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O P I N I O N
Trade shows, yes or no? Take a look at the strategic plan, the budget, and the checklist, before making the decision on whether or not to attend.
A ttending trade shows can be a very expensive proposition, ranging from whether your firm sends only one person to having a booth and maybe hosting a hospitality event. So I get asked this question by my clients pretty often. And I have a definitive answer to the question: It depends!
Bernie Siben
There are a number of questions that I believe must be answered in making this decision. The checklist to the right shows the questions I always ask myself in making – or helping a client make – a decision about trade show attendance. If you’re not sure about the answer to question #1, ask your accounting folks. They will know if the firm ever wrote a check for that event. And their records will show whether you registered one person, multiple people, or a booth. An email to firm leadership down to the department head level will give you the answer to question #2. If the answer to question #1 is “yes” and the answer to question #2 is “no,” this event might be an automatic “no go.” If questions #1 and #2 result in “yes” answers, look at questions #3 and #4. If either or both result in “yes” answers, the prospects of attending are looking rosier.
Trade show checklist – yes or no 1. Have we attended this show before? 2. Did previous attendance yield positive results? 3. Do current clients attend this show? 4. Do current prospects attend this show? 5. Will anyone else be attending that we have been trying to meet? 6. Does this event help us achieve the goals set forth in our strategic plan? 7. Is attendance sufficient or do we need to have a booth? 8. Do we need to host a hospitality room? 9. How many additional people do we need to send for the hospitality event? 10. Is the total estimated cost of attending within our budget? 11. Do we need a special giveaway item or will our standard item(s) do?
See BERNIE SIBEN, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER May 2, 2016, ISSUE 1150
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