What a week it was! Though we tried to post every day, nothing beats a full write up, and now that I’ve pulled my brain cells together, here we go!
Coming up first, the atmosphere and exhibitors.
This year was definitely a step up from last year, but sadly, still quieter compared to SPE’s from years gone by. We were located in Hall 2 at the OGV Area which was the busiest spot to be in. We might be a little biased with the feedback, but the reality of it is, its the first hall you see when you walk through the door’, so human nature draws you in.
Top tip for next year – try to get a spot in Hall 2.
With local and international companies representing their products and initiatives, we were spoiled for choice when it came to displays.
I think my favourite was the Submersible from U-Boat Worx. It was so great to get into it with help of Frank Visser. My son also loved the Stauff display with Drifting Car, and with the crowds around it, it’s safe to say he wasn’t the only one.
There was no shortage of questions being asked and answered and products being demoed. We were especially impressed by some of the brilliant explanations and sales pitches.
That being said, not every stand ticked all my boxes. Sadly, a few companies seemed to forget that the basics of marketing at an exhibition comes down to 3 simple points – a combination of a great display, interesting/useful freebies and, above all else, a presenter with the gift of the gab. Your display can be one if the best, but if the person behind the desk doesn’t encourage people over and strike up a conversation, your pitch won’t go anywhere.
We have to give a shout out to the Khafji Joint Operations ( Kuwait Oil + Aramco) who did an excellent job with their booth. The hospitality was superb and the people we were talking with were friendly, approachable and came with some amazing goodies. To the point I had to take my kids back there for another visit. Then right across from them were TNavigators, who were equipped with a nice Coffee/Bar and a giant display with various eye catching technical presentations.
You might be wondering, how did we do?
Well, we rocked up armed with our list of people we wanted to talk to (cheers Bill!), and it was a pretty spot on analysis. Even though only 10% of leads can be considered as actionable after conversations with the sales and BD people, our list could be considered warm to hot, so we were already a few steps ahead.
We also went equipped with our Card Scanner, and let me tell you, that was a hit! Those who used NFC cards on the other hand, not as happy. With so many people in one place, the network was patchy at the best of times. Luckly for our team, it was not an issue as we upgraded to work in no coverage areas. It meant that our conversations were safely stored away at the end of the day, even if they had wondered out of my brain. With so many people to talk to, having the ability to add a note, tag and most importantly, a voice recording to the contact card was a game changer.
The transcripts function also made life much easier as I was able to make a voice note and then read the transcript later when I needed it. Though we did have 2 bugs, they were small and have since been fixed. In my book, it was a huge success.
Thankfully, quite a few of the sales teams were happy for me to test the app on them during the exhibition and were left impressed with the instant transcription and seeing all that information funnelled into our EIIE CRM where users can sort their contacts and their conversations.
Finally, we have to mention the future – the next generation.
My kids LOVED the SPE.
I made sure to take them with me to:
1) give them experience of large-scale exhibitions to understand how to communicate with people and see how networking works firsthand.
2) To give them an opportunity to see what the world of ‘sales’ really looks like and act as my very own PA for the day (someone had to take all those photos and videos!)
3) To experience the technical / innovation and science that was on offer. It’s not uncommon for kids to only experience science in a theoretical sense, so we couldn’t let this opportunity to see it live in person pass us by.
On those 3 fronts, it was it a success.
I’d also like to give a special shout out to Techfest and to Glasgow Science centre and those in attendance who took the time to explain their products and services in terms that kids could understand. Our friends over at Interventions Rentals took 15 minutes out of their day to explain their equipment to Harry in terms that he’d be able to understand. Not just tech jargon. Heidenhan explained all about their motor sensors for Wind turbines and even did a demo. Then, Harry’s favourite of the day – AMS Global. Nathan was so impressive, Harry had to go back at the end of the day to have another chat.
It was a long 4 days, but it was absolutely worth every moment. Now it’s time to follow up with leads, collaborations and partnership opportunities.
Here’s hoping that next year’s exhibition will be as successful as this one.
