter what measures a company takes: "It is important to always be aware that a successful trade fair discussion always means tailor-made communication tailored to the individual trade fair visitor!

Detlef Persin
NAOS -new assessment of sales-www.naos-office.de
dp@naos-office.de
Phone: 0641 795 0333