Initial Situation
A leading trade show organizer successfully hosts large trade shows in Germany and abroad, including leading global trade shows. Previously, the exhibitor acquisition has been project-based under the leadership of experienced trade show managers.
The goal was to standardize the process for exhibitor acquisition throughout the company and to derive optimization potential regarding process design and the roles of the employees involved. With the newly developed process, the trade show organizer wanted to:
- Establish a uniform and interlocked approach to exhibitor acquisition across events and organizational units (national / international)
- Introduce an end-to-end digitalization of the process, which was to be implemented with a CRM system that was to be subsequently introduced
- Improve the selection and composition of exhibitors represented at trade shows, e.g., for higher booth rents and a more attractive supporting program
- Attract more international exhibitors
- Provide employees with a clear structure so that they can perform their tasks more efficiently
GP+S Services
- Analysis of the actual process for exhibitor acquisition based on expert discussions with trade show managers and other functional areas involved
- Structured preparation of the actual process for exhibitor acquisition and derivation of optimization approaches
- Development of the future process for exhibitor acquisition
- Structuring of activities and results in the individual process steps
- Definition of roles and responsibilities of the functional areas involved in the processing of the process phases (DEBI methodology)
- Development of the launch plan: Marketing programs and competitor attack plans for defined target groups
Results
- Establishment of a basis for the digitization of the exhibitor acquisition process in a CRM system
- Creation of a uniform understanding of exhibitor acquisition activities
- Clear and shared description of roles and responsibilities in the exhibitor acquisition process
- Recommendations for action for organizational optimization in exhibitor acquisition and the entire trade show sales process.
