SPEND TO SELL

I recently spoke at the TSEA Winter Forum in Orlando. They had asked me to do a new presentation around the difficult topic of ROI for exhibiting.

If you’ve read any of my columns or newsletters over the years, you know I’m a cynic. And looking at this topic didn’t make me feel any different. Let’s be honest, okay? How much has been written over the last ten years about this? How many presentations have been given at industry conferences? I would venture to say A LOT. So, if there are already so many articles about the “47 Ways to Measure Your Trade Show ROI,” then how can I put a new spin that makes sense? 

As it turns out, I think I can.

First, I did a short online survey of TSEA members, asking what types of objectives they set for shows, how they measured success, overall satisfaction with trade shows today … that type of stuff. What I found out was pretty interesting.

Objectives set before the show? Here are the top five answers in reverse order:

5. Obtain new customers

4. Strengthen relationships with current customers

3. One-on-one time with prospects

2. Impart product knowledge

1. Increase/maintain image/awareness of company/product

Nothing surprising here. In survey after survey, we see Image and Awareness right at the top. But the fact is there is a huge problem being created by this objective. Think about it. Have you ever heard of TWA, Westinghouse, or Pontiac? Of course you have. You were also, most likely, in at least one or more of those companies target markets, right. So, when you needed to fly somewhere, did you fly TWA? Maybe. When you were in the market for a major appliance, did you buy a Westinghouse? Maybe. And when you were shopping for a new car, did you buy a Pontiac? Again, maybe. But the odds are you didn’t buy any of their products and services, because all three companies don’t exist anymore.

Generating Image and Awareness simply aren’t good enough as primary objectives. I have never been able to nor have I ever heard of anybody being able to cash a check on image or awareness. As I told the Winter Forum attendees, Image without PERSUASION is FLUFF. Awareness without MOTIVATION is malpractice. Any objective that isn’t designed to persuade and motivate simply isn’t good enough.

How did they measure performance and ROI?

5. Total amount of traffic in booth

4. Total number and value of post-show sales

3. Total number of qualified leads generated

2. Increase in awareness of company and products

1. Overall cost of exhibiting

Now it gets really interesting. This was a survey of TSEA members. TSEA members averaged exhibiting at over 113 last year! These are the people I would consider to be the PROS. And the #1 way they measure performance and ROI is Over Cost of Exhibiting?

Point in fact – there is a huge difference between a cost and an investment. There are only two ways to make money from a cost – either you cut it down or you cut it out. And once you’ve cut costs, do you stop there? No, you are always looking for ways to cut costs.

An investment, by its very nature, is supposed to pay you dividends. Ask yourself this question: if I guaranteed you a 20% return on your money, how much would you give me? The answer is ALL OF IT. And the fact is, it doesn’t matter whether you give me $10,000 or $10,000,000 does it?

This is why I don’t totally agree with the recent trade show industry focus and constant exhibitor haranguing about cutting costs to create value in exhibiting. Sure, you should not be overpaying for anything. That’s fiscal responsibility. And I am totally on your side regarding the annual price increases from service providers in our industry. It makes absolutely no sense that our industry continues to charge more and more when the rest of the business world is having trouble just maintaining prices from three to five years ago.

Is it any wonder exhibitors across industries are having difficulty proving value of exhibiting? Somehow we’ve fallen into the trap of thinking that objectives should be Image and Awareness, and measurement is based on Cost. We will never be able to prove value based on those. Those are deadly combinations to the trade show world, and if corporations are allowed to continue with these attitudes, it’s no surprise that a lot of trade shows are having difficulties.

There is actually a simple answer to this situation, though. I’m convinced this is the result of corporations approaching trade shows backwards. There’s an old saying, “What Gets Measured Gets Managed.”

So what would were you company like to measure? What are the overall corporate objectives your company has for the next year, the next three years, the next five years? Don’t look at it from the trade show perspective. Turn around and look at it from your company’s perspective. Odds are the really top goals fall under one or more of these:

·      Total revenues

·      Total profits

·      Market share

Right? Sure, you can list stuff like Branding, CRM, database, acquisitions, etc., etc., but the bottom line is these are strategies and tactics designed to ultimately impact one or more of those three goals.  It’s not rocket science.

The bottom line is simple: Spend to Sell.  The question to ask is how will a trade show in your industry help your company get closer to its primary objectives? Approaching exhibiting from this perspective may still cause you to have a critical eye about some events, but now it’s okay.

©2002 Steve Miller