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Article
for Your Resellers
-Linda Musgrove
-TradeShow Teacher
-www.tsteacher.com
Hello class, it's great to be back with another trade show lesson! This month is a little different and the first time the topic will not apply to all of you. That said, for those of you where it does apply, it is an exceptionally important topic. Many businesses rely heavily on resellers to sell and promote their products. Often those relatively small resellers exhibit at regional or even bigger shows, yet are, let's put it mildly, somewhat inexperienced exhibitors. So today, we'll be talking about the benefits of creating a formalized exhibiting program aimed at your resellers to help them improve their trade show results and subsequently your sales.
Before I started my own company and became the TradeShow Teacher, I was a trade show manager for a technology company. At some point this company shifted its focus from direct sales to a channel sales model and a reseller program was created. One of the benefits of becoming a higher tier reseller was marketing dollars for advertising, direct mailers, trade shows and things like that. After the first couple of trade shows the resellers exhibited at, it became really obvious that they needed guidance for their exhibiting efforts; they needed planning tools and marketing support materials. They were making every mistake in the book and were effectively wasting their marketing funding. Clearly we couldn't let that go on.
One of the first things I did was to develop a formalized reseller trade show program which included items such as trade show training webinars, conference calls, individual coaching, show planning and follow up tools, customizable marketing materials and more. And sure enough, increased revenue for the resellers and more sales for my former employer were soon to come.
The experience of steering businesses towards achieving success with their trade shows was ultimately what inspired me to become the TradeShow Teacher. Working with a great deal of clients over the years I have been able to optimize the reseller trade show program I first created. In this lesson, you will learn the strategies I use to help clients structure their programs; so you can help your resellers increase their trade show outcomes and your revenue as a direct result.
To optimize the benefits for my clients, we work closely to prepare the most effective program that meets their needs and the needs of their resellers. Unfortunately this column can't deliver you with your own customized program outline since that would require all the space in Exhibit City News and then some, but I can share some of the key points that can apply to almost any reseller trade show program.
Key areas to include in your reseller training webinars are:
• How to select the most targeted shows to exhibit at
• Planning strategies
• Key prospect profiles and how to reach them
• Setting goals and objectives
• Lead planning, handling and follow-up
• Display messaging and graphics
• Booth staff training
• Networking skills
• Post show analysis and ROI reporting to enable exhibit program growth
Key marketing pieces you should provide include:
• Flyers
• Direct mailers
• Brochures
• Data Sheets
• White Papers
• Press Kits
These materials should be easy to customize. Since not every company has a graphic designer on staff it's important to create the materials in a universal program such as Microsoft Word. Typically the materials you offer are similar or identical to your existing collateral with a customizable area where the resellers can enter their contact information.
Key tools you should provide :
• Spreadsheet template for shows to consider and selected shows to exhibit at
• Show planning checklist
• Show planning meeting(s) checklist
• Show planning document with a list of all pertinent show details; this should be designed to guide resellers through the planning process and documentation of show planning activities and tasks
• Goals and objectives worksheet
• Key prospect profile worksheet
• Competitor profile worksheet; to be used for each show
• Competitive analysis comparison worksheet or spreadsheet
• Competitor trade show tracking
• Budget spreadsheet
• ROI and ROO reporting spreadsheet
• Post show reporting questions for booth staff to answer
• Post show reporting template
• Supply list
• Media policy
• Booth staff guide
• List of sample engaging, qualifying and closing questions
• List of sample networking conversation starters
• Samples of how to tactfully disengage from unqualified prospects
Offering ready to print display and banner artwork is also a good idea. You may also decide to implement a loaner program for those items. Either way, this offering helps ensure consistency and branding of your company and products. Include directions for the type of material to print on, the type of display to select if applicable, as well as any other printing and display related requirements or recommendations.
Since some of that material keeps changing and you don't want to rely on your resellers to keep track of those changes, ideally all of these files should reside on a password protected website exclusively designed for your reseller's trade show program materials. This is the proven method my clients implement. This approach lends itself to "on-demand" access that gives resellers the most flexibility and delivers the ability to instantly and efficiently provide resellers with updated materials. Of course you can use CDs or email, but then you will have to constantly send updated materials individually to each reseller, and hope they find the most recent updates when they need them.
Another effective strategy for your program is to offer an annual, bi-annual, or quarterly educational seminar in which resellers can learn new trade show strategies. Offer training on a variety of topics and provide the opportunity for resellers to "take the stage" and share their "success stories". This presents them with the opportunity to learn new skills and strategies they can apply to their exhibit program and provides the ability for the resellers to network with each other and potentially create new business opportunities.
A combination of the efforts we just covered will go a long way in boosting your resellers' exhibiting successes. That's it for this lesson; best of luck to you and your resellers. Bye for now.
HOMEWORK
Consider offering a trade show program for your resellers.
Note however that if you do decide to implement a program, you can't just provide a couple of tips and tricks and hope for revenue to go through the roof. Developing a successful trade show program requires a clear commitment, from both your company and your resellers.
Learn more at http://www.tsteacher.com and sign up for the FREE monthly Trade Show Tactics newsletter. Follow on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tsteacher
Contact Us Today
TradeShow Teacher, Inc
18305 Biscayne Blvd.
Suite #200
Aventura, FL 33160
Phone: (305) 742-0982
Fax: (800) 259-4269
