Trade shows have had a long history of ups and downs.
About 25 years ago, trade shows were all the rage. Companies would send multiple people, aisleways were packed and there were so many trade shows to choose from, you could be gone every day of the year, and maybe you’ll hit them all. Exhibitors would walk out with stacks of business cards. It would take sales and marketing a long time to follow up, just to find those precious few that would turn into sales.
Then a disrupter hit, and companies significantly cut back on sending people to trade shows, and many events went out of business. Exhibiting companies were concerned about the quantity of leads. However, they realized it was just fewer people in attendance. Sales and marketing still had the job of calling to qualify the leads in order to have something in the sales cycle. Again, it was calling to find the few.
As of a couple months ago, companies kept that practice of only sending one or two representatives to a trade show, but it needed to be justified to get the approval to go. It still wasn’t so bad for exhibitors as they came out with sales leads. However, there was another slow-moving trend. I remember exhibitors at their booth saying, “After spending 2 days here, there’s maybe only a couple worth following up.” Or “The show is okay, but so-n-so is here, so we have to be too.” The answers generally were, “Eh, it’s okay,” with their facial expressions saying, ‘I don’t know why I’m here’.
Take this new disrupter as an opportunity to evaluate your sales and marketing budget for trade shows. This may be your chance to revisit which trade shows really do pay for itself.
Other Options
The hard part with trade shows being canceled or postponed are finding new sales lead generation channels.
Some are trying to increase their social media presence such as LinkedIn. Some are turning to mobile advertising, video development, sponsoring virtual trade shows and testing the benefits of e-commerce. The degree of success varies; however, it still requires cold(ish) calling efforts to understand if a sales opportunity exists. Everyone is asking, “Is there anything better?”
Discover a New Channel Source
SalesLeads provides educational content each month with insights about our Project Reports, along with MiR reports and articles to refine your sales and marketing skills. Take a moment to evaluate this channel to help fill your sales funnel. Here’s why:
- We use researchers and verification methods to provide highly accurate and relevant opportunities.
- These come to you in the form of a Project Report.
- Project Reports are identified opportunities in your industry.
- Each report includes: Project summary, Project location, Project use, Project type, Project stage and Project Value. It also includes the contact names, titles, phone numbers and email addresses. (open an account to see more samples)
Industry Publications Publish MiR Reports
MiR Reports provide insights into what’s going on in the general manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, food & beverage, as well as other areas of interest. Because of the type of information our researchers gather, key publications publish the data and content. 
Author: Evan Lamolinara
Since 1959, SalesLeads, based out of Jacksonville, FL has been providing Industrial Project Reports on companies that are planning significant capital investments in their industrial facilities throughout North America. Our professional research team identifies new construction, expansion, relocation, major renovation, equipment upgrades, and plant closing project opportunities so that our clients can focus sales and marketing resources on the target accounts that have an impending need for their products, services, and indirect materials.
