Guest: Heather Davis, Business Development Representative, Blentech Corporation
In this episode, Heather talks about what it really takes to succeed at PACK EXPO as a small to mid-sized exhibitor. If you’ve ever wondered how to compete with the massive booths, generate quality leads, and make the most of the show floor, this episode is packed with practical, proven strategies you can use right away.
Heather Davis is a Business Development Representative at Blentech, building partnerships that drive innovation, improve efficiency, and support a safer, more sustainable food system. She collaborates across marketing, sales, engineering, and service to turn complex process and equipment details into clear, practical next steps for food, beverage, and pet food manufacturers.
Sean Riley: You are listening to unPACKed with PMMI, where we share the latest packaging and processing industry insights, research, and innovations to help you advance your business. Hi, and welcome to unPACKed with PMMI. I'm your host, Sean Riley. Today, we're joined by Heather Davis from Blentech to talk about what it really takes to succeed at PACK EXPO as a small- to medium-sized exhibitor. If you've ever wondered how to compete with those massive, extravagant booths, generate quality leads, and make the most of the show floor, this episode is packed with practical, proven strategies that you can use as a small- to mid-sized exhibitor right away at the next show. Let's have a listen.
Sean Riley: So, with all the fancy introductions out of the way, welcome to the podcast, Heather.
Heather Davis: Thank you. Glad to be here.
Sean Riley: Oh, the pleasure is all ours. So, I'm really excited for this podcast because most of the exhibitors at PACK EXPO shows are not the large, take-up-an-entire-aisle kind of booths. Hundreds and hundreds of booths are middle to smaller booths, like you guys at Blentech. So I'm really interested to see how you approach the show. As a smaller exhibitor who regularly exhibits at PACK EXPO, how do these events fit into your overall marketing strategy? What are your goals going into it?
Heather Davis: PACK EXPO is the biggest show of the year for us. We always get the best leads out of it. So part of what we want out of it is obviously the leads. We want to talk to our customers and to our prospective customers. We also try to find opportunities to connect with our own vendors and potential vendors for the things that we need. And we like to go to the Tech Talks and the other presentations to hear the customer perspective and, partly, to hear what our competitors are doing.
Sean Riley: Interesting. Yeah, I wonder if exhibitors get to the Innovation Stages and industry speakers, if they get the opportunity to take advantage of the education. It's interesting to hear that you guys do.
Heather Davis: We're a relatively small company, so we always try to keep two people in the booth. Then, if we can manage it, we send somebody over to anything that's relevant to us.
Sean Riley: I like that. Okay. Well, speaking of things that PACK EXPO offers, they also offer exhibitors a variety of free and some paid promotional options. What promotional resources have you used, and which ones have moved the needle for you as a smaller exhibitor?
Heather Davis: We get an Online Showroom package, so we get to put up videos and other exhibitor collateral. You would be surprised at how much traffic our website gets from that in the month leading up to the show. Since we get the upgraded package, we also get the contact information for people who agree to leave it for us. That allows us to reach out to people who are interested in Blentech before the show and get a better idea of what they want to talk to us about. We usually still connect with them at the show, but we do some of that pre-work. We also get the PMMI Game Plan. It's just a small row of four pictures of our equipment, but it's handed out to people specifically interested in processing equipment. A surprising number of people who come up to our booth, who haven't been to our Online Showroom, have that in their hands.
Sean Riley: It's kind of old school, where it gives exhibitors something they have in their hand versus something digital that they're looking at on their phone. I know they distribute them at the show in bins, but it's something they pick up and think, “Okay, this is going to break down a bunch of processes. This is what I'm here for.” It's a great way to highlight you guys. I'm glad to hear that you take advantage of that. And from what you're saying, you've had people who may not have known about you and then found you through that?
Heather Davis: Yeah, and they tend to be those mid-range producers that are just getting their first big commercial grocery store contracts and are scaling up. Typically, your really big producers already know who they're looking for. But those mid-range companies are great customers for us. We love to talk to them, so finding ways to connect with them is useful. Sometimes we do advertising in industry publications leading up to the shows. Most of the industry publications have pre-PACK EXPO newsletter promotions. We also use LinkedIn, and sometimes we use Google retargeting.
Sean Riley: You go in with a very diverse plan. You said that you get contact information from certain people who allow you to. Will you then set up meetings ahead of time with those people to organize things a little better at the show?
Heather Davis: If we can. We always make sure our booth is well-staffed enough that if they show up early, on time, or late, someone will be there to talk to them specifically. It helps give us an idea of what we're going to need on the floor. When someone commits to a meeting, they usually show up at some point during those three days, which is always nice. The other thing we do with that list is, if you haven't been to our booth on the first day, we email you a reminder the next morning.
