Thinking Big: Opportunities For Small Businesses At German Trade Fairs

In last month’s post, ‘Trading on Tradition’, we explained what makes German trade fairs so special. If you run a successful business in the UK and you’re thinking of creating opportunities across the North Sea in Europe’s biggest market, then trade shows are a must. And not just for the entrepreneurial exporters, but importers too will need to stay abreast of what’s new and successful. Germany is one of the world’s top three exporters, after all.

In this article though we want to crystallise our experiences of attending German trade fairs with our typical customers from the small to medium enterprise sector into a number of practical steps and thoughts. There are at least three ways in which you can plan and approach going over and exploiting one of Germany’s numerous fairs (‘Messe’ or ‘Ausstellung’ are the two commonest words for fairs and exhibitions in German).
The first, most straightforward approach would be to employ a company such as ours to go out for you in order to do reconnaissance on agreed objectives such as important players, possible partners, trade media, or latest developments, and then receive from us a detailed report on your market segment. That will give you a factual platform from which a more objective analysis can be undertaken.

An alternative approach is for your company to organise a visit accompanied by well briefed, fluent speakers of German to a relevant trade show, i.e. regional or international, and visit stands, collect literature, compile names and facts, and, very usefully, note the specialist terminology (‘Fachsprache’) necessary to fully exploit the linguistic medium through which to then place your own product on to the market.

The second possible approach or, maybe stage, is best embarked on when a firm decision has been made to enter the German market. Then the typical German exhibition presents lots of concrete opportunities. Well ahead of this strategic visit, meetings with as many important German companies as possible are arranged, product descriptions translated into German, and companies you are meeting researched as thoroughly as possible in advance. Rest assured that your German counterparts will have done their homework on you thoroughly too.

Finally, when one has already started to develop trade links with Germany, then a stand could be booked and careful preparations made for exhibiting your products. Here are some points to bear in mind with your planning:

• The Germans often talk about ‘Fachmesse’, i.e. a fair specialising in one area and aimed at the informed and professional visitor, the so-called ‘Fachbesucher’. Many German trade are only open to these ‘Fachbesucher’ on certain days, whilst the general public is excluded and only welcomed on specified days.
• The fact that so many fairs pride themselves on being ’Fachmessen’ aimed at the ‘Fachbesucher’ means that the visitor to your stand is looking beyond the glib promotional phrases and seeking precise and comprehensive information, as technical as you wish to make it. It certainly helps to create a more favourable impression if that information is in German as well as English. As we have stressed in other posts, not every German understands technical English spoken at normal speed. Providing him and her with German-language explanations of the company, its philosophy and its products is an expression of courtesy, cultural etiquette awareness and communicative clarity, and is always greatly appreciated.
• Inform German companies well in advance that you are planning to exhibit and invite them to your stand, perhaps pre-arranging more formal meetings. It’s possible to do nine meetings in nine hours, from 9 till 6 p.m.!
• Germans interested in your products will want to see them, and will expect you to exhibit, especially if the products are big and bulky.

In short, a trade fair is just as much about face-to-face communication, leading to mutual trust, as it is about looking at the stands or having one of your own. Rather than rushing prematurely into a ‘Messe’ with a big splashy stand, navigate the entry into this dynamic market of Germany step by step, and get a sense of the German way of doing business and doing exhibitions.