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International irade fairs have become extremely important venues For conducting business. yet very few domestically based sales organizations have an understanding of how to cake advantage of the opportunities that these shows present. Unlike U.S. trade shows. at which there is an open display of one's goods and services and a 1ot of looking but no buying. a European trade show is relatively closed and only open to those who are there to conduct business.The U.S. company often will spend a lot of money to set up an open display with charming sales people with little seniority or authority. The exhibit is saying. in effect, everyone and anyone is welcome but do not ask too many questions or expect to conduct any serious business. A comparable German exhibit will be more like a fortress where savvy gatekeepers will quickly weed out all but the most important clients who. once allowed into the inner sanctum, will meet directly with senior managers. The message that this exhibit is sending out is that only very special people are welcome and that is its privilege to be allowed to stay.
In some societies. the first thing people care about is quality ("Is it the best?"); in other societies, the first thing on a customer's mind is the cost("How cheap is it?"); and in other countries. the concern is style "'How does it look?"). The color. size. and quantity of items need to be. considered in the packaging of any product. The color blue is for funerals in some countries,smaller items are preferred over large items, and number of items in a package can be critical. For example. a golf ball manufacturer unknowingly packaged their golf balls in groups of four and then set 50.000 units to their Asian distributor who promptly sent them all back, advising the manufacturer to repackage the golf balls in packages of three.In many of the countries where the golf balls were to be distributed, the number 4 was equated with death whereas the number 3 is symbolic of long life. For golfers who are known to he superstitious, the number of golf balls in each package was more important to the distributor than the quality of the product.
