Preparing for a trade show: the method to sell more at every appointment

The stand, travel, samples and the team’s time: a trade show is a significant investment for a brand. Simply being there is not enough to make it pay. The brands that get the most out of it prepare their appointments weeks in advance, take orders without friction and follow up methodically after the show closes. To choose the show itself, see our calendar of trade shows by industry.

Six to eight weeks before: prepare the collection and the tools

• Finalise the collection to be shown: references, colourways, sizes, wholesale prices and recommended retail prices.
• Update price lists by country and currency, minimums and deposit terms.
• Prepare the visuals: packshots, on-model photos, lookbook, line sheet.
• Check that every sales rep, agent or showroom has the up-to-date catalogue and their logins.

Everything else depends on this: a line sheet sent out with a provisional price, then corrected, plants doubt in the buyer’s mind.

Three to four weeks before: fill the appointment diary

The best appointments are booked before the show. Invite your existing customers by offering them a time slot, target the prospects you want to meet and send them the line sheet or lookbook as a preview.

A buyer who has already gone through the collection arrives with a selection. The appointment is shorter, and the order larger.

The day before the show: brief the team on four points

• The season’s priorities: hero styles, new arrivals, products to push.
• The trading rules: minimums, authorised discounts, payment terms, and who can make exceptions.
• The targets: revenue, new accounts, appointments per sales rep.
• The organisation: who welcomes visitors, who enters orders, who handles follow-ups.

Settle exceptions before the doors open: a sales rep who does not know whether they can accept an order below the minimum ends up improvising in front of the buyer. To set those thresholds, see our guide to the wholesale minimum order.

During the show: how do you take an order without friction?

On the stand, a buyer’s time is limited. Order-taking has to keep pace with the conversation: find the customer, see their history, browse the visual collection, fill in the size-by-colourway grid, apply a prepack (a fixed bundle of sizes and colourways), display the summary and get it signed. Every missing piece of information, be it a lead time, a composition or an availability, adds another hesitation.

Two precautions prevent unpleasant surprises: an order-taking tool that keeps working even when the show’s network is saturated, and rules that are visible before signature, so you do not find out afterwards that an order is below the minimum.

Buyers who do not order on the spot

Many buyers take notes, compare several brands and decide after the show. Save their selection as a draft or saved basket, with a dated reminder. That draft becomes the basis of your follow-up.

After the show: follow up and hand over in five steps

1. Send each customer their order summary within the following days.
2. Follow up undecided buyers with their selection, before they finalise their budget.
3. Consolidate orders and check quantities by style and colourway.
4. Pass the quantities on to the factories within production deadlines.
5. Hold a debrief with the team while memories are fresh.

Which KPIs should you use to measure a trade show?

Preparing for a trade show: the timeline, in order

Treat these as benchmarks to adapt to your production calendar: lock the collection and price lists six to eight weeks ahead, fill the diary three to four weeks ahead, and brief the team the day before, exceptions included. On the stand, enter orders with the rules visible and keep the undecided buyers’ selections. Then send the summaries, follow up, consolidate and pass the quantities to the factories.