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 ichael Williams is a tightwad — and proud of it. “At Synchrologic, we never pay full price to exhibit at a trade show. Never. That’s our rule,” he says. As the press and events-marketing manager at Synchrologic Inc., Williams stretches the yearly trade show budget tighter than the graphics on his banner stand. “For really good shows, maybe we pay 75 percent,” he says. “For low-priority shows, we only go if we can go for free.”
Williams isn’t exaggerating. Last year, Synchrologic, a small Atlanta company that develops software for mobile devices, exhibited at 22 shows. Williams kept costs for all 22 shows within Synchrologic’s modest $100,000 trade show budget.
His basic formula is simple: Find a unique value you can bring to a show, convince show management that they can’t live without you, and then negotiate for the lowest possible rates on everything from exhibit space to sponsorships. But Williams doesn’t stop at negotiations with show management. He examines every line item in his budget for cost-cutting opportunities.
Here are 10 of Williams’ money-saving secrets — yours at no charge. |
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 Be Unrealistic. When Williams gets his marketing budget for the year, he sits down with a list of possible trade shows for Synchrologic to attend. Then he divides that list into two categories: must-gos and a wish list. Typically, Williams chooses 15 shows for the must-go list, based on past ROI at the show and the show’s attendee profile. He then divides his budget among the must-go shows.
The shows that don’t make the must-go list end up in a prioritized wish list. Williams takes on this list as a personal challenge. He starts by working on the budgeted shows, negotiating discounted prices. He funnels the resulting budget surplus to his wish list. Then he starts negotiations with the shows on the wish list, trying to get in for free, or at least really cheap. In 2002, Williams exhibited at seven of the 28 shows on his wish list.
 Negotiate for free stuff. The key to exhibiting discounts, according to Williams, is to leverage your products and company resources to provide a service for show management. Williams evaluates the specific needs of each show, and devises creative ways to fill them. Then he offers these services in exchange for free stuff.
The first thing Williams looks for are calls for speakers, especially keynotes, and requests for white papers. “We often use our CEO
to get our foot in the door,” says Williams. “Offering our CEO to give a keynote speech can get us a free 10-by-10-foot booth space, which we couldn’t afford otherwise.”
Williams also looks for ways show management can use Synchrologic’s software, either directly, loading the software on the mobile devices of the show-management team, or indirectly, offering limited licenses to attendees for use during the show. This provides a great service to show management and doesn’t
cost Synchrologic a penny.
 Cut out the middleman. When preparing for a show,
Williams calls the show manager directly to negotiate. “Leave the salesperson out of it,” he says. “Cut him completely out of the process. He’s going to hate you, but he doesn’t have leverage to cut any deals.”
 Get partners to pay. Williams also makes the most
of partner relationships. If he finds a show that would benefit one of Synchrologic’s partners, he goes to the partner with the show proposal. “I tell its management that we’ll do the work — all the preparation for the show — if they’ll pay for the exhibit space,” he says.
Williams also uses partner relationships to enhance other aspects of Synchrologic’s exhibiting program. For example, Microsoft paid for the literature that Synchrologic passed out at CEBIT America 2003 in New York City in June. “We didn’t have a budget for literature at all, but we passed out four-color case studies and didn’t have to pay a penny.”
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 Use independent graphic designers. Williams cautions not to pay your graphic vendors to design your graphics. “If you use their designers, you pay at least twice as much.” Instead, Williams uses freelance designers or graphic design students at a local college. “The vendor will try to sell you on being a one-stop shop. Don’t fall for it,” he says.
 Hire staff from university drama departments. Rather than pay high-priced actors or shell out travel and lodging expenses for Synchrologic employees, Williams often hires students in the drama department at local universities to staff his booth. “They cost just a fraction of what it costs to hire professional actors, they’re young, and they usually have great people skills,” Williams says. The students learn enough about the product to draw attendees from the aisles, and then they turn them over to Williams for an in-depth sales pitch.
 Record all vendor mistakes. “When you’re dealing with vendors, there are always mistakes, even if they’re small ones. Pay attention to detail, and point out mistakes. Then instead of making the vendor fix the minor mistakes, negotiate for a discount,” Williams says.
 Never use the official show carrier for freight. Since Synchrologic only exhibits in 10-by-10-foot exhibit spaces, Williams never uses the show carrier to ship his pop-up exhibit. He overnights everything to the hotel before the show, then overnights it back again after the show. With the corporate discount, this costs him only about $150 per show. When he can, Williams brings literature and a banner stand with him on the airplane. |
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 Start early. For shows that you know you want to attend, get in early to make deals with management — Williams suggests at least six months. This gives them a chance to consider your offer, and it gives you a chance to beat any competitors that might make similar offers.
 Wait until the last minute. Just because you start early doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of last-minute deals. Some shows won’t give you the deal you want early in the event-planning process, because they’re hoping they won’t have to.
As a show comes closer, Williams checks in with show management periodically to see if they’ll offer deals on exhibit space or sponsorships. “Show managers don’t like to have empty space in the exhibit hall or on the walls where banners should go. It makes the show look bad,” Williams says. He has found that he can get exhibit space and sponsorships for up to 95 percent
off the regular price within one to three months of the show.
While exhibiting at a show, Williams also talks to other exhibitors to find out about shows he can add at the last minute.
Like Williams, with a little initiative, some creativity, and a lot of nerve, you should rarely have to pay full price to exhibit at a trade show.  |
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Whitney
Archibald
staff writer |
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