Do you plan on attending a trade show this summer? Do you have any aspirations of being a vendor? As a business owner, you should utilize every opportunity to be present at any trade show relevant to your industry.
Ideally, you can set up a trade show display as a vendor. This will enable you to take advantage of the ability to meet and greet throngs of people who may be interested in what your brand has to offer.
Here are four reasons to become a trade show vendor this summer:
1. You will get face time with industry insiders and potential customers.
There is nothing quite like the face-to-face meeting. Sure, modern technology affords us the ability to meet over the internet. But is there anything truly comparable to an in-person greeting complete with a handshake? A trade show will enable you to get plenty of face time with both the movers and shakers of your industry, says Chad Otar on Forbes.com.
“Not only that, but you aren’t going to have to worry about the waste and inefficiencies of ‘cold targeting’ potential business partners, clients and customers at trade shows the way you do with more traditional marketing,” he writes, “You know the people attending trade shows are at the very least interested in what you have to offer, and are more likely to listen to pitches, network with you and your team.”
2. You will raise brand awareness.
We can’t think of a better venue to boost your brand’s recognition than a trade show. It literally places your company in a position where it is surrounded by industry types and consumers who would most benefit from what you have to offer. As Charles Dugan encourages on Bplans.com, you should take the opportunity to hand out freebies of your products at the trade shows you attend.
“Don’t be shy about handing out your freebies, either,” he advises, “The more an attendee sees your goods, the more eager he or she will be to find your booth and see what you’re about. This strategy is great for sales because once someone has tried something, they often feel obliged to make a purchase. It’s called the law of reciprocity - use it to your advantage.”
3. You will get to scope out the competition.
A trade show is the ideal event and location to get up close and personal views of what your competitors are up to. Not only will you get the chance to greet visitors at your booth, you’ll be able to visit other booths as well. By doing so, you get to take in the sales pitches and presentations of other businesses in your industry. The insight you gain is invaluable.
“Nowhere else will you have this many opportunities to learn from the more established, most successful companies in a market or industry,” Otar points out, “Nowhere else will all their ‘secrets’ be on full display, and nowhere else are you going to be able to get the kind of inside information and insight from their sales and marketing teams—and potentially even high-level executives—with as much freedom and as much transparency as you will at a trade show.”
4. You will grow your opportunities to boost sales.
With Unity Payments' Virtual Terminals, you can turn any mobile device into a credit card terminal. That way, you can seamlessly process credit card and debit card sales at any trade show you attend! To learn more, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca.
