Looking at getting a booth at the Southeast Facility Management Expo in Nashville. Cost is $3,500 for a 10x10 booth plus travel. That's a lot for a solo practitioner. Has anyone done trade shows and actually gotten business from them?
Trade Shows and Industry Events - Worth the Booth Cost?
I did the IFMA World Workplace conference twice. First time was a waste - generic banner, no strategy. Second time I brought a poster-size case study showing a $340K recovery for a hospital system, plus a tablet running a simple how-much-are-you-overpaying calculator. Got 40+ serious conversations, closed 5 clients over the next 6 months worth about $85K in total fees. ROI was there but only because I learned from the first failure.
I skip the booth and just attend as a participant. Way cheaper and honestly more effective for networking. At booths people are in avoid-the-salesperson mode. In the hallway during breaks or at the evening reception, people are open to genuine conversation. I've gotten more leads from cocktail hour than any booth.
For $3,500 I could do a lot of direct mail or LinkedIn outreach. Seems like a big gamble for a one-time event.
Trade shows can work but I'd agree with Susan's attend-don't-exhibit approach, especially when you're building your practice. Save the booth for when you have a bigger marketing budget and a team to staff it. In the meantime, attend the events that your target clients attend - BOMA, IFMA, local chamber events, commercial real estate conferences - and focus on relationship building.
One more thought - if you do decide to exhibit, partner with a complementary service provider to split the booth cost. I shared a booth with an energy broker at a regional facility management show. We each paid $1,750 and our services didn't overlap at all, so we could refer leads to each other.