The List: Top 4 tips to get the most out of your trade show visit

To ensure you are being efficient with your time in a busy dental trade show environment, here are four quick tips to help you make the most of your time on the show floor.

• Know what you are looking for. By that, I mean know your product category. If you are looking, for instance, to purchase patient education software, you’ll want to know in which companies you are interested. This will require you to do a bit of homework, but it is much easier to figure out what companies you want to visit ahead of time than on the fly while on the floor.

• Make a plan. Get a map of the meeting either online or from an app (many major meetings now have apps for both iPhone and Google phones). By locating the companies you want to visit, you can make an efficient use of your time in the exhibits. It’s wasteful to be running from one end of the hall to the other when some companies may be very close to each other.

• Plan for efficiency. Plan to spend adequate time to make a decision and make sure you budget enough time. Usually a meeting will have the lowest exhibit hall attendance on the morning of the first day (because lots of folks are in classes) and on the last day. This means you can find fewer lines and be able to spend more quality time with vendors who want to spend time with you!

• Be prepared for a second visit. Just in case you can’t make a decision your first time visiting with the vendors, be sure to allow yourself some extra time if you need it. 

Now get out there and enjoy the meeting!

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