In an effort to bring the entire industry together, the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) decided to allow end customers to attend the ISSA/INTERCLEAN®-USA show beginning in 1999. There were many reasons for this decision. Among the most compelling is the changing dynamics we observed in the way end customers learn about, shop for and buy supplies. Another key reason is to allow the distributor and manufacturer members opportunities to connect and communicate with end customers.

Recent surveys of end-customer attendees at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN®-USA show demonstrate that end customers attend the show for three main reasons:

  1. They can see a wide variety of products in one place, thus reducing the time and effort needed to gather information necessary before making a purchase decision.
  2. All the key players are in one location, allowing them to talk face-to-face with technical, sales, and management staff for immediate answers instead of waiting for responses to letters, e-mails or phone calls.
  3. Convention seminars provide timely opportunities for ongoing education on a range of relevant business topics, and such education can help prospects properly select products and cleaning systems.

Another part of our research is especially reassuring: end customers overwhelmingly say they will seek to buy products they find at the show from their local distributors (more than 90 percent). They value the relationships they have, and the service they receive from their distributor — they don’t want to jeopardize that.

With that in mind, I want to examine some predominant trends among the end-customer segment and explain what they mean to distributors.

Keeping Up With the Times
Trade shows embracing all industry players are the trend. In fact, almost all of the top 200 industrial trade shows now invite end customers. The cleaning industry is one of the last segments to adopt this format.

As your customers attend in increasing numbers to get a view of the entire marketplace, and to take advantage of the face-to-face interaction, the question is: How will manufacturers and distributors capitalize on these trends?

Empirical data show the most productive field sales effort occurs when the distributor and manufacturer work with a customer or prospect together, and I believe trade shows provide the needed platform for suppliers and manufacturers to use this team-sales approach. This approach is even more effective at a trade show, and it’s more efficient since the distributor sales rep can take the same customer to several suppliers in a short time span.

Trade Show as a Shopping Mall
Whole-industry trade shows are proliferating for the same reason shopping malls have. They attract buyers. When the average American shops for a new pair of shoes, he or she goes to the mall to visit several shoe stores under one roof, try on shoes at different stores, evaluate various options, then make a purchase. Like shopping malls, trade shows — temporary business-to-business “shopping malls” — make quality, personalized service and price comparisons easier and faster.

Interestingly, a 1999 study by the Association of Exhibition Organizers (AEO), a UK group, concluded that trade shows are the “best marketing channels for demonstrating the benefits of products and services” (51 percent), and “for building relationships with your customers and prospects” (37 percent).

Competition Drives Sales
The proverbial tale about three gas stations on the corner also proves true at trade shows. Marketing studies have shown that three gas stations on adjacent corners of an intersection often do more business than one gas station alone. Why? The presence of three competing stations together is a magnet for drivers looking for a good deal and quality service.

“The presence of competitors encourages the buying process,” according to Steve Miller, a marketing consultant specializing in the trade show industry and author of How to Get the Most Out of Trade Shows. “Let’s assume a prospect’s interest is aroused by a particular type of product. At a trade show, the prospect can come to your booth, see demonstrations, ask questions, then visit other manufacturers of similar products, each of whom offers a different selection of features. Such personal contact creates a sense of immediacy, and hence shortens the buying process.” In essence, educated buyers buy more and have a clearer idea of what they want.

With today’s advances in manufacturing process — design, engineering and production — and product incubation times getting shorter, savvy customers also are aware that there are significant product changes or additions every year.

Attending annual “magnet” events where most new industry products are showcased enables customers to keep up with what’s new, stimulating sales of new products and providing manufacturers valuable input to better address customer needs and drive practical innovation.

With the proliferation of trade magazines and even more Internet sites, today’s “connected” customer has access to far more product information than in the past on a daily basis. Online, a prospect can compare different floor burnishers, autoscrubbers, mop buckets, pressure washers and other products. Appetites whetted — and faced with such a bewildering range of choices — these customers often want sound advice, in-depth information, and increasingly, to see those products firsthand. They prefer the forum to be a convenient and efficient face-to-face encounter that facilitates answers to technical questions and leads to effective decision-making within the shortest possible time period.

Conversely, the commoditization of supplies and equipment is, in some cases, reducing product choices at the local level due, in part, to the presence of mass market retailers who buy in large volume, promote a limited number of SKUs, and create price and inventory pressure for other sanitary supply vendors. Thus, an increasing number of end customers (notably “mom and pop” businesses) get meaningful hands-on information about a decreasing number of products at a time when the universe of products is larger than ever.

John Garfinkel is the executive director of the International Sanitary Supply Association, Lincolnwood, Ill.

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POSTED ON: 9/1/2002