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There are a lot of things that go into successfully exhibiting at a trade show or event, such as investing in pop-up banners and researching your competitors. However, these sometimes time-consuming tasks are far outweighed by the benefits that attending an exhibition can have.
A lot of businesses don’t give trade shows and exhibitions a second thought, assuming that advertising online and word of mouth is enough. Though these are great ways to attract new customers, connecting and meeting potential customers face to face is vital. There’s nothing easy about exhibiting and meeting potential customers face to face, but the rewards are impressive.
Why Attending Events and Meeting Customers Face to Face is Key
1) Connect With Prospective Customers
It can be difficult to follow up on a sales lead, especially if you are leaving messages and not getting a response. When you are trying to gain new customers, it’s hard to communicate with them and ensure that your voice is heard.
This isn’t a problem when you are exhibiting and meeting potential customers, as the entire conversation is a lot more personal and natural. There’s no need to worry about awkward communication over the phone, as you can connect face to face.
2) Build a Stronger Relationship With Existing Customers
As well as helping you to connect with potential customers, exhibiting also helps you to meet existing customers. A lot of business is done online and this can prevent a strong relationship being built between you and customers, so meeting face to face goes a long way. Customers are much more likely to use your services again if there’s a strong bond there, to begin with.
3) Gain Industry Knowledge
When you are at an exhibition, you are able to learn about new developments in the industry. This means gaining insight and knowledge that you may not have been privy to otherwise. Attending any industry event places you amongst the key players in the industry, meaning that you will be the first to know about new products and research. These are things that are sure to impress any customer.
4) Close Deals With New Customers
There are always opportunities to close deals with new customers during a trade show or event, something that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t meet face to face. Though trying to close a deal can be daunting, an event brings with it a more relaxed and casual vibe.
It’s a lot easier to close a deal when you are having a natural, friendly and organize conversion. With so many potential customers, there’s little stress of losing a sale.
5) Boost Brand Awareness
Attending an event and meeting potential customers is a great way to boost brand awareness. You will have access to a range of customers, which means that there’s a large audience to market the business too. Strengthening the brand is a lot easier when you have more people to interact with.
It’s a great way for small and new businesses to compete with those that are more established.
6) Gain Lots of New Leads
There are only so many people to be found via email marketing or looking through a database of contact details, which means that gaining new leads isn’t easy. There is a high chance that a lot of these people aren’t interested in what you are offering, which can make the entire task time consuming for very little return.
However, at a trade show or exhibition, you will have access to a lot of people that are already interested in the industry and what’s being offered. These events attract hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people and any of them could be a lead.
7) An Opportunity to Speak to Your Target Market
There is no denying that advertising is a difficult task, as it’s very hard to know whether or not you are reaching your target market. Though PPC and SEO can be tracked, it’s still not easy to directly make contact with people who are definitely interested in what you are offering.
However, an industry event is a room full of people who are definitely your target market. You can speak to them, find out what they want and what they don’t want. It’s a fantastic way to get feedback on your products and services.
8) A Way to Check Out Competitors
There’s always going to be other businesses offering similar products and services to you, which means that customers have a choice. By attending an exhibition or trade show, you can check out what your competitors are doing and how they are dealing with customers.
You can even speak to customers face to face and find out what they like, and don’t like another business. If there’s something that another business is doing wrong, you will know to avoid doing the same.
9) Improve Your Lead Generation Strategy
By meeting your potential customers face to face, you are able to improve your lead generation strategy. It doesn’t matter whether you work alone or you have a team of salespeople, it’s important to expose yourself to a lot of potential customers in a lot of different situations.
By going to industry events, you have the chance to practice and improve. You will also have the chance to practice new sales tricks in an environment full of responsive people.
10) Showcase Yourself as an Industry Expert
Though a tonne of businesses can be found online, only those that take themselves seriously bother to attend events. By doing so, you are showing potential customers that you are expert enough to attend and hold some level of authority. It’s unusual to find subpar, low-quality businesses at exhibitions and therefore being there immediately conveys that you know that you are doing.
A potential customer is much more likely to choose you over competitors, they trust what you know what you are doing and you have a genuine interest in the industry as a whole.
Author Bio:
[thrive_testimonial name=”” company=”” image=”https://dsim.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ben_landscape.jpg”]Ben Llewellyn, co-founder of Ultimate Banners – Birmingham UK. Ben is a tech enthusiast, designer and web developer. Find out more about UB by visiting their website UltimateBanners dot co.[/thrive_testimonial]
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