To Darryl Bond, prospecting is a lot like fishing. You may start out with big plans, but it's what you bring home that counts.
Last year, the Sales Manager for the Toronto Sportmen's Show identified a television program as a prospect for Canada's largest outdoor-sports event. "I established contact and told them about our show, but I wasn't having a lot of luck getting them," Bond says. "While chatting with the guy from the show, though, he mentioned some people with a hot new fishing lure and a guy who was considering selling it in Canada."
Bingo, another lead.
Bond continued to work his television contact -- who has yet to join the show -- but tracked down the "Sadu Strobe" lure salesman as well. "I called him, found out what he was trying to do to sell his product and stayed in touch," Bond recalls. "He ended up coming into last year's show with a 10-by-10 booth. It wasn't a big account, but it shows what happens if you listen and follow up."
Successful exhibit sales depend on a solid prospecting plan -- an organized, effective way to identify companies that will benefit by joining your show. Likewise, you need a fact-finding philosophy that arms your sales force with the customer information they need to make a successful pitch.
"If you don't prospect it can be disastrous," says Helen Berman, President of Helen Berman and Associates, a Los Angeles-based firm specializing in exposition and publishing sales and marketing. "No matter how wonderful your show is, you're going to have attrition; and if you want to grow your event you have to do double duty. Finding new exhibitors and new markets is what it's all about."
Getting started
Everyone in your company or involved in your show should be finding new prospects. Practically speaking, however, the job usually comes down to the show management or sales force.
To expand their reach, Blenheim Group USA, in Fort Lee, NJ, has designated prospectors as part of its sales team. Since last June, the multi-management group has charged three researchers with finding exhibitor leads for the Networks, PC and Unix expos produced by Blenheim's Information Technology (IT) Group.
"Our salespeople used to be responsible for prospecting, but the researchers have increased sales phone calls by at least 25 percent across the board," says Mark Dineen, IT Group Vice President. "We're trying to get to the point where the salespeople are the sales closers. If it works in IT, then we'll consider expanding to our other shows as well."
Whether you're drumming up prospects or driving those who do, base your prospecting activities on two things: your show's audience and your ideal exhibitor.
"People often fail to identify their own audience first," says Sylvia Allen, President of Allen Consulting, an event and sponsorship marketing firm in Holmdel, NJ. "You must identify them both demographically and psychographically before you can look for companies that want to reach them."
Defining your ideal exhibitor also is critical. In his book, Guerrilla Selling, Jay Conrad Levinson suggests that you ask, "Who are they? What do they look like? ...When do they need your product? ...Ask yourself what responsibilities they have. What problems are they trying to solve? By profiling your ideal prospects, you'll recognize them better when you meet them in the community, on the commuter train, or sit next to them on an airplane."
The San Francisco-based author and consultant advises, "Knowing that saves you time and helps you overcome the biggest obstacle to prospecting, which is impatience. You have to have the patience to identify the right prospects and stay with them until they become your customers."
Customer connections
Armed with knowledge of your attendees and the exhibitors that appeal to them, you're ready to search. Where do you look? Start with your current exhibitors.
"As soon as I'd sign an exhibitor, I'd ask, 'Who do you know who would also be good for the show?'" says Jeff Slutsky, President of Street Fighter Marketing near Columbus, OH, and the co-author of books such as Street Smart Marketing and How to Get Clients. "Notice I don't ask, 'Do you know anyone? ...,' but 'Who do you know? ...' Every business has hundreds of contacts who could be good for you."
Slutsky suggests using a "prospect wheel." Put the name of one exhibitor in the center, then add spokes for related classifications, such as that company's suppliers, competitors, vendors, associations and sister companies. "Once, I entered a new industry with only one client," Slutsky recalls. "By the time I finished with the wheel exercise, I had 500 new leads to follow up on."
Try the same process with several key show attendees. Who do they contract with? Which of your exhibitors do they use? What related businesses do they work with that don't appear on your exhibitor list?
Search for lists
List generation ranks as one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. Thanks to recent technological advances, finding lists, list brokers and new sources will continue to become even easier than it is today.
"Getting lists of prospects is not hard," says Berman. "The hard part is sifting those lists through a screening process that yields the names you want."
Look at the obvious sources, but also consider your industry's members and what they must do to become or remain involved. Are they registered, approved, certified or documented in some way? "If the people you're trying to reach have to be licensed, like in the aviation industry, then you can get constant updates on prospective customers from groups like the Federal Aviation Administration," says Berman. "You need to ask yourself where these people appear. What lists are they on, and how do you get the lists?"
Don't forget the incredible number of business directories available for prospecting. There's no way your regional consumer event has bagged every possibility in the local Yellow Pages. National directories offer even greater opportunities for new blood.
Consider, too, the latest electronic and on-line listings. Digital Directory Assistance Inc., for example, recently introduced PhoneDisc PowerFinder '95, a CD-ROM directory of more than 90 million people, businesses and organizations. American Business Information Inc. offers the American Yellow Pages, with more than 10 million U.S. businesses, on CD-ROM. And Dun & Bradstreet now sells disks loaded with information on foreign markets.
In the public eye
Publications, in general, are a proven source for prospecting. What magazines do your current exhibitors read? Which do they buy advertising in? Who advertises there who's not in your show? Can you strike up a cooperative prospect-identification effort with the magazine's sales force?
New Hope Communications in Boulder, CO, uses its monthly magazine advertisers in Delicious and Natural Food Merchandiser nearly exclusively to drive exhibit sales for its two annual Natural Products expos, of 200,000 and 400,000 square feet.
