In terms of trade shows there are basically two types of events. The first being a situation where you bring a specific amount of inventory, setup at a location previously selected to get the most attention from visitors, take out a calculator, and sell sell sell. The second involves bringing very little in terms of inventory (except for promotional items such as pens, key-chains, business cards, etc…), requires a much greater knowledge of what is being promoted, and relies heavily on product demonstration whether it be through actually showing how something works or how an investment can make life easier (an exhibit featuring an insurance company would be an example of this). It’s the later that I want to focus on today mainly because the determination as to whether the event was a success or not often can’t be made till weeks or even months down the road simply because you’re there to take orders and build relationships not unload merchandise.
This idea of delayed income is called Return On Investment or ROI and is really quite easy to figure out once you know the steps.
1)While at your next event offer those you come into contact with an incentive for ordering. This incentive could be a gift or a discount, something that will make them feel they are getting a good deal by following your instructions. Make sure they understand that in order to take advantage of the promotion they must reference a specific code. This way you can track how the sale was generated.
2)Once you know sales generated, total up all your expenses associated with the trade show. Include the cost of labor, food, travel, etc…
3)Now take the amount you made (the value in dollars of sales that referenced the promotional code you asked customers to use) and divide that number by the total expenses.
4) Finally take this last number and multiply it by 100 to get the percentage returned to you from your investment (ROI)
It’s very common that the full impact of a trade show is not felt for months or maybe even a year after the event has taken place. Regardless of whether or not you are selling tons of inventory at one time or get your sales through the use of connections made at the event, finding out how much profit you made is a huge tool to have at your disposal. Not only will this help you calculate how successful an event was, but it can also be used to forecast similar events to come.