 I think their intent was, I am looking for innovative new products because my clients are asking for innovative new products. Welcome to the Smarter Building Materials Marketing Podcast, helping you find better ways to grow leads, sales, and outperform your competition. All right, everybody, welcome to Smarter Building Materials Marketing, where we believe your online presence should be your best salesperson. I am Zach Williams, alongside virtually my co-host, Beth Pompnyglove. And we've got a guest today, a very good friend of mine. He's a part of our team, Steve Coffey. Welcome to the show. It's good to be here today. Yeah, excited to have you on. For those of you that don't know Steve, he is our Director of Growth. He is joining Beth and Orlando. We're coming at you live from IBS 2022. We typically do an IBS episode every year. Last year we didn't do it because it was virtual. So this is the first one we've done in like two years. And there's a lot of topics people have in mind, the number of manufacturers we know that have backed out of the show that did not go. And so we wanted to talk about what we're seeing. I'm going to be sending Beth and Steve some quickfire questions. Is that the right word? Quickfire? Yeah. Rapid fire. We can go quick and we can do rapid, right? Rapid fire questions about the show. So let's dive in. Sound good? Sounds great. Great. So obviously we haven't had a show or a series show in like two years because of the pandemic. Things have opened up and IBS, Kbiz said, hey, we're going to have the show this year. It's going to be in Orlando. You both are there. The big question that I know is on people's minds is what is the show like our people even there? Like, what's the attendance like? How many booths are there? Is it about the same? What's different? Can you quickly break it down for me? I love trade shows. They're exciting. I love the exchange. I love the excitement of new relationships blossoming as cheesy as that may sound. It's fascinating to me. The establishment of new relationships and the exchange of business is just very exciting. So when COVID happened, that all just went away and a lot of companies completely readjusted. Some of those companies went full on into digital. Some of those companies just stopped. Once things began to pick back up, there was a lot of uncertainty what the future of trade shows would be. This last IBS, however, gives me a lot of confidence that trade shows are here to stick around. I think there's been a new normal that's been established and things were kind of back to normal. It was crowded. It was busy. People were coming into booze. Manufacturers were talking to builders. It was exciting. So it's actually pretty cool to see. Yeah, I would say a lot of what Steve is saying, and I echo all of that, the sense that I've had from every manufacturer or builder that I've talked to is just pure excitement. There's a significant positivity in the air. It was packed. I had one of the manufacturers that I spoke to said they heard there were 68,000 attendees. There was that many. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you felt it. Now, part of the reason you felt it is because the way that they've laid it out, it's a scaled-down show, it's not sprawled out, or all four concourses. So there's a reason that you can feel 68,000 people in a room, but it was 68,000 people having really good, positive conversations. I mean, the air was like electric with energy and excitement. It genuinely felt great. I would say on the other end of the spectrum, first of all, there's blank spots for booths, which you never would have seen in 2019, where a manufacturer registered and then pulled out at the last minute, or sparsely decorated booth spaces by manufacturers who maybe had a shipping problem, or hedged really hard. And that would be the other thing I would say is there's not a lot of flash bang. There's not a lot of we held our guns until IBS 2022 and then came out really big with this giant product launch or this really innovative thing. There's a lot of rinse and repeat booths from 2019, but that's to be expected, right? Like that's okay. I don't think anybody knew what to expect, but it does seem like, especially from the pro side, if they were going to attend a show, especially coming on the heels of really poor reviews from CES, really poor attendance at trade shows like IRE was really poor the last couple of times from, that's anecdotal, I wasn't there, but that's what I've heard from manufacturers who were exhibiting. And to see it here and just the general excitement and buy in to trade shows again was really, really cool. I love hearing that. That's a lot more people than I thought we're going to attend. Us too. And that's what everybody said. There was a standing room only in some of the booths actually, so I'd walk it in the booth and then very quickly it would just be, you'd had to shoulder to shoulder. That's really cool. What are trends you're seeing? You know, obviously builders are there, but builders are busier than ever. And so that really begs the question, I'm like, well, what were they looking for in going to the show? What were the things that brought them to the show other than they want to see Mickey Mouse? And Orlando, I'm kidding, but what was it about the show that brought them there or are there things you heard from builders that are like, hey, I'm either A, trying to just continue to build relationships or I'm looking for these kind of products or is there anything anecdotally you can provide and share with our listeners about what you've seen from builders? So, Beth, I'm interested to hear your thinking on this, but I actually talked to a lot of builders and contractors, general contractors. It was some really good conversations on the show floor. And I would just ping them with questions, you know, what are you here for? What are you looking at? Walk me through your process of walking into a manufacturer's booth. What's your first question? So really interesting things that came up. The first was availability. They were concerned about availability. They're saying, hey, what's going to be my lead time? I've never heard that before. Yeah, obviously, you know, that's going to be the question. But it's a legitimate concern. The other concern that they had obviously was labor, right? So they were interested in new products, which is very interesting to me because they were coming to the show, walking in and saying, what new products do you have? What innovations do you have? But then the first question would be, what problems are my guys