Travel tradeshows and your companies’ conference are always great places to spend your hard-earned marketing budget! Youre return on investment is directly correlated to what YOU contribute to YOUR success while offsite at such an events. Most successful advisors know their outcome before they attend, and plan to walk-away with value from their time away from their office. Here are some strategies to check off, or update while you prepare, experience and follow-up from your upcoming 2014 travel tradeshow and conference season.
1. Prepare before you go. Take 10 minutes and define your purpose(s) for attending and write it (them) down. Knowing in advance what you want to get out of the tradeshow will help you focus while you are there. Here are some of the reasons why successful agents attend such events:
- Acquiring new information
- Training, coaching, education
- Meeting suppliers
- Connecting with like-minded professionals
- Motivation and inspiration
- Rest and relaxation
- Checking out the competition
Whatever your reasons are for attending, make sure you prioritize them as “needs” or “wants.” This will ensure that you will focus on the most important items first. Don’t forget to think about pictures of certain travel celebrities and colleagues you want to take to post/tweet/instagram to your community.
2. Plan and manage your time before you arrive. Research the schedule of events. Find out who is giving a keynote address and what their topic is, which suppliers are exhibiting, what FAMs are offered, etc. and determine which of these will help you fulfill your business goals.
3. Put your passion on. Simply stated…passion attracts passion. It always baffles me why the negative nellies wonder why they are alone, and don’t connect well with others. If we all get back what we give, then start your event with an attitude of giving value, positivity, and a mindset of learning. Your happiness shows through your smile (or lack of), body language, voice, and attitude. Suppliers, and travel executives also pick on this, and naturally lean towards other positive, successful and energetic travel colleagues.
4. Personal and professional wins the day. Attend each session that you scheduled. Try to get a good seat where you can hear and see. Listen carefully and take notes, keeping your purpose in mind. Utilize any handouts by following along with them and adding your own notes and observations on them. Take personal photos of the presenters to go with your notes. Make the time to summarize and evaluate the session in regards to how it was helpful. If you can and are strategic, try and make connections with suppliers and other travel professionals before and after sessions, during breaks, at social functions, meals and at the tradeshow.
5. Process your follow-ups. Once you return back to your office, review your information and your plan. Sort and categorize business cards you acquired and enter them into your database. Finally, send emails or, better yet, handwritten notes to people you met to let them know you enjoyed meeting them or to include them in your business plan. Remember, it’s not who you know, but who knows you! Also, send notes to suppliers thanking them for training or information you gained from them and ask them for assistance on your marketing plan.
Now that you have some strategies to use at a tradeshow, you will be one step ahead of the competition and one step closer to realizing your goals.
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Cory Andrichuk, MCC, president branducoaching.com
