On a normal working day in mid March, Zhang Qiang in Shenzhen was busy sorting out the customer demand information just brought back from the CeBIT exhibition in Hanover; Shi Haiming from Ningbo is discussing with the exhibition company about the details of going to Hong Kong next month to participate in the Global Sourcing Fair.
One is the assistant to the general manager of Shenzhen Gaoxinqi Technology Co., Ltd. The company mainly produces communication and digital products such as telephones, mobile phones, MP3, etc; The other is the chairman of Ningbo Ouxin Import and Export Co., Ltd., who is engaged in the import and export of luggage. Their companies are thousands of miles apart, and their industries seem to be different, but they have one thing in common: Gao Xinqi and Ouxin both went abroad earlier door Representatives of small and medium-sized private enterprises attending overseas exhibitions, and Zhang Qiang and Shi Haiming are experts in attending overseas exhibitions.
Every year, between March and April and August and September, they are busy - because this is the golden age when various domestic and foreign exhibitions come one after another. The success of the exhibition in spring and autumn largely determines the number of orders of the company in the second half of the year and the next year.
What exhibition to choose?
Every year, there are more than 100 electronic communication exhibitions held at home and abroad. The invitation letters of the organizers are piled up in thick piles on Zhang Qiang's desk, and he is often overwhelmed by invitation calls. However, Zhang Qiang is not easily moved: "Gao Xinqi is very cautious in choosing exhibitions."
According to Zhang Qiang, Shenzhen Gaoxinqi, a major exporter, was founded in 1997 and participated in the Spring Electronics Exhibition held in Hong Kong the following year. "It is easier for overseas exhibitors to reach buyers and quickly find a breakthrough." Zhang Qiang is more concerned about popularity and exhibitor flow, "because this is the basic source of customer protection for the company." In his opinion, the telephone MP3, etc., are relatively popular, unlike some relatively unpopular and professional products, which need to choose specialized exhibitions.
At present, based on this selection standard, Gao Xinqi has participated in five overseas exhibitions every year, which is quite frequent. "In January, the Las Vegas International Consumer Electronics Show CES; in March, he went to Hanover, Germany to participate in the International Information and Communication Technology Fair, which is commonly known as CeBIT; in April, it was the Hong Kong Electronics Spring Exhibition; in May, he went to Russia to participate; and in September, it was the Hong Kong Electronics Autumn Exhibition." As the project leader of overseas exhibitions, Zhang Qiang knows this very well. At present, Gao Xinqi Year pin The sales volume is about 30 million dollars, and more than 80% of them are exported under their own brands. The reason why the brand can be recognized by most customers is closely related to the insistence on attending overseas exhibitions for many years.
Luggage is also popular consumer goods, but Shi Haiming's criteria for choosing exhibitions are slightly different from Zhang Qiang's. In addition to popularity and traffic, he also attaches great importance to the quality of exhibitors, because this means more stable orders and higher order prices. Therefore, when he heard that Global Resources was going to hold the International Sourcing Fair (CSF), he booked the booth ahead of time.
"We have been using the global resources B2B online trading platform for several years, and have a good understanding of its reputation among overseas buyers, especially high-quality buyers in Europe and the United States, so I am more confident that the organizers can invite high-quality professional buyers." The Ouxin Company, founded by Shi Haiming, has developed from 1994 to the present, The annual sales increased from 10 million to 20 million yuan at the beginning of the year to about 100 million yuan. In the cooperation with Global Resources, the main source of key customers has gradually expanded from the previous second and third tier countries in Europe to the entire European market, and developed to the United States.
How to prepare before exhibition?
In Zhang Qiang's words, overseas exhibitions are very "laborious and costly", and the energy and capital invested are very large. For example, Gao Xinqi's trip to CeBIT, including booth rental, construction and layout, and personnel round-trip, will cost nearly 500000 yuan. "So before the exhibition, we should make a lot of preparations carefully to ensure success." Like Zhang Qiang, many managers from private enterprises attach great importance to the return after investment.
The main part of the preparation is the selection and arrangement of booths. In earlier years, Chinese enterprises were used to choosing the standard 9 square meter booth provided by the organizing committee for overseas exhibition due to limited funds. Three rows Display stand , two round tables, several chair A stack of promotional materials constitutes a simple booth. Not only is the personality not outstanding, but also the brand image of the enterprise is greatly reduced. In recent years, some enterprises began to realize the need for larger booths to attract customers, but also simply stayed at the understanding level of "booths are piled up with money, the more money spent, the larger the booth, the more attractive".
In fact, it is important to arrange booths to reflect brand personality and highlight key products. When Gao Xinqi and Ouxin participated in the exhibition, they both chose to rent a booth of about 36 square meters, which is not large, but has enough room to play.
For Ouxin's luggage products, color and style are often the front elements to attract visitors. "If all the bags are randomly displayed on the display shelf, customers will be dazzled and will not have the patience to carefully study the characteristics of the product."
Shi Haiming has hired a professional exhibition company to do a lot of work on product display. On the one hand, classify all kinds of bags by color and style; On the other hand, distinguish between the display of new and old products: the products that have been launched are placed on the periphery, and the key new products are displayed in the negotiation area.
Gao Xinqi hopes that customers can feel the brand awareness of the company from the layout of the booth. Gao Xinqi attaches great importance to the promotion significance of the exhibition for his own brand. Since 1998, the company has chosen the same booth every time it participates in the Hong Kong Electronics Exhibition. The same design has remained intact until now, only the products are constantly updated.
"We hope to make others feel that this is an old shop." Zhang Qiang explained, "Gao Xinqi's booth is on the tip of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center stretching out to the sea, which is very irregular. At that time, all the good places were rented out, and we got here by accident. We decided to take pains to make up for the layout." Later, Gao Xinqi established a very Chinese design style, And the sea view side is divided into customer negotiation area, which makes negotiation a very relaxed and happy thing.
