Yes, the overall attendance at some trade shows in down, but for some exhibitors they are finding a higher quality of attendees which nets a better qualified lead.
Leroy Hull, Vice President of Training for Mortex Manufacturing , has just returned to Dallas after being on the road facilitating his company’s trade show efforts – first at the Atlantic City Pool and Spa Show and then last week at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas. His report from the road was “the decision makers who we wanted to see showed up!” He shared that the conversations they had were not doom and gloom, but showed some optimism about projects in the pipeline. In his assessment, most companies will have to work a bit harder to find the leads – but they are there and there is business to be conducted.
Mortex had an outside position for the World of Concrete. It was a demo area where they could show their products. The weather was perfect and the level of attendee was the owners, not just the construction crews (as in the past). Over all the numbers of leads were down by 10 – 20 %, but the “right” person was there. Mortex is one of the companies that will follow up every lead they gathered. Since they were talking directly to owners, the decision makers, and had their full attention, they could infer that the sales cycle might be shortened.
The Atlantic Pool and Spa show was a “shock” for them. I say “shock”, meaning it was an unexpected positive experience. Attendance was much larger than they were expecting and, again, the quality of leads was high. Mr. Hull said “it was a very nice surprise to have those types of attendees show up and be interested in our products.”
Mortex and thousands of other exhibitors who are participating in trade shows this quarter can be off to a great start because they found the leads and are following through to have these leads do business with them and not the competition.