going to have installing this, right? Skilled labor is a big concern. So I think I was talking to one builder and he said that recently he had an electrical portion of his project go out almost four to five months because three separate electrical teams had COVID. And so they did not have the team to be able to do the work. So he couldn't find anybody to do it and to just stretch the project out that long. So for him, it's a really big concern if there's a particular product that's new, they're going to have a little bit of a learning phase. That's what he was interested in. He wanted to go into the booth to see the product, to pick around at it, and to ask those questions. I think another problem that they have or concern that they have is inflation and pricing. I just read this morning, inflation in January was 7.5%, which is a big job. And that's reported. Yeah, it's a big jump. So the contractor and the builder, they're walking into the booth and saying, hey, what's going to happen with pricing? Which I didn't think they would be asking or be interested in, but they're talking to the sales reps in the booth about that. The other thing is COVID. I think that's still a very big concern. How is that impacting the company? How are you able to manufacture? Are you doing those things? Now, I think the other interesting fact that was a common denominator between all the builders was they were looking for innovation, which is something I never heard before, but they brought up that term. They said, I'm looking for it. Let's say I'm looking for innovations like saying I'm looking for technology. Like what does that mean? Exactly. So I think their intent was I am looking for innovative new products because my clients are asking for innovative new products. Architects are interested in it. My clients, the end user, they're looking for new products that are interesting and they're going to make me look good. I think that's what they were interested in. Fascinating. That's good. I like that. I could add to that, Steve. I talked to a GC out of Nashville and he said exactly that. Essentially, I asked him, what are you doing here? What's bringing you and what do you hope to get out of it? And his response was our population growth is exploding, but our lumber dealer and dealer distribution networks have not caught up to the demand for innovative solutions or innovative products for sustainability for high-end products. And so I'm here sourcing those products. He's planning to create pull through at the distribution level and go back to his dealers and distributors and request specific manufacturing brands be brought into their distribution network so that they he can better service his clients. Oh, I love that. I know. I thought that that was incredible. I mean, that's like, I mean, we've heard about that pull through before, but the fact that he's being so blatant about it and saying, I'm going to my dealers and distributors and telling them, hey, I need these manufacturers. Like that's a manufacturer's dream, you know? Yeah, it literally is. I should have handed his business card out to some booths and be like, you need to find this guy. Find this guy, yeah. That's great. All right, Beth, so talk to me about marketing. Who did a good job? What did you like about what they did? You are a fanatic for messaging and messaging that's on point. And so I'm really curious to hear, like, who did you, as you're walking through the show floor, like who stood out to you? Yeah, so messaging is the number one thing that I'm looking for when I walk into a booth. What do you think that your customer wants to hear from you and what are you trying to leave with them as they walk away? And someone who does this very well, but I think even this year did, they outdid themselves with Sherwin Williams. Their booth was all about problem solution, problem solution, like this is the solution that we have. Don't even worry about it. We've got you and not about them, not about they're the leader. You know, we do this many gallons of paint per year or we're on this many houses, but it was all about their customer. One of the things that they did that's really smart is their key message on their booth was a call to action. Ask how Sherwin Williams. So the key message on the side, so we have a picture of it. I'll include it in the show notes, but their key message that was biggest and boldest says, ask Sherwin Williams how to exceed homeowner expectations with every gallon. They were starting a conversation. That's good. Calling visitors to action with a solution, not like ask us how great we are, but like how do we solve this problem? And I thought that that was really smart. To that point, Beth, I think asking that question before they even go into the booth, you're prompting conversation and you're inviting them into the booth because you understand them. And just even before I was saying about what builders were concerned about, that was extremely important for builders this year is does this company care about me, right? And my problems and my concerns. So I spoke very, very well to that. Yeah, I would just say on the flip side, I would say there's still a good amount of booths that are have, I mean, if I'm honest, like pretty generic messaging, you know, we're sustainable, we're sustainable, we're durable, we're innovative. None of those words mean anything and they could be applied to any product category. I saw them on booths in just about every product category, to be honest. But so is part of that due to manufacturers hedging? Sure, but that's also a chronic issue with booths in general is the messaging really falls down. I think people freak out about the amount of space that they have to put text on and they just can't figure out what's gonna be the most impactful. So they put too much or maybe even too little. Let's make the logo bigger. That's right. I'll make the screen bigger. What other things did you see that was interesting? Like anything else that stood out to you guys? So I am attracted to booths that have a really good coffee bar. So that pulled me into a lot of booths. But I thought the Trek's booth actually did a really good job of inviting me into the booth. And I look at that and I watch for that because you really have to do that to this audience, right? Invite them into the booth. They had a little campfire set up and a little fake obviously, but they had a little campfire and a little communal area where you could kind of go and hang out. I also, I walk through a booth. First time, I'll just walk through it. I'll walk right through the