My client Bold Clarity recently exhibited at its first trade exhibition, the Entrepreneurs Organisation Global University – London, at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane. It was a learning curve for all of us, so Bold Clarity founder Julia Langkraehr, has written this post about the lessons we learned for future trade exhibitions.
The EO Global University is an annual event, held all over the world, which I have attended and spoken at many times.
This London event was inspirational with speakers including Michelle Mone, the founder of Ultimo and the journalist Matthew Syed. The whole event was hosted by the hilarious Gyles Brandreth.
They shared their wisdom and experience on areas as diverse as getting publicity for your bra business, mindfulness & using innovation and technology to enhance your business.
The Entrepreneurs Organisation has a strict non-solicitation policy, however, for the EOXpo, we were able to promote our services and there was a wide range of exhibitors, from luxury holiday accommodation to new financial apps – plus Bold Clarity, talking about the Entrepreneurial Operating System.
This was the first time we had exhibited at a trade exhibition, and for us, the event was fantastic. We spoke to hundreds of business owners about how EOS could help their business – and gathered lots of interest.
Here are some of the lessons we learned about how to make the most of the experience of having a stand at exhibitions.
1. Make sure it’s the right target market
Our target market is businesses which turn over £5-50million, with 10-250 employees.
We knew that every single person at the EO University matched their target market.
And the very fact they were at the University was an indication they were open to learning, and keen to explore how they might run a better business.
So every single attendee was a potential lead.
2. Every
one likes a free gift
If you have a give-away, it’s an excellent way to capture leads.
Our gifts were books about EOS – either Traction or Get a Grip. For every one we gave away, we asked people to fill in their contact details.
And do you know, everyone happily gave them. No-one said no. And we came away with over a 100 business names.
We offered each business a complimentary 90 minute webinar to introduce EOS in more detail.
3. Consider how you promote your free gift
We arranged for a flyer redeemable for a free book to be placed in the event goodie bags. Unfortunately our flyer was stuck inside a Visit London booklet, making them difficult to find.
Our learning was that next time, we’re going to ask the organisers to place the vouchers on tables at the general session.
In the end, we gave away books as people came to the stand, which it worked absolutely fine.
4. Professional branding is key
We had a range of marketing materials, including flyers, bookmarks and stickers.
What was important to us was to make sure they had a clean, consistent, professional look and told a compelling story.
Our flyers had a simple message and a catchy headline, which really resonated with people.
5. Stand furniture
We found the most effective way to display our marketing materials was to order specifically designed plexiglass holders for the flyers, business cards and portable free-standing signs.
6. No barrier
We found it worked best to push the table back and stand in front, so there was no barrier between us and our visitors. Today shoppers are educated and empowered and want to be able to stand side-by-side and discuss the offer.
7. Have a back-up plan
We thought the best way to capture leads would be on a computer sign-up form feeding straight into a spreadsheet, which we created on Google Forms.
When it came to it, no-one wanted to fill in anything on a computer, and they all used the paper forms we had created as a back-up at the last minute.
If you would like to find out more about the Entrepreneurial Operating System, Bold Clarity offers a 90 minute facilitated meeting to explain the tools to your leadership team.
Contact us to find out how Rough House can help you at trade exhibitions, and with other promotion and publicity for your business.
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