Our clients tell us the quickest way to jump 
start their B2B sales is with a mobile trade show. A mobile trade show is, well, exactly what is sounds like; you gather up your products/services and instead of going to one location, you go to several locations. At Pro Motion, we have developed mobile vehicle trade shows housed in tractor trailers, large trucks and motor coaches.
Here are 5 steps to making sure your sales are on an upward swing with one of the best (and biggest) sales tool in your marketing mix.
1. Develop a plan to make sure your brand or service is the star: Just like developing a trade show booth, the vehicle you utilize for your mobile trade show must be designed to present your product in its best light. Big graphics on the outside of the truck, trailer or motor coach will attract a lot of attention so it must be designed to make your product the hero while it travels down the road. Inside the vehicle is the area where you bring your products or services to life. Especially with large products that are difficult to carry into a sales meeting, setting up your product in its ‘natural’ surroundings provides your guests a visual on how to engage and experience your product and your products points of difference. Medical/dental products and machinery products are two good examples of products that cannot be hand carried into a sales meeting so a mobile trade show program is a great way to showcase your products live to your customers. Also, software products and other complex products are the perfect products to bring to life in this environment (link to HP case study).
2. Target decision makers at current clients, past clients and prospective clients: Once you have designed your mobile trade show, the next step is to strategically decide who you want to engage in the marketplace. We recommend building a list of guests and decide the best way to provoke them to visit your mobile showroom. Personal phone calls along with creative invitations sent via email and snail mail are key to breaking through the clutter of sales messaging and ensuring you get the decision makers to book a meeting time. Once you have the meetings set, timely follow up confirmations two weeks before the visit, one week prior and two days before are key to make sure your meeting continues to be a top priority
3. Set up a tour schedule that provides the most stops per week: Scheduling logistics must be a top priority to make sure you can maximize the number of key meetings while on tour. Make sure your program is not crisscrossing the country so staying in one geographic area at a time is imperative to your program’s success.
4. Communicate with the Facilities Management Department so there are no surprises: Since you are setting up your mobile road show in your guests’ parking lot, be sure to work with their facilities group to block off the necessary space and any other needs you may have to make the event perfect. Maybe you need electricity, refrigeration for food and drinks, etc. and these folks are going to be your best friend on site and have the capability to make you look good or not so good.
5. Follow up after the visit: A nice thematic gift along with a thank you for all attendees is a nice touch to remind everyone of the visit. All sales staff needs to follow up on all guest requests and questions along with working on moving the sales cycle along and building the pipeline.
We have some clients who have a 4 year track record of doing mobile trade shows with us. To repeat essentially the same program 4 years in a row tells us the ROI is extremely good. We have produced some incredibly successful mobile trade shows in the past few years and we would love the opportunity to share with you some of our research and our client’s sales results.
If you are looking to jump start your sales, we have the jumper cables and the key igniter just for you!