"We don't really have to go out and sell our booths because people always are contacting us about the magazines and the shows," says Dianne Hirsch, Exhibition Sales and Services Manager. "Throughout the year we run exhibitor information and contact numbers, and our advertising salespeople talk about our shows as they sell."
Another source for prospects is the calls that come in in response to bylined articles in trade and consumer magazines. Although the writing takes time, the exposure can be tremendous. "We're the world's greatest believers in bylined articles," says John Graham, President of Quincy, MA-based Graham Communications and the author of Magnet Marketing: The Ultimate Strategy for Attracting and Holding Customers. "You wouldn't believe all the times I've heard, 'I just read your article...,' and there you've got another prospect."
Mingle, mingle, mingle
Few show managers deny that they search the competitions' events for prospects. It's the obvious place to look for those interested in reaching your audience. "You've got to see what exhibitors they have that you don't," says Jerry Patterson, Executive Group Manager for Helen Brett Enterprises, an independent show producer based in Lisle, IL. "Some would say that's pirating, but we have several events where we let other show managers attend, and they let us into theirs as well."
Sylvia Allen also supports such visits. "I'd tell people to go to the competition's show in a heartbeat," she says. "You're not stealing exhibitors, you're offering them additional exposure to their customers."
While most show managers make these visits low key, Meg Smith, Expo Director for the American Sportfishing Association in Alexandria, VA, often tries to become part of the scene.
"This past year I've been taking exhibit space -- usually donated by another association -- at the marine trade shows," says Smith, who takes advantage of slow times and networking opportunities to look for interest in her own 150,000-square-foot event. "You can read all the trade magazines you want, but you have to get out and see people to find out who you're missing."
Networking can also be a vital prospecting tool. Attend business and social events related to your target industry. Join committees and boards. Find out where your exhibitors meet -- besides your show -- and become involved. Most associations provide a directory of members. Use their meetings to mingle with potential exhibitors and learn enough about target companies to customize your sales pitch.
Consider club memberships, too, especially for consumer shows. "It's amazing how many fishing, hiking and hunting clubs we have," says Bond with the Toronto Sportsmen's Show. "Even more surprising is how many industry people are in them. It's a great way to get to know people, tell them about what you're doing and get them to join the show."
Be a sleuth
Once you've identified your prospects, it's time to find out all about them, specifically what your prospect needs to buy from you and how to distinguish yourself from the competition. What and how much to include in your fact-finding efforts will vary with your industry, prospect and selling challenge. Certainly, you want an overview of the company, its buyers, products or services, the competitive environment, marketing challenges and decision-making process.
"In our business we say, 'If the guy is hot on his dog, find out about the dog and put it in the database,' " says Bond. "That one piece of information may be what makes your sale."
Consider the people you can talk with for starters. Who gave you the prospect's name? What do they know about the company? Have your existing exhibitors heard of them? What about key members of your audience upon whom you can call? Find out if they belong to an industry association, and what the membership office can offer.
If you don't have time to call anyone, Berman says a focused review of a prospect's trade journal ad and/or sales brochure should reveal the company's product positioning, target market, important features, product differentiation, how it views the competition and how the prospect sees itself. "It's all right there for anyone who takes the time to think about it," says Berman.
Don't forget to check your local library. The ABI/Inform system includes nearly 1,000 business periodicals. CD-ROMs offer everything from Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar disk of 200,000 U.S. companies to the National Trade Data Bank. A good reference librarian can also lead the way into the Internet's inner workings, including documents filed by public companies.
A direct approach
Don't hesitate to call the prospect company directly. If it's a public company, request an annual report, prospectus and other available materials. "Read what the president or CEO has to say, and get the company's global perspective," suggests Allen. "You don't have to be an accountant to understand their numbers. Look at where they're making money and where they're losing it. It's all material you can use in formulating your approach."
If your prospect is a private company, call anyway. Ask for sales brochures and find out if they've been the subject of any recent business publication profiles.
"I tell them exactly who I am, what I'm representing and why I want the information -- which is to find out more about the company so I can offer something that will help them," says Bond. "I'm not attempting, as a nameless, faceless wonder, to talk them into the show. I'm just exchanging basic information."
For initial research, Levinson favors prospect questionnaires. "You make it clear you're not selling anything, you simply want information," says the guerrilla sales guru. "Use no more than 20 questions and a lead-in paragraph that says, 'The more information we have about you, the better we'll be able to serve you."
When he conducted such a fact-finding survey for Sony Corp., Levinson says he actually got a better response to 20 questions and the explanatory paragraph than five stand-alone questions. "Prospects will be predisposed to do business with you because you've demonstrated that you care about their needs," he says.
What about telemarketing?
When it comes to research, telemarketing has both fans and detractors. "I would not look to an outside firm to sell for me," says Berman. "There's not a lot gained in having someone without knowledge of your industry gathering information."
Conversely, Helen Brett Enterprises finds telephone teams save time and eliminate unqualified prospects. "Telemarketing is one of the best ways to let a good firm get out and find leads so you can make the calls that sell," says Patterson. "We'll give them lists from numerous sources, and have them reduce them to the most productive."
Slutsky also favors the telephone approach. "We hire temps to do a survey of seven or eight questions for the first round," he explains. "Once that's done, we can put the performers onto the best prospects."
Identifying, then researching, new prospects for your show is not an easy or inexpensive proposition. Sales experts agree, however, that the investment will pay off for your exhibit space marketing drive. "Any resources that go into prospecting," says Graham, "will be the best money a company ever spends."
Fortunately, your available prospecting channels and information resources are better than ever. But the challenges have also mounted. "It used to be, 'If you do the show, they will come,' " says Smith at American Sportfishing. "But that's not the case anymore. Now you have to be out there finding new exhibitors as well or better than the next guy."
