Alan Gayle is a sales and marketing consultant specialising in the construction industry. He has worked in the stone sector for more than a decade. Here he offers advice on how to make an impact in the market.

With the Natural Stone Show not so far away (it opens at ExCeL London on 25 April), now is a good time to talk about exhibitions.

The Natural Stone Show is unique because it brings the entire stone industry together in one place. It’s a great opportunity to showcase your products or services to a targeted audience. But exhibiting at any trade show can be costly, so it makes sense to maximise your return on investment (RoI). That means setting – and reaching! – some tangible objectives.

What should your goals be?

It depends on your product or service, but I’ve listed a few below to consider.

• Number of sales leads you want to generate
• Number of samples you want to give out
• Number of product demonstrations you should present
• Number of contacts you should make to follow up with  appointments when you get back to the office.

Make sure the figures are realistic, but also make them specific, not just ‘as many as possible’. The more specific your goals, the more likely you are to reach them. There’s something about a precise target that focusses our minds to work towards it.

Once you know what you want to achieve, next you need to decide how best to achieve it. Below is a brief list. It’s not exhaustive and you would think it is largely common-sense. But judging by some of the exhibition stands I’ve visited, sometimes common-sense isn’t very common.

Pick your team

Make sure the people you choose to represent the company on the stand are happy to be there. They can turn a good event into a great event.

Brief the team

Make sure the people on your stand understand why you’ve spent all this time and money to be there. Your key messages and primary objectives needs to be understood by everyone. Key messages should be on everyone’s lips.

Be inviting

At least people can’t smoke these days, but it should also go without saying that eating, constant texting, reading newspapers or just sitting at a table with crossed arms can all deter visitors. Good eye contact and an open smile will help bring visitors on to your stand.

Collect information

Even if you’re using electronic data capture technology, try to get the business card of your visitors whenever possible. Give them your card as well. And if they’re a good prospect, tell them you’ll contact them after the show. And then do it! It’s not always the best tactic to try to sell from the stand. There can be too many distractions. Orders can get lost; details misunderstood. Get the contact information then arrange to see them as soon as possible after the show.

I’ll be at the Natural Stone Show with Trans-European Stone. Whether you’re visiting or exhibiting, please feel free to come along and say ‘Hello’.

Alan Gayle has worked in sales and marketing roles in the construction industry since 1993. Following a successful career with some of the UK’s leading building product manufacturers, he has worked in the stone sector more than a decade. He now runs keystone Construction Marketing, a marketing agency specialising in the construction industry. The agency works with building  contractors, subcontractors and building product suppliers to help them increase their sales and improve their margins. alan@Keystonecm.co.uk