B2B companies face different challenges than B2C companies, because it might seem like their sales channels are very limited. On the other hand, they also have access to other channels that are not feasible for B2C companies.
One such channel is the B2B Trade Show / Event. First off, let’s look at why events can be such an effective channel:
Trade shows improve visibility
CEIR’s data shows that 88% of event attendees have not been contacted by your organization, so it serves as a great first point of contact. Their data also shows that 70% are actively looking for a solution to purchase, so qualified sales leads are just walking around the event floor, waiting to be engaged. On an average, 26% sign purchase orders right there. So it’s not just visibility that we are talking about, it’s actual revenue from trade shows. Revenue that the company would miss out on if they’re not exhibiting.
Returns from the tradeshows reach far
As we’ve seen before, sales opportunities from a trade show are not limited to the trade show itself. Of the people who’ve been engaged at the tradeshow, 84% have been reported to transmit the information that they’ve received to other prospects. On top of this, there are additional sales opportunities that arise out of exhibiting at events that add to the company’s sales pipeline.
Events offer facetime with your prospects
Facetime is just industry jargon for meeting someone face-to-face. The reason that jargon exists is that getting to meet someone in person is harder to come by, because of the proliferation of virtual conferencing technology and an implied expectation of getting everything instantly. But real-time engagements have been proven to be more effective, and trade shows offer that exact experience. This might contribute to the fact that trade shows cost 22% less to contact a lead compared to a traditional sales call.
Taking the next step
It’s obvious that B2B events and trade shows are very effective sales channels. Identifying an effective sales channel is the first step. To optimize the sales cycle beyond that, companies need to start looking at the sales meetings, because they are the irreplaceable cogs that keep the sales machine running. The success of the events depends on the revenue generated from these meetings, and if they are not managed effectively it leads to lost revenue.
In order to minimize mishaps due to manual scheduling, a platform like Jifflenow makes it easier to manage sales meetings at events and helps attribute pipeline generated to these meetings. It is only with tools that actively aid sales progress, and help you measure your efforts and attribute sales pipeline built to the event can events be considered as a viable sales channel. Right now, events have a lot of potential as a sales channel but it is not fully developed because the right tools do not have widespread use. The few companies that do use the right tools experience an outsized advantage in streamlining their sales process for events and pulling in much higher revenues.