Details determine success or failure. Every link of pre exhibition layout should try to create opportunities so that customers can better understand, remember and recognize the company's products and brands.
Who will be sent?
If the booth is the "face" of the enterprise, then selecting the right staff for the exhibition is the "finishing touch". Some enterprises are eager for quick success and instant benefit, and their sole purpose is to get orders, so most of them are sales personnel. In fact, in addition to taking orders, the exhibition also undertakes the functions of promoting brands, investigating market trends, collecting customer needs, and meeting with customer executives.
Taking Gao Xinqi as an example, the general manager of each exhibition will lead the team personally, and a group of more than 10 people will arrive at the exhibition site in two batches. "The project leader and the display designer will generally stand in front two days in advance to supervise the booth construction and make some adjustments according to the on-site effect. other People, including product development engineers, industrial designers, marketing supervisors and sales personnel, will be in place the day before the exhibition. "Zhang Qiang introduced.
Unlike some employees of enterprises who refuse to attend exhibitions, most of the employees of Gao Xinqi like to attend exhibitions abroad. Don't think they want to travel abroad at public expense. For the sake of cost, the exhibition is basically point-to-point. There is no extra sightseeing time from the exhibition hall to the residence.
"Europeans call the exhibition Party. Who would refuse the party?" Zhang Qiang attributed the greater attraction to the exhibition itself. This is the meeting place for new and old friends - some salesmen and customers contacted by phone and email for half a year before meeting at the exhibition for the first time; R&D engineers are also reluctant to miss the opportunity of direct communication with customers - they are willing to personally introduce their new products, and can also record some special needs of customers on the spot as the direction of future R&D; Industrial designers regard the grand gathering of peers all over the world as a dazzling product "Grand View Garden" - this is an excellent opportunity to investigate market trends; For the senior management of the company, the main decision-makers of customers will participate in large-scale exhibitions, which is a rare opportunity for communication.
It is worth noting that the dozens of people who participated in the exhibition were by no means scattered. "Participating in an exhibition is equivalent to managing a project." Shi Haiming's practice in Ouxin is to set up a project team every time he participates in the exhibition, have a special project leader define the goal, and everyone in the exhibition should promote around the same goal. For example, which new products should be highlighted this time, or how to persuade customers to accept the new positioning of some old products. After returning to the company, the project team will also hold a meeting to review whether the effect of the exhibition has reached the expectation.
Who are the effective customers?
Once the booth is properly arranged and all kinds of personnel are in place, everything is ready, and only the "customer" is owed. However, people came and went at large exhibitions, and there were no less than 100000 buyers coming to visit. Who is the effective customer in the end?
Shi Haiming is good at identifying the possibility of cooperation with potential customers from details. "The picky buyers often care about the specific details of the products. They not only look at the product brochures, but also often carefully study certain types of samples from the inside out. This is totally different from the attention paid by the casual." To love each other, Shi Haiming often can observe whether this is the same person from the eyes of customers. "After identifying effective customers, we should fully seize the opportunity to demonstrate, so that customers can have a more in-depth experience of the product. This is a better marketing opportunity."
In the highly competitive electronic industry, Zhang Qiang attaches more importance to the communication with customers before the exhibition. In his opinion, effective customers do not drop out of thin air. Usually, after at least half a year's accumulation, they shake hands and talk about the details at the exhibition. Important customers can also take this opportunity to invite them to visit the factory. "There are few uninvited visitors at large international exhibitions. Even if they are strangers, they will establish contact through e-mail and other means before making an appointment to meet at the exhibition. Customers do not go to the market. They know what they want and have a clear goal, so they directly find the exhibition booth of the cooperative enterprise."
However, there are no exceptions. When the company launches a new product, it has the opportunity to attract new customers who have never met before. At the CES exhibition earlier this year, Gao Xinqi mainly promoted a wireless PBX, which is mainly used as a switchboard for small companies with about ten people. "Generally speaking, the small switchboard directly connects to the fixed local telephone line. Our product has two SIM cards, which are equivalent to the external lines of two fixed telephones. Two in and eight out can solve all calls of a small company. The terminal it uses is a mobile phone, which is more convenient." Zhang Qiang said that the publicity of this new product should be strengthened at the exhibition, Attract the attention of dealers in similar fields: "For example, some people are interested in operating other office equipment although they have not sold telephones and switches."
After the exhibition, the salesperson should timely sort out the customer information and follow up and pay a return visit by category, which is regarded as a good beginning and end of customer contact.
Avoid mistakes in exhibition
In overseas exhibitions, exhibitors often feel a different atmosphere from domestic exhibitions. At various domestic exhibitions, especially the day after, the exhibitors probably didn't want to pack the display products they brought back, and they tried their best to promote them. The whole exhibition hall seemed to be a big grocery market. At professional exhibitions such as CeBIT, cash transactions and peddling are not allowed on the spot. It is precisely because some Chinese enterprises have violated such regulations that they have left customers with a very unprofessional impression.
In addition, when participating in overseas exhibitions, Chinese enterprises need to pay more attention to intellectual property issues. At an agrochemical trade fair in the UK last year, two Chinese enterprises were publicly asked by BASF, Bayer and other companies to dismantle their booths because of suspected patent infringement; On CeBIT, the display of Chinese companies' booths was directly interfered by the German police, because a famous mobile phone manufacturer complained to the sponsor that it imitated its case design, which was an infringement.
Therefore, in order to achieve success in overseas exhibitions, enterprises should pay special attention to avoid all kinds of misunderstandings while making all kinds of preparations before, during and after the exhibition, so as to avoid failure.