Making the most of international trade shows

Simona Novelli and Mike Josypenko hosted a webinar on what to do when attending a trade show and how to make the most of it for your business.

You can watch the video of the webinar below, and check out our Recent Webinars page to access all the Open to Export webinars giving practical guidance and answers to all your exporting concerns.

Attending trade shows can be great when starting out and looking for new business opportunities. It’s important for you to be able to navigate your way around them and pick up new leads.

Key points

Get feedback from other companies – be sure to ask them what has worked for them in the past and what hasn’t – learning from past experience is a good way to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.

Search for and create leads – it might be a good idea to look for leads at the show allowing your company to get a foothold in new markets.

Follow up your leads – dedicate time after the event to following up the leads – this is almost as important as meeting them in the first place!

Research the trade show – does the visitor profile of the exhibition match the market you are looking to reach? Make sure you know who will be attending the show and also take some time to look at the other businesses around.

Mike ran through some practical preparations that you should consider when attending the international trade shows.

• Organise an interpreter
• Prepare literature in the local language
• Check out marketing opportunities

The exhibition is a chance for you to show off your product and services and create a lasting impression. However it’s also a chance for you to carry out valuable market research and if need be look for distributors/agents.