Trade Shows Deliver Tremendous Learning Opportunities

RCS Influencer Marty Stout says that it’s important to be involved in seminars that align with your business plan.

Trade shows are about as mixed a bag as you can get. For some the prospect of a Trade Show invokes a Frat Boy at spring break mindset that is all about a three-day party interrupted by industry suits in booths. For others it is an educational experience full of opportunities to learn from peers about all things legal, safety related, technical, innovative, etc. For still others it a networking opportunity to meet manufactures, distributors, customers and clients. A place to "cut a deal" for the year or reaffirm your ego driven quest to be somebody.   

If you are in the business of selling your wares in the marketplace in the streets of Calcutta you have to go to the streets and be seen; if you're in an industry, ours is roofing, you have to go to the shows and see, learn, network, relax with your peers and support your marketplace. These are the Streets of Our Calcutta.

Our trade show strategy this year is to attend as many shows as we can that relate to our Business Plan. Both shows of our industry and those of our customers. When attending shows related to roofing, we plan to be involved in educational opportunities related to all aspects of our business.  We want to know what new innovative products are coming, what new equipment is being featured, what new offerings are available to take our business more to the next level of computing efficiency. And we hope to relax a little with our supportive suppliers and the manufactures that provide us with superior service day in and day out. We will review the schedule of each show we attend or think we are attending and try to find seminars that can be helpful for our business plan. We will walk the show floor and search out new and interesting things and we will look for people we know or want to know.  

When we attend a trade show related to our customers’ businesses our strategy for 2020 is to capitalize on the opportunity to network with the people that support us, away from their offices and in what is normally a more relaxed environment. We also want to learn what trends are emerging in our customers industries, what issues are being talked about and we want to take to opportunity to highlight our business, the service we perform  and to reaffirm the commitment we have to our customers and to their industry.

We hope to gain a new customer but won't drive hard to do so; our goal will be to meet people and develop relationships. Business will come along the way.       

Marty Stout is the president of Go Roof Tune Up Inc. See his full bio here.