Published On: February 12, 2015550 words3.1 min readCategories: ArticleTags: ,

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2014 NACDS Total Store Expo participants Claude Farrier, president of MTM Videos, which creates health videos aimed at enhancing patient compliance, and Barry Goldman, director of sales at MTM Videos, recently shared with NACDS.org the positive experience they had at the Conference, and explained why they would ‘absolutely’ be back for the 2015 Conference.

Q: Did you use the resources available on the NACDS Total Store Expo site in advance of the conference? 

Barry: Absolutely. With the videos that NACDS has for the tips for successful exhibiting, I felt like I had gone back to school.  It was everything I needed to know—like a Total Store 101. It was laid out perfectly for a newbie, and then, on top of that, we also got a mentor. It really is a hand-held process for new vendors and new exhibitors. The companies were very receptive. For us, it was a dream come true.

The MapYourShow online appointment planning site allowed us to send invitations directly to all the attendees, filtering it to our categories, so we weren’t just sending it to everybody; we were sending it to the people who are interested in our product.  As a precursor to the show, you couldn’t ask for better, and we got an 88 percent or 89 percent show rate, which was phenomenal.  

Q: What would you recommend to a first-time participant to maximize their experience?

Barry: Embrace the exhibitor’s resources. Embrace all the information that you can get ahead of time. Definitely request a mentor. Of course, what was also great is the NACDS staff were accessible. What I initially felt would be a daunting task became a smooth process, which NACDS made a whole lot easier. 

Q: What are you looking forward to accomplishing at this year’s conference?

Barry: We have a new product, and there were a lot of people that we didn’t get a chance to meet with last year that we’re hoping to meet with this year. We expect another great year at

[NACDS] Total Store [Expo]. 

Q: Were you surprised at how well your experience went last year? 

Barry: I was told that if you got 50 percent of the people that signed up for appointments, you did well. We ended up getting an 88 – 89 percent show rate, so I was really impressed. I’d never been to a trade show where it really is all appointments, and we had some booths around us who asked, ‘How do you get all these people to your booth? Did you make appointments ahead of time?’  This show is all about is those one-on-one appointments, and we met with executive directors and major companies that we would normally not get the chance to meet anywhere else.

Claude: A big resource of the Conference is the ability to communicate with potential customers prior to the show.  We were able to have a significant number of discussions prior to the show to introduce our product and to follow up at the show. I would suggest other exhibitors should so the same. 

Q: Has the success that you experienced at the show had a positive effect on your bottom line? 

Claude: Yes. These things are long processes, but it’s looking positive.