Business is booming in the business-to-business eCommerce market. With less competition and better margins, it’s hardly surprising that more businesses are adding B2B eCommerce to their sales channels to enjoy better opportunities for growth.
There are numerous ways to get your business into the B2B world. You could sign up for a B2B marketplace that lets you list your products online through a familiar platform, especially if you’re used to the B2C marketplaces of some of these websites.
Besides going on marketplaces, you can also improve your B2B sales by signing up to exhibit at a trade show. Attending a trade show lets you deal directly with retailers, so you’ll be able to cut out the middleman and wholesale on your own terms.
Here are 15 must-know tips for making the best of your trade show experience:
1. Choose the right trade show
Buy a ticket to attend the trade shows that you’re interested in so you can get a feel for what shows are most suitable for your brand. While you’re there, don’t concentrate on scoping out the competition. Instead, look at the attendees and talk to vendors to see if the show lets you reach your target market.
2. Calculate your total costs
Trade shows are expensive investments. To decide if the amount of money you’re investing is worth the risk, you’ll need to calculate the total costs before you commit to a stand. After all, besides renting the exhibition space, you need to consider booth design fees, transportation, and so on.
3. Invite retailers
Invite retailers to attend the trade show. Even if they’re already planning to go, you’ll be able to get your brand on their radar by sending them an invite. Featuring product images of iconic pieces that define your brand in your invitation can help retailers to spot your brand in a crowded exhibition hall.
4. Set SMART goals that you can evaluate post trade show
SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. By using the SMART framework, you can figure out what you need in order to achieve your trade show goals. For example, you’ll know how many units you need to sell at the trade show in order to break even.
5. Go digital with electronic collateral
Going digital can save you from the exhaustion and delays of using a paper catalog at trade shows. Instead of relying on paper catalogs, you can turn your smartphone or tablet into a digital catalog with high quality images. If you need to add new products, you can snap product photos on the go and update these across all sales channels.
6. Ensure your staff know your products
Your staff has less than a minute to win prospects over before they move on to the next booth. At a trade show with thousands of attendees, your sales team needs to be prepared for all kinds of product-related questions, even handling multiple questions simultaneously.
7. Swap business cards for a mobile CRM
According to a GetApp survey, 63% of businesses rely on business cards and spreadsheets when it’s time to follow up on leads after a trade show.
While this is a common process at trade shows, you could find yourself struggling to remember which leads are more qualified than others when you’re staring at a pile of business cards after the event.
Moving forward, encourage prospects to enter their particulars directly into your CRM with a mobile sales app. That way, you’ll know exactly who’s who when it’s time to follow up.
8. Don’t leave your customers waiting
Buyers head to trade shows to find new products for their stores and their goal is to look at as many different brands as possible. If they’re pressed for time, buyers may decide against placing an order if it takes too long.
In times like these, using a mobile sales app can help you save time when it comes to finding the right item in your catalog or writing up a sales order.
9. Incentivize prospects to place an order at the show
A prospect isn’t a customer until they’re contributing to your business by making a purchase. And that’s exactly why you should incentivize prospects to place an order at the show instead of ordering at a later date. For prospects who are on the fence about placing an order on the spot or a 10% discount or a reduced minimum order quantity can tip the scales in your favor.
10. Make things easy with mobile order writing
At trade shows, 19.2% of businesses fill out order forms manually when customers are making a purchase, according to the GetApp study. You’ll need to find the right product code, and later you’ll also have to key these new orders into your records.
Mobile technology lets you reach out to more customers and complete orders quicker. You’ll be able to write orders anywhere with a mobile sales app that doubles up as a product catalog. You can also add products directly to their order as they browse, and seal the deal with email confirmation.
11. Get invoices out ASAP
Getting your invoices out to stores as quickly as possible shows how efficient you are. Clinching wholesale orders at the trade show is only the first step, as you need to send your new customers an invoice. The faster you are, the lesser your chance of losing your invoice in the flood of emails that tend to follow a trade show.
12. Use barcode scanners to find products
Bring physical samples of your products to the trade show so your customers know exactly what they’re purchasing. You can write a sales order as you talk your customers through the value of your products, and turn your smartphone into a barcode scanner to enter products they like into their order.
13. Know your inventory levels
If you’re part of the 9.7% of businesses that use an eCommerce application with real time inventory updates at a trade show (according to the GetApp study), you won’t have to worry about overselling. Your sales representatives won’t need to call headquarters to check on stock availability every time they write up an order for a customer.
Inventory management software lets you sync your inventory levels across all channels in real time so you’ll always know how much available stock you have on hand.
14. Follow up on contacts after the event
Aim to contact your best prospects within a day or two after the trade show ends. You’ve already encouraged visitors to leave their contacts with you through your mobile CRM, which helps you to keep track of your leads and how you met them. With a mobile CRM, you’ll also be able to contact them by using the app to send emails, texts, and calls.
15. Give them customized service
You’ll be able to tailor customized experiences for every customer if you’re running your B2B business from a private B2B eCommerce platform. You can also set customized price lists for individual customers or offer them discount codes that reflect your trade show rates.
Judging from the survey results, most businesses are still relying on manual processes when it comes to managing leads at trade shows. And considering the hectic environment of trade shows, it can be exhausting to keep track of leads and connections. Instead of spending valuable time and effort doing massive amounts of data entry after an event, it could be time to make the switch to mobile CRMs and eCommerce applications that offers real time inventory updates.
That way, you’ll be able to focus on what really matters: growing your business.
Vera Lim is an Inbound Marketer with TradeGecko, a company that provides cloud-based inventory management software for growing businesses. Vera writes for TradeGecko’s blog and knowledge base, covering topics ranging from the latest e-commerce developments to explaining how inventory management works without the jargon.
[Image via Shutterstock]
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