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Seven Tips for Surviving the 2010 Financial Industry Tradeshows
By Kelly Williams, SVP of William Mills Agency
For more than a decade I’ve attended most of the big financial industry conferences. There’s no denying it, we’re now in a “global climate change” at these shows, and I predict things will never be the same again. Long gone are the days of bankers lining up at the door of the exhibit hall waiting for the opening. Over the past coup
 le of years, the volume of financial industry conference attendees (bankers, lenders, buyers/decision makers) has dropped through the floor, and it’s never going to bounce back.
This isn’t any new news to the exhibitors, but still too many vendors are using the same trade show playbook that they used 10 years ago! Millions of dollars are wasted on outdated trade show sales and marketing tactics. Too much time and effort is still spent on squishy balls and leaky promotional pens. Too many sales people are standing in empty booths tossing Nerf boomerangs to the bored sales people at the empty booth across from them. For those companies whom I’m describing (and you know who you are), this is madness and it's got to stop! Here’s some quick advice for the 2010 trade show campaign: 1) Kill the island booth – The only folks who care about the size of your booth are the booth manufacturers. Scale down to a 10’ x 10’ and use the tens of thousands of extra dollars to… 2) Get a hospitality suite – I guess it still happens sometimes, but I haven’t witnessed a truly substantive sales meeting in a trade show booth in years. It’s always interesting to see how vendors spend so much money and resources on their booths, only to take prospects over to the lunch tables on the side of the hall floor or back to their hospitality suite. Smart companies realize the importance of having a captive prospect. Get your prospects away from distractions, off the exhibit hall floor and up to your hospitality suite. The trick is getting a suite at a hotel that is adjacent to the show. If it’s more than a block away from the conference, forget it. 3) Go lean and mean – In 2010, expect even fewer attendees at all conferences. Do your homework before deciding on the total staff needed for the event. Having your booth overstaffed with few prospects on the floor isn’t just a waste of money – it looks silly! Bring only your best, brightest and most attractive sales people. Read the entire article at fintechmarketing.com. |
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th skepticism and hesitation. And now, several years later, we rank our investment with your firm as one of the best investments we have ever made as a company!"