Develop a long-term exhibition sales strategy.

When considering a focused strategy, many salespeople can over complicate things, when in fact, it’s very straightforward.

It’s about two things - finding new customers (Acquisition) and keeping them happy so that they return (Retention). Simplistic? Yes, but an effective Sales. Strategy is not built on complexity, it’s built around a logical plan for customer needs, combined with company objectives.

STEP 1 - DEFINE YOUR SALES GOALS

The first step is to assess the previous exhibition sales strategy to understand what has and hasn’t worked:

? Where did we focus the majority of our efforts?

? Why did we choose that route?

? Which of our efforts generated most return?

? What didn’t work well – why?

? Are we sticking with certain methods simply because we always have?

? How can we cross pollinate methods to be more effective?

STEP 2 - UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKET & POSITIONING

Does everyone in the team have a thorough understanding of your core market and where the business sits within it?

Take Ryanair and Etihad for example. On the surface, both are commercial airlines, transporting passengers from one destination to another. However, they position themselves at very different ends of the market, with neither attempting to be all things to all customers in the market.

The key essence of a strong sales strategy is to know your market and a great way to do this is to conduct a swot analysis of your product offering. This ensures everyone has a high-level understanding of USP’s, so they are better placed to identify ideal customers and articulate how your business can best serve them.

STEP 3 - BUILD A CUSTOMER PROFILE

Particularly useful for trade show marketing, supplier/buyer ‘matchmaking’ is a popular topic within the sales industry. The case for investing in technology to identify the ideal client and personalise their customer journey, is a compelling one.

A more personalised approach to selling is beneficial to both buyer and supplier. Clients receive a better experience, whilst businesses benefit from much higher conversion rates.

Identifying just 5 key characteristics of your ideal client can be a really useful exercise. Questions will of course differ dependant on industry, but considering the below is a great place to start.

? Where are they based?

? Type of company?

? Size of company?

? Job title?

? Turnover size?

? What challenges do they have?

STEP 4 - OUTLINE YOUR PRE-SHOW SALES ACTIVITY

So, you’ve evaluated your previous strategy, examined business USP’s and identified that ideal customer, now for the final step - outlining an action plan.

Time management can often be a challenge for salespeople, so having an actual plan can be the difference between success and failure.

Creating a plan like the example below may seem trivial, but when we commit a plan to paper, we are far more likely to value its importance.

SUMMARY

When we create a sales strategy, we become more focused, professional,

and effective and in today’s competitive environment, this isn’t only

expected… it’s demanded.