Sean Riley: I like that a lot. And how does that work? Do you see good results with it?
Heather Davis: We do. We've had a number of people show up. At PACK EXPO two years ago, we were extremely busy in the booth. On the second day, we had about 15 people come by who had received reminder emails. They said, “Oh, hey, thanks for that reminder email. We kept meaning to come by, and then there's so much going on.” So sometimes they just need a reminder that we're there.
Sean Riley: That's a great, actionable takeaway that I don't think I've heard someone mention before on here, so that's good to hear. Now, we've talked about the pre-show efforts. What happens when they actually get into your booth? We've talked about how you're a smaller exhibitor. How do you handle things like booth design and staffing when you're competing with these massive booths that are large and flashy and have all these things going on? What do you do to combat that?
Heather Davis: We make our booth a trap. We want you to come in and—
Sean Riley: —and you can't get out.
Heather Davis: —and feel comfortable and stay there. You could go to one of the big booths and have seven salespeople swarm you and show you all of the newest technology. It's going to be loud, and there are so many machines moving. That is really cool, and I love walking around those booths. But when you come to our booth, we have double-padded carpet, we have a place for you to sit down, and we offer you a bottle of water. All of our sales team—and sometimes we’ll have engineers or controls people at the show—actually want to talk to you. We don't put barriers up. Sometimes you'll see small booths that are 10-by-10 or 15-by-15, and we are usually one of those two sizes. You'll see the ones where they have one bar-height counter, and in the back corner, behind it, is someone sitting on their laptop.
Sean Riley: Yes, I know exactly what you're referring to.
Heather Davis: They’ve put two barriers between themselves and the customers before they've even looked up to make eye contact.
Sean Riley: Interesting. Yeah, I can picture exactly what you're describing.
Heather Davis: So we don't do that. If you want to talk to us, our booth is set up to make it easier to come in and talk to us, and we make you feel welcome. Then you're not elbowing people in the walkway while you're trying to talk about your equipment. You're not feeling like you're being rushed through the show. Some people are still in a hurry, and we totally respect that. But if you want to stay and talk for 15 minutes, you might as well. It’s going to be a break from the hard floors.
Sean Riley: Yeah, I was going to say, you make it engaging and comfortable. I like that a lot. As someone who's been to 20 years of these shows, I can completely appreciate the fact that you know the second you walk into a booth with good carpet.
Heather Davis: Yeah, always.
Sean Riley: That's funny that you highlight that. This has been great in terms of actionable items people can take away. If you could give one piece of advice to a smaller company—whether they're going to PACK EXPO for the first time, or maybe a different piece of advice for someone going for the fourth or fifth time—what would it be? What are things you may have overlooked early on, or that they might overlook, that they should take advantage of?
Heather Davis: I think there are probably two things. The first is: you are not competing with everyone on the show floor, so stop trying. Represent your brand well and make sure you reach out to the people you want to talk to. That’s going to do more for you than trying to compete with somebody who has an all-day bar, is serving hot dogs, or brought an entire pen of puppies.
Sean Riley: Right. That's interesting. You're not competing with 2,400 exhibitors. Sometimes, as you said, exhibitors look at it that way: “Oh no, I need to stand out among 2,500,” and that's not really the case.
Heather Davis: I need to stand out among 10. Only 10 of them are the ones I'm working against or operating in the same space as. It's really easy to get overwhelmed by how many people there are. Even within packaging —which is broad—and especially in processing —which is what I do—three-quarters of the people in the processing zone with me are not my competitors. They're fellow companies on the line. The person at the booth next to me isn't going to take my customer. We're probably going to be working with the same person because they're doing the slicer, and I'm doing the cooker. There are more ways to get leads than sitting in your booth and waiting for them. If you're not getting the traffic you want, that means there's nothing tying you to your booth. You might as well go to a Tech Talk, grab a coffee, or visit someone else's exhibit. Just walk around, read people's badges, and see if you run into somebody you want to talk to in the aisle.
Sean Riley: I like that. Everything you've shared is actionable and practical. That’s super helpful for our listeners, Heather. I want to thank you for carving out time to come on and talk to our audience about exhibiting tips. Thanks a lot, Heather.
Heather Davis: Thank you.
Sean Riley: Thanks for listening to this episode of unPACKed with PMMI. If you liked what you heard, be sure to follow or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. That way, you won't miss any of the industry insights coming your way. While you're there, we'd really appreciate a rating or review. Want more? Visit pmmi.org/podcasts for all of our past episodes and additional resources. Thanks again for tuning in. I'll see you next time.
