In this webinar, Sandro Chiappe & Genesis Dela Cruz (our Schedaero experts) highlights the top five pain points and key solutions you won’t want to miss.
Topics covered includes:
When Avinode arrived on the bizav scene in 2002, we made a beeline for where our industry colleagues would be: at tradeshows!
Given we were a new tech-oriented company wanting to make friends, we aimed to make a splash right out the gate. Since then we’ve taken a lot of joy in constantly innovating how we show up at trade shows. Given the pace of change in technology, communication, and the nature of networking, there is plenty of inspiration to be found year after year.
Want to shake things up at your next trade show? Here are our best tips and tricks for making a memorable impression, attracting new leads and having a good time while you’re at it.
The days of folded brochures and business card bowls are coming to an end. It’s truly time to embrace the wider possibilities of digital!
Rather than tossing together a brochure, put up a splash page. Have a laptop or iPad accessible to everyone walking by. If they’re interested in a certain product or service, give them a quick tour of the relevant information on your website.
The same applies to business cards: you don’t need them! If you have a conversation with a potential customer, ask for their email and follow up on the spot. This serves as a much more effective way to build relationships beyond the trade show, and it demonstrates that you’re a modern, dynamic and proactive company.
Waiting patiently behind a table, waiting for trade-show-goers to stop by, belongs to a time gone by. If making connections is your goal, go out there and connect.
When Avinode descends on trade shows, we have Noders fan out around the aisles. We figure there’s no use in being shy: people come to tradeshows to connect with one another and strike up new business. So we make the first move by engaging people who are walking by. We also to make sure to attend the events that are happening and stop by other booths.
While you don’t want to be brash or distracting, you don’t need to be meek or unassuming at a tradeshow either. Get a whole bunch of prospects to your booth at once by holding mini-events like a product demo, contest or game involving giveaways, a lecture, or some kind of mingle involving beverages and snacks.
At every trade show we attend, we always try to come up with something fun that reinforces our brand. Some examples from over the years include: bright green scooters that we took to all our meetings and big orange suitcases with the Paynode logo on them that we wheeled around everywhere.
Do something new and different that arouses curiosity, and helps communicate your company’s business and values. Make people smile!
This is tends to be the most dreaded outcome of any trade show: that your booth will be placed in a dead zone. There are two ways you can avoid this:
1) Register early! This is the ultimate reason to stay on top of important deadlines. Most trade shows have a first-come, first-serve policy regarding booth placement.
2) Join forces. For years, Avinode has run a super booth at tradeshow events, where we co-exhibit together with event partners. This has helped us secure a large spot at the center of the action. If you want to make sure you get the ultimate placement, either run a super booth or join one!
If your current approach to making contacts at a trade show is to show up, do your best, and think “the more, the better, right?” then you might not be aware of the power of metrics.
Far in advance of the event, consider what you would like to achieve by doing some math. How many sales reps do you have there? How many leads can they speak to in a day? Set your goals based on this realistic math. Then, keep track. If your team falls short of its goals one day, consider how you need to approach things differently the next.
Like Henry Ford said, “everything that’s measured improves.” Just knowing what you want to achieve will transform the way you show up and the results you get.
***
These tactics can help you stand out and boost your networking abilities, but the real key to success at a trade show is showing your passion. You don’t need to hire fancy representatives to sell your company’s products or services at a trade show. Your own staff knows your products inside and out and can make genuine, lasting connections.
I think Avinode has been able to put on such great events in our time because we’re always having a good time, and people can tell we love what we do. The magic formula goes something like this: Happy team = innovative company = amazing trade show presence.
And if you want to join forces at a trade show by being an event partner in Avinode’s booth, do get in touch at [email protected]
Veronica Wennström
Event Planner, Avinode Group
Stop by Stop by Booth 2219 to meet our team. We’d love to show you latest in development with an espresso in hand. We invite you to rest your feet at our bar, grab a cup of coffee and charge your batteries (literally).
Members, meet our Product Specialist team in the exclusive Member Zone to answer your questions and fine-tune your account.
Work smarter with Trips
Keep trips in order and compare all requests and quotes in one place.
Brokers: have you tried the Trips – buying? Compare all requests and find the best option for your client. Get organized with Avinode Trips
Operators: for the first time all of your requests for a trip are in the same place, making it easier for you to manage your fleet.
Whether you’re a broker or an operator, there is something for you. Explore the start of something good
Speed up your Search
Feel how fast and intelligent Avinode Search is on both desktop and the Marketplace App. Remember that desktop Search is in beta. It doesn’t have all functionality yet, but it’s speedy. Search like there’s no tomorrow
Mingle with Avinode members and network with industry professionals, champagne in hand at our annual Avinode Champagne Mingle.
Add champagne to your show plans
Stop by Booth 2219 to say hello to the Avinode team. We have exciting things coming we’d love to show you.
The Avinode Team
+1-888-972-8040
+46-31-751-0000
Let’s connect
Day Two at EBACE was another busy busy busy day. Did we say we were busy?
We were delighted to discover that the Avinode booth has become the central (if unofficial) meeting place for visitors to meet and do business together. Walking around the event, we constantly heard, “Meet me in the Avinode booth”, bouncing between other stands. We were touched to see that we really have become the go-to node that helps connect brokers and operators in business aviation, both offline and on. It was a proud moment of realization. Chatting to so many members and new faces also gave us the perfect opportunity to find out how we can build on this and become even better.
Our champagne mingle in the evening was also deemed a huge success. The booth was completely packed and buzzing with pretty much everyone in the industry networking and enjoying the free flow. There was a slight moment of concern when it seemed the bottles were running low, but thankfully the Noders managed to find another few crates to keep the party going in full swing.
We also ran a competition to win a very nice pair of Avinode Bose headphones. The question: What was the longest trip (in nautical miles) booked through Avinode between January and May 2016?
The winner was Meridian’s Anthony Banome (pictured here entering the comp) who took the time to accurately calculate the answer. Hats off to him and we hope he enjoys his new headphones!
More trivia tomorrow in our final event wrap report.
Team Avinode, EBACE Booth 1089, Geneva
We’ve been off to a busy start for this year’s EBACE in Geneva, getting closer to everyone in the industry, meeting new faces and rubbing friendly shoulders with old ones alike.
Henrik von Mentzer, Avinode International Sales Director, noted that Day One was a very busy show day, especially in the first few hours, it seemed every Noder was demoing to eager tradeshow goers and showing current members what’s new with the system (such as the super slick Trips feature and the Avinode Marketplace app). We had a lot of interest from FBOs and handling agents as they discovered how to reach new clients via Avinode and Schedaero. And of course it was great to get firsthand system feedback from our members and co-exhibitors: “Avinode is the key to saving time”, one was heard enthusing through the day.
It was interesting for us that some people are still seeing the system for the first time, especially with Schedaero, because so much development has taken place in the last 18 months. So for those visitors who viewed the system in the past, it now feels so fresh and new, with many being amazed how far it’s come.
News for some: the launch of the new Avinode.com website in early April caused usage of the Marketplace app to double! Check it out for yourselves here: Avinode Marketplace app
Johan Sjöberg, Schedaero Business Manager, said of the day, “Many new conversations are being had and connections to current members are being made stronger with feedback from Operators of every size,” proving the event to be an invaluable learning for all.
Day One overall takeout: It’s clear that the power lies with how smoothly Avinode and SchedAero work together.
We’ll keep you posted on what we learn from Day Two. As Johan optimistically noted: “Jet lag day two is better than day one.” True indeed, and the coffee helps too! More reports and winning observations soon.
Team Avinode, EBACE Booth 1089, Geneva