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| Exhibitions | | | | Press releases | | |
#36, 2010 VISION Award |
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#35, Drop by Drop |
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#34, New heads at MARTIN |
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#33, The New Gold Standard |
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#32, For the Joy of the PCB |
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#31, Pastures New |
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#30, Detailed Perfection |
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#29, Where Small Is Beautiful |
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#28, Hot Beam 05 from MARTIN |
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#27, Very compact: Hot Plate 04 |
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#26, Increase |
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#25, Partner Meeting 2008 |
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#24, Hotprint Prebumping |
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#23, The Solution for QFN Rework |
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#22, New Rapid-Technology |
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#21, Guide Lines for Exhibitions |
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#20, 25 Years Martin |
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#19, Rework for Achievers |
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#18, Advanced Placement |
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#17, Speed for Lead Free |
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#16, Room For Jumbo PCBs |
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#15, All-In-One Set Reball-03.1 |
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#14, Assisted Parking |
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#13, New Balls for QFN Rework |
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#12, Dream Team for QFNs |
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#11, Positive Quarterly Figures... |
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#10, Innovative Rapid-IR... |
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#09, Auto-Vision-Rework... |
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#08, One for All |
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#07, MARTIN Process Dispenser |
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#06, Lead Free Manual Soldering |
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#05, Lead Free Trainings Sets |
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#04, Asia Loves the AVP |
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#03, Helping Hand for Lead Free |
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#02, Precise Dots on a Slope |
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#01, Ideal Environment |
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Guide Lines for Exhibitions |
Systematic Evaluation |
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| Innovation, being close to customers and staff motivation are today deciding competitive factors for European companies, according to Elke and Bernhard Martin who manage MARTIN GmbH, based in Wessling near Munich, Germany. MARTIN has often shown courage to be different and this readiness to take risks is showing results: today MARTIN with a staff of 33 is one of the technologically leading providers of Rework and Dispensing equipment for electronic assemblies. The success of the company is based on a balanced interplay between people and technology - all to the benefit of the customer.
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For 26 years Bernhard Martin and his team have been developing precision equipment. The first in house development was introduced in 1989 at Productronica in Munich: The SMD-Compact-Unit DBL-01 for the repair of printed circuit boards. At that time he did not have a stand in any exhibition hall but presented his developments from a container in the open, which did not detract from the success: from this very first trade fair numerous contacts with interested companies were established - a distinct help in the start phase of Martin GmbH. Today the firm from Wessling belongs to technologically leading providers of Rework and Dispensing equipment, used for the repair and assembly of printed circuit boards. Exhibitions in general and Productronica in particular Bernhard Martin considers an essential marketing tool. Since 1982 the company has been present at every Productronica. In addition there are regular exhibitor attendances at SMT shows in Nuremberg, a trade fair around system integration in Microelectronics.
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| "Exhibitions demand a lot of time and not inconsiderable expenditure", so says Elke Martin who together with her husband manages the company. "For our firm they are the most important medium to win new customers and to intensify contact with existing users and distributors." These exhibition appearances are also useful in introducing small and large product innovations. The importance of the marketing medium 'exhibitions' is shown in the relative proportion of turnover: MARIN spends 1.5% on trade fairs, which represents a third of the marketing budget.
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This high tech company conforms to the general trend: German companies that exhibit at trade fairs spend on average 40% of B2B communication on exhibitions, as found by AUMA, a German trade body, in 2007. 82% of these companies consider exhibitions as "very important" or "important" in their B2B communications and thus recognise this means of communication to be at the top of their rankings.
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Further cornerstones of these findings are that approximately 56,000 German firms are active exhibitors in the B2B segment. Small to medium sized companies dominate, with exhibitors employing fewer than 50 staff accounting for 44%. Those with between 50 to 499 employees make up another 40%. On average German exhibitors spend around 270,000 EUROs per two-year cycle on participating in approximately eight national and international exhibitions each. Last year the international trade fairs organised by German companies recorded the best results since the year 2000, the height of the new economy boom. The exhibitor numbers, show space and visitor numbers of the 141 fairs in 2007 grew by up to 3%, according to preliminary figures. It appears that the tendency for companies to economise on exhibitions has ended. There is optimism for the next two years too; the same research reveals that exhibitors intend spending an extra 6% this and next year compared with 2006/7.
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Any money spend is only invested wisely when companies tailor their participation more strongly to their corporate aims and formulate clear and identifiable exhibition targets that can be checked afterwards, as the Adviser and Trainer Elke Clausen demands (please see interview). "An exhibition is a process and not an event", emphasises the expert.
By focusing on the event of an exhibition the danger exists that a company looses sight of the most important phases: namely the Pre Marketing and Follow Up Phase. "Participation in an exhibition is a systematic management process requiring strategic planning and must be an integral part of an overall marketing concept." Whereas an exhibition may last 2 to 7 days the Pre Marketing Phase should have started up to 6 moths earlier. "Smart sales people come to a trade fair with a full appointments calendar and meet more people in one day as otherwise in 2 weeks", knows Clausen from experience. "This means that for months beforehand existing and new customers are mobilised."
