Tips & Tricks for Those Attending Trade Shows in China
For many years now, despite the era
of digitalization, trade shows are one of the key methods of searching for
partners, suppliers, and the latest industry insights — especially when we are
talking about international business relationships.
In the fast-moving development of
the production environment worldwide, China leads the market as the world’s greatest
manufacturing base. No wonder that the trade show industry in China is also major,
holding the largest exhibitions in the entire world.
Visiting trade shows in China can be
a bit of a challenging experience, not only for the first time attendees, but
even for the skilled professionals — considering how massive events are, and the
cultural differences that the attendees might be faced with.
So, how do you prepare yourself for
these kinds of events? We`ve collected some easy tips you can use for your next
visit to a trade show in China.
Before the Show
One of the key components to a successful
visiting experience is actually preparing for it far in advance before your
business trip.
- Plane tickets/hotels. We think there’s no need to remind you of the fact that the more time you will have prior to your trip, the cheaper the tickets will be. BUT about the hotels though, you will have to think about the importance of your comfort and the available business opportunities here, more than about your budget. Mostly all of the trade show participants are living in the nearest and associated with the event hotels, which means that you might see some individuals of interest for yourself, like in the lobby of your hotel, or somewhere in the area. Living near the venue will definitely save you some time, energy, and to a certain degree, money as well — since you wouldn’t need to use a cab going both directions. But the catch here is that the rooms in these hotels get booked up really fast, so consider not only booking a room early, but also pre-paying for it as well, to ensure its booking status.
- Entrance ticket. The best thing you can do is to get yourself an entrance ticket before the show. It will not only save you your money (tickets on-site can cost from 50 RMB to 100 RMB) but can also save you the time stressing out and standing in lines. Have you seen the lines at the trade shows in China? They can take up more than two hours of your time. In addition to that, you will probably also have to stand outside waiting… instead of the time you could have spent more productively at the fair inside.
- Plan to visit other places. Going to another country is always quite an expansive thing to do. So why not to take the opportunity of visiting other trade shows, factories, and companies, maybe even going to the nearest cities? China holds a lot of trade shows, so we are sure you will be able to find the ones that you need.
At the Trade Show
Since most of the exhibitions are
held for three days, and the third day is more of a “finally it`s all coming to
an end” you`ll have two days to turn your plans into reality.
- Maps and meetings. Chinese trade shows are huge and are attended by thousands of people. At the entrance, get yourself a map of the venue or an exhibition catalog, and make some time to check it out and note for yourself the companies that interest you right away. After that, you can start exploring the hallways. Keep in mind that usually the venue area is separated into different categories and since you will not have enough time to talk to all of the companies that are present, plan accordingly to your time, the map and the organization of the space area, to cover all of the places that are most significant to you. You can also make yourself a list of the companies you “must” talk to and the ones “you would like” to talk to in order to prioritize and avoid missing the ones you need the most.
Try to skip over the booths with
lots of people crowding around them, there is little chance you`ll be able to
talk to a decision-making individual in these kind of circumstances — just
keep them in mind for later. You can also ask to visit the factories of the
exhibitors that are of interest to you, to see more of their products and the
company itself.
- Communication. During the trade show always keep in mind that for most of the Chinese exhibitors, English is their second language. So in order to moderate the language barrier, avoid using slang words and try to slowdown the speed you’re speaking at, in order to aid in being understood.
Think about learning a couple of
basic Chinese words to make the conversations go easy and in a friendlier
manner. One of the most “right” thing that you can do, is to get yourself an
interpreter, so that you wouldn`t struggle at the negotiations and let the
language barrier become a possible reason of a failure. While approaching any
company/booth try to find and talk to the oldest person, most likely he/she
will be actually the key representative of the company.
- Notes. There is no way to memorize all the people you have had conversations with, as well as the topics of those conversations. After each conversation take your time to make some notes on the discussion you’ve had, for example like name of the person, the number of the booth (maybe you would like to come back), topic of the conversation, and take a couple of pics of the booth and their products, materials (so that later you can decide whether you need a follow-up.
- Business cards. Bring as much of the business cards to the expo as you can…You will need business cards to receive a catalog, to exchange it for the badge at the entrance, while talking with people, so probably you`ll need to have like dozens of them. Think about making special bilingual (English/Chinese) business cards especially for trade shows in China. Don`t forget that all the phone numbers have to be written with country codes. At the trade show, you will definitely give a lot of your business cards out, and many of the companies participating at the show, may add your e-mail to their lists to send you information later on. We suggest you creating a separate e-mail address for such events, in order to separate out all of the mail you will receive from your new acquaintances at the show from all of your other business emails.
How to present a business card in China?
While
presenting your business card use both of your hands and give it facing the
words to the person, so the person can read it right away.
When
you are receiving a card, read it — it will show your interlocutor your
interest in the relationship. You may
ask him/her a couple of questions, just to make sure they see that you are
interested in further working with them.
Do
not put the card into your back pocket or bag; rather place it in the front
pocket of your pants or shirt, that way portraying that you value the person
you are speaking with.
- Shoes. Prepare yourself to be standing up and walking around a lot during the trade shows. You can also bring with you a couple of pairs of your most comfortable shoes, in order to feel comfortable on your feet throughout the entirety of the day.
- Bag. As we mentioned before, you will receive a lot of printed materials from different companies, so think about bringing a bag with you to carry it all, as they can become pretty heavy. You may also need the bag to carry your water bottle, phone charger, etc. Some people even bring their suitcases to the event, in order to assist them in wheeling around their belongings instead of carrying it all in their hands.
- A place for rest. Being at the trade show for the whole day can be really challenging — thousands of people, lots of noise. One of the most important things you need to do is to think through and prepare a place where you can take a small break, think in a calm, quiet place, drink your coffee or tea, plan some meetings or talk with someone.
- Internet. China has special policies about the internet, and a lot of the websites or social networks, such as Facebook, Google (and all related to Google, Gmail, maps, etc), Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and many others are not available in China. So sign-up for VPN before coming to China.
Last but not least: some of you have probably heard the term “guanxi”, which is one of the key concepts of business relationships in China. Guanxi is a Chinese term meaning "networks", “relationships” or "connections". Ultimately, it refers to having personal trust and a personal connection with your co-workers and business partners. Chinese businessmen take personal relationships in the context of business very seriously; it will be difficult for you to build a relationship with Chinese companies being a distance away, via e-mail, wechat and even calls. Most of the Chinese enterprises and suppliers build their businesses based on a face-to-face contact and they will more likely trust the people they`ve seen and talked to in person, rather than those far away.
This is why Chinese trade shows have
an important impact on business relationships.
Plan your visit to trade show now.