CMEF Exhibition Review: Insights, Growth, and Future Directions​

The recent CMEF exhibition has been a valuable journey for our team, filled with meaningful customer interactions, practical learning experiences, and important reflections. By adopting the KISS (Keep-Improve-Stop-Start) review method, each team member has summarized their gains and areas for growth, which will serve as a solid foundation for our future business development. Below is a comprehensive summary of our team's key takeaways from this exhibition.

Keep: Sustaining Our Strengths

One of the most notable strengths we demonstrated during the exhibition was our proactive sales spirit.

Instead of staying confined to our booth, team members took the initiative to step out, distribute flyers, and engage with potential customers. A prime example is the Bangladeshi customer who made an on-site deposit on the last day of the exhibition—this customer was initially attracted through our proactive outreach on the first day, fully proving the direct value of proactive marketing. Jennifer, Jeny, Amber, and Chrissy all emphasized the importance of this proactiveness: when spotting customers, we take the initiative to communicate, invite interested customers to our booth for sample introductions, and promptly obtain their contact information (such as WhatsApp and WeChat). We also create on-site customer profiles, noting their needs in detail, which lays a solid groundwork for subsequent follow-ups.

Another key strength is our in-depth face-to-face communication. We made the most of the rare opportunity to interact with customers in person, going beyond just introducing products to dig deep into customers' backgrounds—including their existing suppliers, procurement channels, and travel schedules. For instance, we learned that a Saudi Arabian customer previously purchased products from JH. This in-depth understanding not only helps us better meet customer needs but also provides crucial information for post-exhibition follow-up. Additionally, Amber mentioned that while other colleagues were receiving customers, they promptly took photos for documentation, which further enriches our customer information reserves.

We also maintained an effective post-exhibition invitation mechanism. For customers with strong intentions met during the exhibition, we extended invitations to visit our factories either on-site or immediately after the exhibition. This move quickly transforms the "brief contact" at the exhibition into an opportunity for "in-depth cooperation," significantly improving conversion efficiency. An Argentine customer, for example, visited our factory right after the exhibition, bringing us closer to potential cooperation.

Improve: Addressing Areas for Growth

Despite our achievements, we also identified areas where we need to improve.

One such area is the post-exhibition handling of samples. This time, we only began considering the disposal of samples on the last day of the exhibition, leading to a somewhat hasty process. Moving forward, we plan to develop a detailed sample disposal plan (including options such as returning samples to the company, storing them on-site, or gifting them to key customers) one week before the start of the exhibition. We will also confirm the plan in advance with relevant parties via phone to ensure a smooth process.

Jeny pointed out that in customer follow-up, we need to enhance consistency. After sending the first follow-up email, we often fail to continue following up, which may cause us to miss out on potential deals with customers who have clear needs. We will establish a systematic follow-up mechanism to ensure that we keep track of customer responses and push for results in quotations and cooperation discussions.

Amber also suggested that we should be more flexible in customer engagement scenarios. We should not limit our interactions to the exhibition venue; for example, when encountering foreign customers on the subway or other public places, we should be brave enough to start a conversation. We can begin with casual topics about daily life to break the ice, then gradually introduce our company and products, and finally obtain their contact information. This will help us expand our customer base beyond the exhibition.

Furthermore, we need to strengthen our time management. Jennifer and Chrissy both mentioned issues related to time awareness—for instance, we underestimated unexpected situations like traffic congestion on the first day of the exhibition, leading to lateness and missing the golden period for customer reception at the opening. We will improve our time planning, account for potential contingencies, and ensure that we arrive on time for important events.

Stop: Eliminating Unhelpful Practices

To move forward more efficiently, we must stop certain unhelpful practices.

First, we need to abandon the "time management without buffers" mindset. Underestimating unexpected situations, as seen in the first-day lateness, can have a negative impact on our work. We will establish a more comprehensive time management system, set earlier deadlines for key tasks, and prepare contingency plans to avoid delays caused by unforeseen events.

Second, we need to end "one-way directive-style communication". In the past, after assigning tasks to colleagues, we often lacked feedback and synchronization, leading to information gaps that could affect execution results. From now on, we require colleagues receiving instructions to repeat the key points of the task or confirm them briefly via instant messaging tools (such as WeChat or DingTalk) to ensure that everyone has a consistent understanding of the task—this applies to details like the daily meeting time at the exhibition and daily work arrangements.

Jeny also emphasized the need to stop procrastination. In the past, we sometimes delayed following up with customers after obtaining their contact information; from now on, we will follow up with customers on the same night to maintain the momentum of communication and increase the likelihood of cooperation. Additionally, when attracting customers at the exhibition, we should not overlook information about old customers—we need to pay attention to updates on old customers in our Xiaoman system to better maintain long-term relationships.

Finally, Amber pointed out that we must stop being timid. In the past, some team members were hesitant to approach customers, and when rejected, they easily became discouraged. Moving forward, we will encourage everyone to be bolder, take the initiative to communicate with customers, and view rejection as a learning opportunity rather than a setback. We will also promote timely feedback and communication—if any problems arise, team members should report them promptly to avoid affecting the overall work progress.

Start: Embracing New Growth Opportunities

To enhance our competitiveness, we will start implementing several new initiatives inspired by competitors and other exhibitions.

First, we will strengthen the visibility of our brand visual elements. We will customize eye-catching company logo stickers or posters for all display racks, background boards, and other promotional materials, ensuring that customers can clearly see our brand from any angle. For example, we can add our prominent logo to our product display cabinets and optimize our exhibition background wall and company introduction pages by creating a series of high-quality photos or display boards that showcase our benchmark customer cases and successful projects in different countries. This will help quickly build trust with new customers and attract them to stop and communicate with us.

Second, we will implement a comprehensive customer follow-up strategy. For customers met at the exhibition, we will follow up with them through multiple channels, including social media and phone calls. For customers who have been profiled, we will send follow-up emails to clarify the details of the products they need and prepare detailed quotations. For customers with high intention, we will conduct phone calls to deepen communication or invite them to visit our factory, allowing them to have a more intuitive understanding of the quality and variety of our products and better demonstrating our product advantages.

Jeny also proposed that after providing quotations to customers with clear needs, we can proactively recommend our new products to expand the scope of potential cooperation. Additionally, we will pay close attention to the markets corresponding to new customers and organize the product quotations needed by customers into quotation lists for "market development," helping us tap into more business opportunities in target markets.

Conclusion

This CMEF exhibition has been a valuable experience for our team. By summarizing our strengths, addressing our shortcomings, eliminating unhelpful practices, and embracing new opportunities, we have laid a solid foundation for future development. We believe that with these insights and action plans, we will achieve better results in future exhibitions and business operations, and provide more valuable products and services to our customers around the world.

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