People often pass up on the opportunity to attend trade shows, due to not having the time, the extra expense or the travel distance, and when there is a dip in the economy, the attendance at the shows fall off even more.

But thankfully, many customers make sure to attend every show no matter what, and they always tell us about the many benefits and takeaways from each of the events.

Jim Adair, Director of Product Management at Schwarze Industries shares some of these benefits with us.

Benefits of attending a show

First there are the training and presentations that are offered by the associations. These often cover proven best practices in your industry, liability avoidance, compiling with laws and regulations, worker safety, marketing your services and other useful topics. These classes can be as simple as a lecture on the subject, to a hands-on workshop, providing you with meaningful information and training.

Second is the exhibit floor. Almost all vendors display their products and equipment for you to review. An excellent opportunity to shop and compare products, see what’s new to the market or get a preview of what is coming. The exhibit floor is also a great place to talk to the vendors about issues you might have or solutions you need to complete a project. Do not hesitate to take the time to sit in the cab of the trucks, examine the controls, assess how easy it would be to perform the daily maintenance and ask how the vendor is equipped to support the parts and service of the equipment. Most of the time you will also be able to speak with other users of the equipment to get their feedback as it relates to real world operation.

Third, and for some the most important, is the networking. Always take the opportunity to network with others that are in the same line of business. As long as you’re not the competition, most folks are willing to share their experiences, tips and tricks on how they run their business. We’ve seen friendships grow between multiple contractors from all across the country and these relationships don’t stop when the trade show is over.

While networking with your colleagues, take the time to network with the vendors and their personnel as well. It can be very helpful to know the parts, service, warranty and sales manager by their first name and how to contact them.

And never pass up the opportunity to see a demonstration of a sweeper either. Especially if it’s on your turf, sweeping up what you normally encounter. Don’t hesitate to ask to see the sweeper sweep a job that you need to know that it is going to perform as it should or better. Make sure that you view how well the machine is doing from the outside, as well as operating the sweeper from inside the cab. Is it easy to use? Are there any features that help reduce work for the operator? How easy is it to maintain? How is the noise inside the cab? How is the performance? Can the performance be sustained?

Ask for the demo to be configured as close to what you are looking for, giving you the chance to preview and use everything that you need. Remember, you’re the customer, and the better we can help you grow your business the better it helps our business. The demos assist in ensuring that you are getting the right equipment for the job you’re doing.