This Canton Fairwill be held in three phases from October 15 to November 4. The first phase will open on October 15, with only more than a week left. For factories, the investment in the exhibition is fixed, and the output gap is all about preparation and follow-up: for the same booth, someone received 300 business cards and signed back eight trial orders, while someone received 500 business cards and failed. There are three differences: whether the right person was invited to the booth before the exhibition, whether the quality of buyers was recorded during the exhibition, and whether the follow-up was carried out within 48 hours after the exhibition. Remove it according to the Timeline.
1. The last week before the exhibition: invitation and information go hand in hand
- Invite old customers and high-potential buyers:Send a one-on-one email to buyers with active transactions and inquiries in the past two years, specifying the booth number, new products brought, topics that can be interviewed (next year's price framework, new product customization, peak season delivery date), and attaching an appointment schedule. The average quality of negotiations held at the booth is more than ten times that of individual visitors on site.
- The data is rearranged according to the buyer's decision order:The first page of the one-page product booklet contains the three things the buyer asks first: minimum quantity quantity, delivery date, and certification status. The quotation format is unified, the numbers are filled in directly during the exhibition, and they are sorted out without going back to the hotel.
- Division of labor at the booth:Clarify who leads the conversation, who records, and who receives business cards for guidance. Print the record sheet and place the booth: buyer company, country, product, quantity, destination port, follow-up level (A/B/C), next step. If you make up for it at night based on memory, nine times out of ten it won't match.
2. During the exhibition: Use three questions to layer buyers
Buyers at the exhibition are mixed, and quality depends on three questions. The first question is the purchase history: "Where do you purchase this product now and what is the average monthly quantity?" The answer to the supplier and magnitude is at least the real buyer. The second question is the transaction path: "If the samples and prices are suitable, what is the next step?" If you can tell the rhythm of factory inspection, proofing, and trial orders, there is a budget. The third question is the timetable: "When will this batch of procurement plans be determined?" If a clear time window is given, priority will be given to follow-up. If you can't answer all three questions, you will receive the business card and handle it according to file C without entanglement. There are two other things to avoid during the exhibition: make an appointment for key buyers on the spot. The next step-"I will send you the quote on Wednesday and call you in about 15 minutes on Thursday" is much more effective than "go back and contact"; spend 20 minutes every day after closing the museum. Complete the day's records and classify them by level.
3. 48 hours after the exhibition: gold follow-up window
Buyers at the exhibition have the highest response rate within one week after the exhibition. After two weeks, the other party will only remember you as "the one you talked about at the booth." 48-hour action list:
- File A (clarify product, quantity, schedule):Send a customized email within 24 hours-quoting the interview content, giving a quote or a quotation time commitment, and attaching agreed information. On the third day, phone call or WhatsApp confirmed receipt.
- Class B (with products but no quantity):Issue standard quotations with product selection suggestions within 48 hours, guide buyers to provide quantities and destinations, and follow up twice within two weeks.
- Gear C:Send thank-you letters and electronic catalogs uniformly, and put them into the mailing list for long-term cultivation without taking up sales time.
There is an iron rule in follow-up emails: do not send them in bulk. There must be at least one detail in the A file email that only you will know during the interview-the market, competing products, and packaging requirements he mentioned. The buyer can tell at a glance whether the email is addressed to him or everyone.
4. The propriety of on-site quotations and commitments
It is easy to go to two extremes when quoting during an exhibition: simply offering a floor price just to receive orders, or not daring to quote and always "go back and calculate it to you." An enforceable practice is to add conditions to range quotations: each main SKU prepares three prices-sample list (high), regular batch size (medium), and annual framework quantity (low). The quantity and delivery are used immediately after the range is quoted during the exhibition. Three issues such as delivery period and packaging requirements narrow the range. If you can't give an accurate number on the spot, write down the commitment time: "Send the official quotation before X month" and send it on time after writing it down. This in itself is a credit display. There are three other ways not to cross the line: do not belittle competing products at the booth (buyers are often talking to competing products at the same time); do not promise delivery dates without production capacity basis (the price of inserting orders in peak season is that all orders are delayed); do not promise to open the mold for free on the spot, mold investment is a bargaining chip, and we will be left to negotiate on an order basis after the exhibition.
5. What indicators should be recognized for the post-exhibition review
Only count business cards in the review, and recognize four numbers: the number of buyers in Class A, the response rate in Class A within one week after the exhibition, the number of buyers entering the proofing or factory inspection process within 30 days, and the input and output of the exhibition (the amount of the trial order divided by the total cost). Compare the four numbers with the previous session, and make up for which paragraph is missing: if the invitations are insufficient, the appointment will be started two months in advance for the next session; if the records are lost during the exhibition, the record form will be changed to a printed version and taken photos for archiving; If the follow-up is slow, write the 48-hour list into the department's SOP and designate the person responsible.
5. Common questions
1. The booth budget has been cut in half. Is it for samples or decoration?
Cut the decoration. Buyers judge the strength of suppliers by the professionalism of samples, materials and people. The money saved by special installation is exchanged for the number of samples and proofing budget, making the output more direct.
2. On-site buyers only asked about the price and didn't talk about anything else. How to advance it?
Add conditions to the range quotation: quote "the minimum order quantity is X or more than Y dollars" and ask for the quantity, delivery date, and destination at the same time, turning the price conversation into a demand conversation. Many of the buyers who only compare prices are peers or individual investors, and filter them with conditions and do not waste time.
3. How long should I give up the business card received at the exhibition without a reply?
Gear A reaches three times within two weeks without response, and is downgraded to gear B; gear B has no response twice a month, and is transferred to gear C for long-term cultivation. Giving up does not mean deleting. New product emails are sent quarterly, and many orders come back six months later.
