The time has come, business solutions providers! After taking into consideration your feedback over many years when it comes to exhibiting at the IFPA Global Produce & Floral Expo (formerly known as Fresh Summit), you will finally have your very own dedicated time during the tradeshow!
Business Solutions will be on display at the Global Produce & Floral Show For 2 Hours Only
Visit this area of the show floor on October 27 to discover:
- Innovative technology
- Packaging alternatives
- Retail solutions
- Indoor growing technologies
On Thursday, October 27, 2022, the Business Solutions area of the expo floor will be exclusively open for two hours. This special time allows for other exhibitors, like grower-shippers, to visit your booths to discover solutions from your company. And as a bonus, it means you will be able to better maximize your time to leave your booth and walk the show floor on Friday and Saturday to visit your customers.
This is THE dream scenario business solutions providers have been asking for!
5 Ways for Business Solutions Providers to Shine during the IFPA Global Produce Expo
Now that you have your own dedicated time on the show floor to receive prospective customers, it’s more important than ever that you prepare and show up for this golden opportunity. Here are our top recommendations to consider as we countdown to the Global Produce Expo:
Use pre-show promotions to help generate in-booth traffic.
Your team is ready & eager to tell your newly refined story – the only problem is that you forgot to actually invite people to come and hear it! Let’s face it; qualified leads are the best leads. If someone receives your booth invitation and takes you up on that offer, odds are, they really want to hear how your company can make their business better. Consider pre-show marketing and promotional activations to help you capture the most traffic possible during those precious 2 hours:
- Send a pre-show email to a qualified list of contacts articulating the problems you can solve for them – videos are a great way to do this
- Set a time for a special in-booth announcement, demo, or toast that you can invite prospects and media to
- Advertise your booth presence on LinkedIn and include reasons why someone should visit you during the show
- Generate an exclusive deal or promotional pricing only available to those who stop by your booth during the 2-hour window on Thursday
Have something on hand to give to prospective customers
Whether you’re hosting planned meetings or having impromptu conversations, prepare something of value to leave behind with your prospects. For example, if you’re giving a pitch to your customer for the first time during a tradeshow, consider preparing printed data or compelling facts about the product or service you’re offering for them to take home and review on the airplane, especially since their time with you is limited on Thursday. Printed materials are easy to produce fairly close to the day of the show and are easy to have shipped directly to your hotel. Be sure to listen to your customers for cues on your presentation performance and the value of the materials you’ve provided to determine if you may have a viable lead and mainstay marketing strategy to employ during future events and shows.
Pro-Tip: Prepare a thumb drive containing videos and case studies that clearly communicate the value your company provides.
Make sure your messaging is on point
Messaging and storytelling is an area we find many folks in the fresh produce industry struggle with, and that includes business solutions providers. The great news for you is that honestly, this can be much easier to do for B2B businesses where you’re selling a unique product! The key is to focus your messaging on clearly articulating the benefits of your product, not the features.
ERP technology solution provider Prophet has done an excellent job positioning the benefits their software provides to their customers – the messaging is about the end results and paints a picture of how their customers will “feel” when using their product – deserving, powerful and happy with happier customers of their own. This is the type of messaging that should be peppered across your booth, booth materials, social media, and your sales teams’ pitch.
Establish goals and benchmarks for success
Keep your team focused on the end game by establishing expectations that help everyone know their role while attending the show. While trade shows are great for networking, successful face-to-face meetings are perhaps the most fruitful opportunities to generate interest and close deals during tradeshows! Schedule meetings with your targets ahead of time and discuss your meeting plan with your team before you leave. Identify your current new business targets on the tradeshow attendee list and reach out to book a meeting with them. Remember that everyone attending the show is busy so be careful to try to make the most out of your time with your customers when you have their attention.
Don’t forget to establish a plan for follow-up
Post-show follow-up is critical for defining tradeshow success and those efforts start with a strategy for collecting booth visitor information throughout the show and having a plan for effectively following up after the show, which again, is a group effort. Make sure your team is informed of your information collection system whether electronic or manual and plan to have a team meeting when you get home to discuss follow-up opportunities and who will do what.
In the past, Business Solutions Providers have often struggled with booth traffic as their customers are also exhibiting elsewhere and focused on reaching their own customers. With the addition of the dedicated 2 hours of show floor time just for your business and by using a combination of the ideas above, you will be teeing yourself up to shine like a diamond during the Global Produce & Floral Expo in October!
Not sure where to start? While the show is only a few short weeks away, there may still be time for DMA Solutions to help with last-minute printed materials, email communications, or social media strategy for the show. Contact us to see if we can help and don’t forget to take a look at this last-minute checklist for IFPA success!