middle of it slowly looking around and I wanna see how I'm approached. So for sure, Williams invited me in with that question. When I walk through, I wanna feel like I've connected with somebody. I wanna feel like somebody's connected and say, hey, how can I help you? Or what are you interested in? So I think for Trek's, that was something that was a big deal for me is that they were very communicative, right? They really asked a question and they cared about me. So that was really important to me. All right, so last question here for you both. What predictions do you guys have for Trisha's moving forward? Based on what you've seen, based on what you know, what do you think 2023 or even the rest of 2022 looks like? With several manufacturers, I actually had a conversation about that. I said, what are you looking to do with trade shows in the future? My conversations in the latter end of 2020 and in 2021, they were all saying, yeah, there's really nobody here at these shows. So sales reps just standing in booths, right? Just standing around waiting for somebody to come by. There were some shows that were busier than others. The conversation changed a little bit this past week, whereas it wasn't so much, yeah, we're not sure if we're gonna be here, we're gonna have a smaller booth, we're gonna slim down a little bit. The conversation was, yeah, we're in full force. The thing that changed was, yes, we wanna be at trade shows, but we wanna make sure that the interaction that they have with us here matches our online presence. Something I've never heard manufacturers directly say. So they were interested in their digital presence matching the experience or the messaging that they had in the booth. However good or poor it was, that was a concern for the manufacturer. There was one biller that I talked to and he said, yeah, I'll walk into a booth and I will not let them scan my badge unless I'm really interested in the product because I don't wanna get bombarded with emails that I don't care about. A really important thing that I walked away from the show with was the fact that companies are, they may push forward into trade shows. I don't think they're going away. I think you will see trade shows busier from now on as we've accepted the new normal that we have, but companies are gonna be focusing and appropriating more budget to the digital experience that they have post trade show. The success, the extent to the success that they see, I think it's gonna be really important to make sure that the experiential marketing that you have, how they're interacting with a product, how they're becoming a part of the brand when they're in the booth and you're feeling it and touching it, transfers very effectively in the merging of sales and marketing. So the conversation that they have with a sales rep needs to mirror the marketing automation campaign that they put into after they walk out of the booth. What that conversation will be post follow up as well as the interaction that they have with the tools on the website is extremely important because the one thing that the builder said, or all the builders that I talked to, because I asked them, I said, will you go to the website after you visit the show? And they said, oh, of course we will. Like if I'm interested in the product, that's gonna be my first step. Oftentimes before they get the email from the rep, right? So to me, that's a big transition is that, yes, companies are pushing forward into more trade shows. 2023 I think is gonna be busy, but companies are starting to realize there's a little bit more to their experience that this builder has with me outside of just that trade show. Yeah, well they've been trained over the last few years. You know, like that's how I interact with manufacturers. So it's a very smart play. Beth, any takeaways from you? I would say this felt like the springboard into next year. I don't think anybody thought this was gonna be the trade show to change the trajectory of their business. I think we were all here feeling it out. Are we even all willing to be in a room with 68,000 people again? I mean, after spending two years in isolation, I say that number out loud and I'm like, make me a little nervous. So I think I would expect big things in Vegas next year. I think the companies that were here that saw the desire from the pro community for trade shows are going to invest even bigger. And the companies who missed it, I think the companies with the blank spots, I think they're gonna get feedback that says, like, hey, we made a call for safety and that's never the wrong decision to err on the side of caution, but we're gonna have to be there next year. I also think there's been a moratorium on complaints about trade shows. If we think about 2018, 2019 and like January, 2020 before 2020 became what we know it to be now, we talked long, we talked often about our trade shows dying. This really worth multi-million dollar investments from individual companies. If your sales cycle on the leads that you got from trade shows is 12 to 18 months. And I think that conversation is still relevant and I predict that we'll get back to that conversation in two years. Next year, people are gonna be really excited. Give us two years back to normalcy when we start to take things for granted again and we might then I think we'll start to see innovation. But in the meantime, I agree with what you're saying, Steve, and it connects really well with what we've been saying for the last year is the move away from brick and mortar, e-commerce, retail, but it's all commerce. Zach, you said really well, builders and pros are now trained that the number one way that I find information about manufacturers is from your website. And just the fact that I saw you at a trade show doesn't negate that, it actually encourages that. So if you have a weak website, if you have weak messaging on your website, if your website is confusing and clunky or incomplete or not mobile friendly, I mean, all of those things are going to hinder your ability to have ROI from a trade show. And I think that's as it should be. It should be one in all, not either or. Love that. Our listeners, I hope you all got some good insight. If you didn't attend the show, even if you did, really curious to get your takes as well, please send us a note. If there's anything you saw at podcast.ventview.com. If you enjoyed this content, you wanna get more of it, simply go to ventview.com slash podcast to subscribe and get more. Until next time, I am Zach Williams alongside Beth Popniklav and our good friend Steve Coffey. Thanks everybody.