Attending a trade show like SEMA is always a lot of fun, and often we go with the best of intentions: find new products, get new business ideas, make contact with service providers to help our businesses grow. However often these things fall by the wayside quickly once we get there, and quickly fade away in the rear view mirror after the show. So here are a few things to ensure you maximize the effectiveness of SEMA 2019:
Plan ahead: Get your Pre-Show Plan on paper
This will take about 25 minutes to do:
1. Grab a pad and paper (or your iPad and Penci), set a timer for 10 minutes and jot down everything that comes to mind about what your need to improve or add to your business. Don’t worry about order etc, just get the ideas out of your head and on the paper.
2. Now review that list and highlight the Top 5 items that will really move your sales, process or profit forward. They could be a new product category, a new system or software, negotiating with a current supplier etc.
3. Take out a fresh sheet and put your Top 5 on a new page with space between them for notes. Now list who you know who is killing it in that category, who is leading the category, who is up and coming, who is using it. Write your 3 top questions you need answered about each topic.
4. Congrats – you now have a targeted plan on who you need to talk to, and what you want to ask them. Now reach out to those people and book a meeting time with them at the show. Take your paper with you!
Post-Show: Book the time now
We all know what happens after a show: life & business! The best of intentions and ideas get swallowed up by a pile of emails, client requests and jobs to be done that came up while you were away. So it’s important to put a plan in place before you even go. So lets do this now:
- Block 30 minutes on your calendar (yes actually put it on there now) each day for a week after the show. 1 Day for each of your 5 topics. During this time you will:
- Review each topic. What did you learn? Is it a priority? What will it take to implement? Who needs to be involved.
- Send a followup note to whomever you met with about it, thank them and ask them for any other ideas or information they may have for you. If needed suggest a time to do a followup meeting or webinar.
- If the item passes the test and you are going to implement it, add Time Blocks on your calendar for the next few weeks so you can work ON getting it from Plan to Reality.
Let me know if this was helpful, or if you need a hand going through this – drop me an email at tony@12v.biz with any questions or comments.
Enjoy the show, and remember to drink lots of water (and less booze!). 🙂
Photo by The Ride Academy on Unsplash