How many times should you do a trade show before deciding it’s not right for you?

On Monday, I talked about pushing the flywheel and the importance of consistency.  When it comes to shows, I think you need to commit to doing a show several times in order to see the results.

But I understand that doing a show (especially a trade show) is a big financial commitment.  And in the comments, someone asked “how many chances should you give a show before pulling the plug?”

The short answer is, I think 3 shows is a good commitment.

Often times, stores will want to see you several times before they’re willing to commit some shelf space to your products.  (They don’t want to make room for you in the store if you won’t be around for the long haul.)

But the more complicated answer is that sometimes you do need to bail after the first show.  But in order to figure that out, you need to ask yourself, “was it me or the show?”

And you need to be realistic about this.  It’s easy to blame the show, when your lack of success may have more to do with your own lack of pre-show marketing, less than stellar booth design, or some other factor that is in your control.

So here are some questions to ask yourself when evaluating whether or not to give a show a second (or third) chance:

• Was your product a good fit for the show? Was the aesthetic a good fit?  Were the other products in a similar price range? Ideally, this is something you want to figure out before applying to a show in the first place.  But sometimes, that doesn’t happen.  If you’re work just isn’t a good fit for the show, then no amount of sticking it out is going to make that show successful for you.  Instead, look for a show that’s a better fit.
• Was there traffic? Did other vendors write orders?  Was there traffic in other areas of the show (just not by your booth)? You don’t want to waste your time on a show that isn’t bringing in the buyers.  But a bad location or lack of pre-show marketing may be just as much to blame for your lack of traffic.  So when you evaluate traffic, try to figure out if other vendors were writing orders, or if certain areas of the show did see more traffic.  If that’s the case, work on improving your marketing and booth design, or ask for a new location at the next show.  If traffic was low all around, you should think about picking a better show.
• Did you do enough (or any) pre-show marketing? Just showing up is not a solid strategy for a successful show.  Slow sales may just be a result of your lack of marketing.  I understand that it can be hard to get marketing out the door when you’re struggling with prep for your first show.  But try beefing up marketing efforts for you next show before you just disregard the show entirely?
• Is there some post show follow up you can do? Ok, so maybe you didn’t walk out of a show with a lot of orders.  But did you get some good leads?  Was there interest in your products?  Sometimes, all it takes to go from not breaking even to having a profitable show is following up to get post show orders.
• Did the show offer other benefits? So maybe you didn’t write all the orders you wanted.  But perhaps the show resulted in some killer press that helped boost your retail e-commerce sales.

Make decisions objectively, not based on emotions.

As you’re evaluating these criteria, it’s important to look at them objectively.  After the show, it’s easy to feel frustrated (or just plain exhausted) and to let your emotions cloud your decision making.  For instance, instead of just assuming that there really was no traffic,  you could ask show organizers how many attendees there were, and how that compares to other years.  And make sure that you’re actually calculating sales, orders, and expenses, and not just assuming the show was bad.  And don’t forget to include follow-up orders in those calculations.

Most importantly, don’t make hasty decisions about whether to do a show again.  Give yourself a few weeks to process the show, evaluate, and gain some perspective.  Often times, people give up on a show too quickly, when really all they needed was a consistent presence to make the show work for them.

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Want to learn more strategies for making a trade show a success? Check out my best selling class on Creative Live, Sell Your Products to Retailers.