This presentation provides insights into what industry leaders are doing to find and retain top sponsorship sales people, and other strategies to improve sponsorship sales.

1. What’s Working in Exhibit
and Sponsorship Sales?
Sam Lippman, Founder and President, Lippman
Connects
Wendy Loew, Group Show Director, Questex Media
Jason Stookey, Vice President Sales, National
Association of Broadcasters

2. • Explore how to integrate exhibit and sponsorship sales
• Examine ways to find and retain talented sales staff
• Develop techniques for building a culture of exceptional
customer service
Learner Outcomes:

3. • Self-Introductions
• Audience demographics polling
• Exhibition trends
• Find, train, and retain star salespeople
• Selling exhibits and sponsorships
Agenda

4. • 35 years producing
exhibitions, conferences, forums, a
nd roundtables
• Produced International
CES, GRAPH EXPO, and PRINT
• Consults in strategic
planning, management, and
marketing
• Facilitates board meetings; user
groups; and attendee and exhibitor
focus groups
• Produce by-invitation events for the
exhibition and convention industry
Sam Lippman
Founder and President
Lippman Connects

5. Show Name Attendance Purpose
200 industry
executives annually
• Exclusively for independent and
association executives
• Focuses on increasing revenue and the
relevance of events
16 attendees
3 times a year
• Show managers with at least 125,000 net
square feet of exhibit space
• Exchanges best practices for large shows
18 attendees
3 times a year
• Event marketers focus on ways to find,
attract, and retain quality attendees
• Tracks lifecycle of attendees
• Identifies new prospects and rebuilds lists
• Boosts conversion rates
18 attendees
3 times a year
• Exhibit sales and service managers share
sales technique
• Benchmarks exhibit pricing, space
assignment, and sponsorships
Lippman Connects Events

6. • Manages Questex Technology
Events portfolio - trade
shows, conferences, hosted buyer
summits, and media properties
• 25+ years sales management at
1105 Media, Advanstar, and CES
• Track record of building strong
external and internal relationships
• Enjoy creating, launching, and
selling integrated programs and
new sponsorship opportunities
Wendy Loew
Group Show Director
Questex Media

7. • 18 year Tradeshow Industry
Veteran
• Joined NAB in October 2011
• Previously worked at TNT
Productions, CES, and Hanley
Wood Exhibitions
• Suggests “Rhinoceros Success” by
Scott Robert Alexander as a must
read for any sales professional
Jason Stookey
Vice President Sales
National Association of
Broadcasters

8. Audience Demographic Polling

12. Exhibition Trends

14. Trends: Technology
• Matchmaking/Scheduling being used by 47% of organizers
• Effectiveness of these programs (ECEF 2012 Pulse)
23%
23%
35%
19%
18%
31%
35%
16%
Not very effective
Undecided
Somewhat effective
Very effective
Exhibitors Attendees

16. Trends: Technology
• 27% of organizers are extending their physical event online
(ECEF 2012 Pulse)
• Objectives in extending online:
– Strengthen your event’s brand
– Increase the number of attendees at future physical events
– Offer content to prospects that can’t attend your physical event
– New revenue from virtual booths and sponsorships
– Increase booth sales at future physical events

17. Trends: New Event Models
• Challenges and Opportunities
– Hosted buyer programs
– Sponsored conferences
– Exhibitors hosting private events
– Finding the “ROI ratio” for each company

18. Trends: Exhibit Space Pricing
• 56% of organizers open to the following new exhibit space
pricing (ECEF 2012 Pulse):
– 18% Charge based on different sections of the floor
– 15% Offer multi-year contracts
– 10% Change based on when the space is paid for
– 10% Reduce net square foot charge the more space purchased
– 2% Charge based on performance
– 45% Other

19. Trends: Year-long Engagement
• Create reasons to engage throughout the year
• Connect with multiple decision makers
• Build communities with exhibitors and prospects
• Constantly re-book
• Use survey data to craft sales message
• 80/20 rule: Generate majority of revenue from 20% of clients

20. Find, Train, and Retain Star
Salespeople

22. Star Salespeople
41%
14%
14%
24%
28%
28%
41%
30%
8%
23%
17%
24%
24%
26%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
None
Senior level communications people
Social media experts
Conference session development
experts
Senior level marketing people
Individuals with recognized industry
experience and knowledge
Senior level sales people
ECEF 2012 Pulse: Adding Expert Staff
2012
2011

23. Star Salespeople
Five of top six threats are exhibitor-related (ECEF 2012 Pulse):
1. M&A reducing exhibitor base
2. Exhibitors downsizing exhibit space
3. Exhibitors downsizing sponsorships
4. International exhibitors unable to get in the U.S.
5. Exhibitors cancelling booths

25. Star Salespeople
31% of exhibition producers increased their exhibit space and
sponsorship sales budget in the past year (ECEF 2012 Pulse)

26. Star Salespeople: Motivation
• Compensation
• Contests and spifs
• Managing a non-performer

27. Selling Exhibits and
Sponsorships

29. ECEF 2012 On-site Polling Results
• Which of the following is top of mind for exhibitors?
2%
21%
31%
46%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Cost shifing from show
management to exhibitors
Cost of exhibiting continually
increasing
Show management providing
measurement tools/data
Creating compelling
experiences for attendees

30. Exhibit Space and Sponsorship Sales
• Create customized sponsorships, media opportunities, and
digital offerings
• Work with exhibitors to develop powerful sponsorships
• Create bundled, integrated proposals
• Sell marketing solutions, not concrete or ad space

31. Thank you
For more information, please contact:
Sam Lippman Sam@LippmanConnects.com
www.LippmanConnects.com
Wendy Loew wloew@questex.com
Jason Stookey jstookey@nab.org