Choosing the right exhibit partner, like choosing a spouse, can lead to a long happy relationship that can be rewarding and mutually beneficial or to one that can drive you crazy and end acrimoniously.
Most advice about developing an RFP addresses the information that is pretty standard fare: years in business, company model, capabilities. At the end of the day, however, all the responses begin to sound alike. If a particular company doesn’t have one or another capability, they can outsource that function to another company—and voila! they claim the capability.
Here are a few things that you need to do to make sure you are contracting with the right vendor.
• State your budget. If you don’t have an exact budget, give a range. Don’t solicit responses that are out of your league or that confuse the bidding companies.
• Be specific. Talk about the history of your program, the nature and number of the attendees at your shows, and what you want your exhibit to include. It’s also fair to tell the bidders how many other companies you have invited to compete.
• Request line-item details. If your budget includes graphics, installation and dismantle, or other services beyond design and fabrication, say so—and ask for quotes for these services.
• Ask for suggestions. If you’re not sure about the latest technology or 3rd party vendors who might be involved, ask the companies who are responding to your RFP which vendors they would suggest. Hopefully you trust their opinions sufficiently since you invited them into the bidding process.
• State all your conditions, time lines and budget parameters. Don’t waste anyone’s time.
Give a reasonable time period for responses to come in. Check references, and when you do, ask relevant questions of the people you call. Obviously no company bidding on business will use a negative reference, but try to pinpoint specific situations to ask about performance and responsiveness.

In the “Cost Effectiveness of Exhibition Participation,” a study undertaken by the Center for Exhibition Research (CEIR), some very compelling statistics make a strong case for exhibiting at trade shows when converting leads to sales.
The study shows that the cost of an initial face-to-face encounter with a prospect is $96 for an exhibit lead, while the figure for a field sales lead is $1,029 (this includes $443 to identify the prospect before the initial meeting plus $596 for the actual sales call). Do the math! meeting a prospect at a trade show as opposed to generating a field sales lead saves $943 prospecting dollars.
Moreover, CEIR found that 54% of sales initiated by an exhibit sales lead requires three or fewer sales calls to close the sale, while 61% of leads from other sources require more than three calls to close the sale.
Closing a sale from an exhibit lead saves $914 over closing a lead from another source. CEIR also noted that it costs $2,288 to close a sale from an exhibit lead, including an average of $96 to qualify an exhibit lead plus 3.5 sales calls. Closing a lead from another source, without a lead from an exhibit,costs on average $3,102. This includes $43 to qualify a prospect and 4.5 sale calls totaling $2,659.

According to a new report from Forrester Research, B2B marketers will increase their marketing budgets on average 6.7% this year over last year, according to a new report from Forrester Research.

The report, “Bigger B2B Marketing Budgets Come With Great Expectations,” was based on an online survey of 563 B2B marketers conducted in the fourth quarter.After several years of making cuts, B2B marketing leaders have larger budgets in 2011, but they come with a catch: more scrutiny and greater expectations for results. Budgeting is no longer an annual event; it is an ongoing opportunity for marketing leaders to shift investment to the highest-performing activities. Marketing leaders should look at their budget allocation as a flywheel that when properly balanced can energize and smooth the execution of the sales and product/service portfolio teams.

The report found that as far as budget increases are concerned, the high-tech services area is leading growth (an average 17.0% increase this year), followed by finance and insurance (7.8%), high-tech products (5.9%), business and professional services (4.3%) and manufacturing (4.3%). Marketing budgets for pharmaceutical products and medical devices will be down an average 2.8% this year.