Familiarize yourself with available trade show opportunities by compiling a list of scheduled
international, national, regional, and local expos. Prioritize these expos to fall in line with your current marketing plans. The number of expos which a company should consider participating in should be directly related to the staff’s ability to follow-up on leads attained from a show. If sales representatives or existing franchises are located in the selected markets, they should be made aware of the expo from the planning stages. Franchisees should be prepared for an increase of prospective investor visits to their locations.
Meeting qualified prospects and ultimately making sales are the reasons for exhibiting in an expo. It is not enough, however, to simply generate leads and sell franchises, a company must set specific goals for leads and sales to achieve. A conservative rule of thumb is to ultimately sell franchises through expos for approximately half the marketing cost of any traditional print ads. Remember that selling is not a simple process, it is rarely accomplished in a single step. Trade shows are used to accelerate that process. Such things as trade show exhibits, table covers, table top display and directors chairs are the things those support us in marketing strategies.