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The Follow Up Phase lasts 3 to 24 months, according to the sector. Basically there is only closure when a contact established or intensified at a show has turned into an order. "Studies show that half of all exhibitors do not follow after an exhibition and break off this process as soon the show finishes", reports Elke Clausen. "As sales tool an exhibition is nothing else than compressed fieldwork - consequently, contacts have to be treated with the same systematic approach and rigor as in day to day dealings. The long time-span indicated for the Follow Up Phase by no means indicates that a company can afford to waste any time before promises of information material and follow ups are made good.
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When visitors come to MARTIN's stand they do not have to wait long before they receive further information: "We react quickly. When a show finishes, for example on a Friday, we send out the requested information the following week", says Elke Martin. Here too the philosophy of the company is clear: to react quickly to the needs of customers. Martin GmbH puts "SPC" in the centre of their efforts with the abbreviation coined decades ago that stands for "Satisfied, Paying Customers". This high level of customer focus is also mirrored in the exhibition strategy of the company: "Our most important aim is that our visitors should be satisfied with the contact they have there, that they're in a friendly and competent atmosphere", summarises Elke Martin. Around 10 technical and sales colleagues including the management man the 60m2 MARTIN stand. In addition there are also distributors that invite their customers and prospects. "An exhibition is the ideal platform to convince them of the benefits of our products and know how", according to Martin.
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The themes and aims for every show are decided at an initial exhibition meeting, which takes place six months before the start of the trade fair. Early planning and collecting of ideas are particularly valued. "At most exhibition we can present innovations or smaller optimisations of our range of equipment", says the Managing Director. "It is important that we do not show the same old stuff for ten years." The second exhibition meeting takes place one or two weeks before the show. Everyone involved as stand personnel attends these meetings. Right from the start each one is engaged with the activities, is aware of the exhibition aims and knows what is expected of them. To check the efficiency of the exhibition the conversations and contacts are evaluated afterwards according to a clear scheme.
"We try to distinguish our show presence from that of our competitors by, not least, aiming at quality not quantity", says Elke Martin. She is not taken by loud beating of drums or elaborate promotional gifts. "We don't make a lot of fuss but instead concentrate on quality, innovation and personal conversations with customers and partners." At Productronica 2007, for example, Bernhard Martin dedicated one hour to have intensive discussions with each international representative.
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Thanks to international representation Martin GmbH is represented at around 18 trade fairs throughout the world, in addition to Productronica and SMT. There are also several internal trade shows. "We naturally support our reps with sales promotion materials, such as catalogues, leaflets and software and by making available our support team. This consists of three young engineers who have been specially trained for exhibition support ", reports Elke Martin.
"We offer to be available anytime, which because of different time zones can be a real challenge." Last year Martin GmbH celebrated its 25th birthday and held a party at Productronica. "Celebrating is almost as important as being friendly", says Elke Martin. "Even in our business emotions have their place."
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COACHING: After a seminar organised by the Chamber of Commerce, staff of Martin GmbH in Wessling know what to look out for at an exhibition.
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How long does the build up to an exhibition last?
How does one prepare a concept and what does
the follow up look like?
These and many other questions Elke Martin
and her husband Bernhard have been asking
themselves for years. As management of
Martin GmbH in Wessling near Munich they
participated in several exhibitions with
their own stand. However, to systematically
optimising a show presence was a bit of a mystery.
To maximise the relatively costly exhibition
attendances they arranged for their firm
specialising in Rework and Dispensing Technology
for electronics manufacturers to benefit from
exhibition training by Chamber of Commerce Advisor
Elke Clausen. Eight members of staff from every
level benefited from intensive instruction on
the topic of trade shows.
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So that the trainer could concentrate exclusively
on matters relevant to MARTIN, MD Elke Martin
decided in favour of an in house seminar.
"Since we wanted to train eight members of
staff we felt it worthwhile inviting an advisor
to come to us", says Elke Martin.
A whole day Elke Clausen illuminated the
topic "exhibition". From preparation for an
exhibition presence, behaviour of stand personnel
to follow up were dealt with. "Particular emphasis
in training was placed on the approachability of
staff and the formulation of open questions",
reports Elke Martin. The advisor also optimised
the customer contact form, specially designed for
Martin GmbH. "The great value of the training
was the practical approach", emphasises the boss
of 35 staff who in 2007 managed to achieve a
turnover of around 3.5 million € s.
For future exhibition participation the company
has been designing checklists and establishing
clear targets. Collecting at least 300 contact
addresses is one of the points. Another is timely
processing of enquiries and submission of
quotations immediately after a show.
Elke Martin can recommend participation in
exhibition training to other small and medium
sized companies. "Exhibitions cost a lot
of money. Its worth thinking about how to
optimise their benefits", says the Managing Director.
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