An Exhibitor’s View Of Expo
Seeing the long game through the short game (or, why Expo pays off in the long run)
By David Schultz, DistributorCentral
Each year our team and more than 10,000 other industry professionals touch down in Las Vegas, steeped in anticipation of another great week at The PPAI Expo. Inevitably, either prior to or just after the show, someone at many of these companies (usually a well-meaning CFO or controller) will ask the question, “Is it worth it?”
Evaluating whether there is a direct financial return on the rather large investment of time and money required for a supplier or service provider to exhibit at a trade show is certainly an important part of building an effective marketing budget. However, given the difficulties in accurately assessing the direct and indirect ROI from trade shows, these numbers should be used cautiously as the primary factor when deciding whether or not to exhibit.
At DistributorCentral (UPIC: DC), we spread a portion of our marketing budget over a mix of large trade shows (The PPAI Expo being our primary show of the year), smaller trade shows, regional association events, supplier factory visits, distributor office visits and other events we support as a general sponsor or education partner. We invest our money (and quite a bit of time) in each of these events with the understanding that yes, we are there to increase sales in the short term, but more importantly we’re there to create and foster relationships that may not result in sales until much later (or occasionally, not at all). In other words, we may not see the full return on our investment until weeks, months, or even years after we return from Expo.
A discussion with a new customer at our Pro Party during Expo this year exemplified this idea: “We are amazed and grateful that your team has spent the past year talking with us when we haven’t yet made any financial investment in your company. During that time, you’ve helped us understand what we need in terms of a technical solution, what services your company provides, and how your platform can help us engage more customers and run our business more efficiently.”
As of this week, after a full year of talking to this customer at multiple industry events, visiting their offices halfway across the country, and spending time with them again at Expo this year, I’m happy to report that they are now a (happily) paying customer.
This example is certainly not unique to us, and others in the industry who take a long-game approach to sales and marketing will be familiar with these types of successful relationship-building outcomes. Expo is a unique event in the industry and I can honestly say the relationships we’ve built with customers, colleagues and even competitors at this event over the years have had a lasting positive effect on our development and growth as a company.
Whether it’s talking to customers in the booth, attending education sessions or committee meetings, discussing technical initiatives with industry leaders, partners and competitors or talking to people at networking events such as the SuccessFit 5K run, the PromoKitchen mixer, the Awards Gala, the Power of Two Party or the nightly ad hoc late-night networking sessions in the bar, the week is chock full of opportunities to meet new people and foster relationships with old friends and business partners. These events, and the associated conversations and relationships found therein, make it easier for us to focus on the long game during Expo week rather than focus on our financial investment and its direct (and immediate) return.
Don’t get me wrong. I still get irritated when I can’t refill my water bottle on the show floor because there are not any water fountains or I have to pay $5 for a banana (that costs $0.19 at my local grocery store … yes folks, that’s a 2,500 percent markup). Likewise, I’m still thrilled when we come out of Expo with a high number of new (or growing) accounts in place immediately that can be directly attributed to our investment and efforts at the show.
But in the end I’m even more excited that our experience over the years has left us in a position to more easily view the long game through the short game when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness and return of these events. As a company, we’re happy to be in a position to focus on the long game and grow with our customers as we look forward to 2016 and beyond.
David Shultz is vice president of operations at industry service-provider DistributorCentral, LLC. In addition to being part of the team behind DistirbutorCentral’s technology platform, he works with key supplier and distributor clients to help them evaluate and implement technology tools in their businesses.
