attending international trade shows has proven valuable, says Dykes. Meeting the market Haden & Custance launched its foray into trade shows this year with a very well-received exhibit at Milwaukee’s International Cheese Technology Expo – an event that Dykes describes as “fantastic”. “It was the first time we’d properly exhibited there so we generated a huge amount of interest and got close to 50 leads,” he says. “Customers we would normally really struggle to get time with came along to see the equipment. We even caught the attention of the two big industry publications, the Cheese Reporter and Cheese Market News, who both did pieces on us.” The company attended a couple of trade shows last year, but 2016 is its first year of seriously exhibiting. “We’ve created a strategy around trade show attendance now because we’ve realised it’s something we really have to do,” explains Dykes. “Previously, we went to shows on an ad hoc basis, but now we have a clear strategy.” In 2016, Haden & Custance will exhibit at three international trade shows: the International Cheese Technology Expo (ICTE) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that took place in April; the Nantwich Show and International Cheese Awards in Cheshire, England, in late July; and the upcoming Pack Expo in Chicago this November. “I attend the shows, together with a selection of our sales staff, because you want to have that interface with the customer at all levels,” says Dykes. “You get the senior people coming through and also the engineers and plant managers, so we like to talk to a whole range of 44 JULY 2016 people within an organisation to understand their drivers and how their business works.” The Pack Expo in November will enable Haden & Custance to assess what other applications its equipment might be suitable for. Maximising your trade show investment When it comes to exhibiting at trade shows, Dykes says it’s crucial to ensure you’ll get visibility and value for your time and investment. “It’s really important to understand why you’re going there. Do some homework in terms of who will be attending the show; make sure they know you’re exhibiting and invite them to your booth. “We did a lot of entertaining of customers and potential customers at dinners and small events before, during and after the show. It’s a good opportunity to get to see and talk to those very busy people whose diaries it’s usually hard to get into.” Another important consideration is the nature of your stand. Dykes believes having an interactive display is of significantly greater value than simply setting up a TV monitor showing a video and handing out some brochures. “I certainly wouldn’t recommend going to a trade show with a static display. Having a piece of functioning equipment on display is essential for us. It draws people in and lets us better articulate what we do. Visitors to our stand can see our technology in operation and understand exactly what it does. Trade shows are really important for us because the industry is extremely competitive. It’s critical for us to get our equipment out there.” Haden & Custance usually takes a 30ft x 10ft booth, and has designed a piece of equipment that will slip into a container and can be shipped from one trade show to the next. This latest machine is currently in the US and will be rolled out again in November for the company’s stand at the Pack Expo in Chicago. “We believe we have a buyer for that equipment so we can recover virtually all of the costs involved in making and transporting it because it’s something we can sell on in the market,” says Dykes. “It was the first time we’d properly exhibited there so we generated a huge amount of interest and got close to 50 leads,”
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