by Steve Choate for the Buyer Presentation blog series
You signed up to attend an upcoming ECRM event – now what do you do?
First, take care of making your reservations for travel, hotel, and transportation. Be sure to arrive with enough time to set up your room prior to your first meeting and choose a departing flight that gives you adequate time to take everything down without rushing or cutting your last meeting short. Also make arrangements to get your product samples; exhibits, backdrops, placards, or displays; presentations; and literature to the meeting location so it is there when you set up your room.
When you’re arranging to ship your product samples to the show, keep in mind that while you want enough of them in the room to create a presence, buyers will most likely not want samples to take with them. Allow buyers to try your product during your meeting, but plan on mailing samples as part of your post-show follow-up. Don’t forget your product displays. Bring at least one of each display type that you want buyers to see and consider.
Your buyer presentation
How is your buyer presentation? Is it succinct and to the point? Does it cover what the retailer wants to know? Does it include:
- your company information,
- category trends,
- market opportunity,
- product differentiation,
- planogram vignettes and recommendations,
- consumer marketing plan, and
- competitive analysis and pricing information?
If not, you have some work to do. In addition to being built on research and data that supports your bid for shelf space, your presentation should also be short and compelling to keep the buyer engaged in your story. If possible, run it by an objective third-party to make sure it is effective and satisfies all these requirements. Once finalized, download the presentation onto the ECRM website.
You’ll have to decide if you want to use your PowerPoint presentation during the meeting or present your story via another medium, such as a flip chart or placards. Make sure your presentation fits the time limits of each meeting – you may need to modify each presentation to finish in the allotted time. Although you most likely will not need handouts for all of your meetings, you should have some with you for those that may want a hard copy to jot notes on.
In part two of this series about preparing for your ECRM event, I will discuss how to prepare for each retailer and how to make the most of the room you are in.
