The Purchasing Labyrinth

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Trade Show Bob

have advised a number of clients over the course of my career, ranging from very large corporations to small start-ups. One thing most of them have in common as they approach their trade show planning is a difficulty in identifying their target audience and how to reach out to them.

I'll admit. This is a difficult task, and definitely not one to be glossed over lightly. Yet that's exactly what many people do as they begin to think about how to get their messages across.

Usually, the conversion goes something like this:
Me: Who are you trying to see at this show?
Exhibitor: R&D people who use our stuff to build their stuff.
Me: But most of the audience is made up of managers, not R&D guys.
Exhibitor: Well, they still have to know the technical stuff.
Me: But how does knowing the technical stuff about your stuff make the stuff they do easier?

Many of today's buying decisions are made by committees (whether folks admit it or not). These committees are made up of groups of people with vastly different interests and roles, from the very technical types to financial bean counters to growth-oriented executives.

And with so many people involved in the purchasing process, it seems like there are plenty of individuals who can say "no" or even "maybe," but no one to issue a solid "yes." The larger the customer and the more numerous its locations or divisions, the more complex the purchasing process is – and the more gatekeepers you have to impress.

Here's a list of the most common players involved in purchasing decisions, with information to help you understand their roles and motivations.

Influencers: People in the organization who will benefit most directly from the purchase.
Users: People who will use the product to do their jobs. (Often, users and influencers are the same people.) Users are interested in how easy the product is to learn and apply to daily business operations.
Buyer: The purchasing agent who actually places the order. The buyer is often motivated by ease of doing business, credit terms, etc.
Decision-Maker: Often a department head or senior manager who has final sign-off for the purchase. Compared to users, decision-makers generally have higher-level productivity goals in mind.
Gatekeepers: People who stand between your sales efforts and any of the players. Usually gatekeepers are secretaries, administrative assistants, or mail-room personnel.
Specifiers: People such as information-technology professionals, engineers, or technical experts who review their company's needs in detail and specify what features and functions are required.
Buying Committees: Groups that manage the purchase of a particular item. The group often comprises many of the players described above along with finance people, who are interested in the company's purse strings and thus the expected return on investment of the purchase.

These roles are all important to the buying company, and their questions and issues must all be satisfied before a sale is closed. Similarly, the headlines and messages in your marketing materials must be tailored to fit not only your product and its features/benefits, but how this will help each individual in his/her particular role.

And now, in today's digital trade show environment, displaying simple, brief, and incisive messaging is easy to do – with the help of digital signage. You can now rotate and even reprogram messages with a few keystrokes, without the need to have that expensive graphic sent back to the print shop. Here are a few examples of how this might work, profiled against the buying types above:

Influencers: "Increase your department's performance by 20 percent with our widgets."
Users: "Our widgets can be up and running by noon tomorrow."
Buyer: "No money down, nothing to pay until you're satisfied with our widget's reliability."
Decision-Maker: "Your people can now spend less time on unimportant tasks."
Gatekeepers: "A smoother-running organization means a happier boss, which makes everybody's life easier."
Specifiers: "Fix the top 17 industry-related issues with our widgets."

Although I'm no great copywriter, I'm sure you get the idea. By rotating messages (at appropriate intervals), you can address a much wider section of your target company's personnel during the course of the show, which should help straighten out some of the kinks in getting the sale closed.

While navigating this maze of players to reach a final sale may seem a bit overwhelming, understanding who the players are and what they want can help you tailor your exhibit and selling strategy to their needs, ultimately speeding your way toward a sale.

Bob Milam, independent industry consultant, is a former EXHIBITOR Editorial Advisory Board member and a past All-Star Award winner, and a current EXHIBITOR Conference faculty member. tradeshowbob@gmail.com