How to make the most of your involvement following Global Pet Expo

Your wading through all the information, samples, business cards, photos and more from Global Pet Expo, so what's next?

After spending thousands of dollars it's imperative that you act now to make the most of your involvement whether you are a retailer looking to add new products and/or services to your business, or a manufacturer wanting to increase the sales of your products, or a service provider looking to gain more clients.

What you do now will make all the difference in reaching the expectations you had when your committed to attending Global Pet Expo.

The following are our top six essential things you need to do now to make the most of your involvement and recoup the marketing expenses you incurred to attend:

Thank everyone.
Sort through all the contacts you made at the show, review your notes and send thank you notes to visitors to your booth; whether they be high level current prospects or prospects for your future. Contact now will keep you top of mind with every visitor to your booth and help you begin to build a relationships with those you hope to work with soon and later.

Follow up, follow up, follow up.

I can't stress this enough with my clients to make following up with prospects and leads a top priority. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), nearly 80% of leads generated are never followed up. Start by focusing on the top leads first, the most important prospects you made and those most seriously interested in what you have to offer; then progress through the remainder of your list. Remember you don't have to completely 'close the sale' at this point, the important thing is to 'close to the next step'.

Keep your promises.

Were you asked to send a sell sheet? A brochure? An order form? A replacement order? Did you receive new orders? Throughout the show, it's my bet that your top level and other prospects asked for something. Fulfill all your promises and requests as soon as you return to the office to positively maintain current and new business contacts, and build and solidify your relationship.

Measure your success.

We always recommend to our clients to perform a complete evaluation to gauge the success of involvement in Global Pet Expo, immediately following the show and six to eight months later. When evaluating your involvement measure the number of qualified and unqualified leads you received, the number of contacts and orders placed immediately and at later dates, the number and quality of other contacts you made, i.e., media, partnerships, private label ops, etc. Then weigh those potential and current sales against the cost of attendance to see the value of your involvement.

Get social.

If you haven't already we highly recommend you immediately post and talk about your involvement on all your social media sites. Hopefully you did this throughout the days of the show, as well. Show off your booth, talk and post about those you met, post photos and repost any important announcements you made at the show, go through your contacts social media and repost their involvement, and engage with your prospects and contacts, ask questions and more.

Keep top of mind.

The most important thing you can do is keep top of mind and do not let your contacts and leads forget about you. Remember, they are busy too. So, keep up with them over time. Sales don't happen overnight.

For more information about how you can get the most from your the trade shows you attend for your pet business, contact us today for a 30 minute free consultation.

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