Does the “cobbler have the worst shoes”?
On March 20, 2024, I treated myself to another day at LogiMAT. (a major intralogistics trade fair in Stuttgart) But instead of focusing on all the innovations typically showcased at such events, I conducted, among other things, a small “digital” analysis.
As a digitalization consultant, I am naturally interested in how digitally advanced the companies actually are that lecture us daily on what we should do to digitalize our businesses (or those of my clients).
My topics:
- How well can you recognize what they actually do? (in a completely analog way)
- How digitally organized are companies, especially software companies, at the trade fair?
- Who is not yet listed on our IT Matchmaker? (software search platform focused on warehouse management software)
My analysis is available, as always, here in the blog post. It will be exciting, as always.
Click here for the trade fair portal. (nothing impressive there either)
What do they actually do?
Honestly, how often do you stand in front of a trade fair booth and ask yourself “what do they actually do?” I had the same experience at several booths once again.
It is quite remarkable when a provider expects customers to already know who the company is and what they actually offer.
Even the “analog eye” wants to get its money’s worth. A fancy booth is not enough when you stand in front of it for 5 minutes and still do not know what they actually do. It is even worse when no one has time to answer the question, there are no brochures available (everything must be digital, but even those cannot be accessed via “self-service”).
Yet it is actually quite simple. There are 4 key messages that should be recognizable at first glance:
- What do they do? (products, services)
- What’s in it for me? (added value)
- Am I in the right place? (industry, company size)
- Who are the customers (competitors, etc.)?
Unfortunately, sometimes the marketing, or the lack of marketing, seems only interested in a “pretty” and “trendy” booth without substance.
Amusing guessing game in front of the trade fair booth
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The Digital Organization of Companies
Since I mainly focused on software providers that day, I believed that one must finally experience the “digital breakthrough” at trade fairs. After all, digitalization is one of THE topics of our time.
Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed once again. There they stand, the software providers, wanting to sell us process automation and digitalization all the way to AI (artificial intelligence), but they themselves still live in the Stone Age or have completely misinterpreted digitalization for themselves.
No business cards
I must admit, I still like to hold someone’s business card in my hand. Not everything has to be digital.
Yes, you can also scan the QR code on the admission ticket or quickly connect on LinkedIn.
It becomes problematic, however, when nothing happens afterward.
Scrap paper or no notes at all
In the past, we had detailed trade fair questionnaires to which business cards were attached (I actually saw this at one or two booths).
Not a single exhibitor had, for example, a tablet with which my visit and my request were directly recorded. Most either took no notes at all (which makes you feel particularly “important” as a visitor) and others diligently filled notepads or even used scrap paper. This reminded me very much of the “tablet” in the following image.
Here too, digital processes seem to be out of place. I am no longer surprised.
Amusing “person guessing: who am I?”
When you come to a booth and immediately know someone, that is not a problem. If that is not the case, it is!
Not once was my name entered anywhere and I was, for example, “recognized”
based on a CRM entry. Now I do not expect everyone in the world to know me, but companies, especially software providers who have already participated in a tender, should.
I would have been very impressed if I had been “recognized” in the CRM, and I must assume that customers would not fare any differently.
A pity, another opportunity for a good impression missed.
Brochures are dead, long live “NOTHING”
Those of us who are older can still remember mountains of brochures that were once displayed at trade fair booths. Now there is usually “NOTHING”. That seems to be sufficient.
Digital availability seems to be the solution. But how do I access it when no one, as just described, has time to record my data and there is not even a QR code anywhere to retrieve brochures?
Processes that serve to provide digital materials to satisfy the information needs of many people do not seem to exist here. Another opportunity missed.
Particularly bad when you are talking to the wrong people at the booth and the important ones walk right past.
Here I recommend the system www.digital-folder.com. Here you can create information brochures from documents, links, and more cost-effectively, easily, and quickly, and make them available via QR code. Then potentially far fewer potential customers will simply walk by without “taking something” (the link on their smartphone). By the way: interested? Then you will get a 6-month on-top voucher for the subscription from me.
A small “digital ordering bright spot”
The catering of trade fair guests is really nothing special. Of all the visits, one software provider stood out positively. They had their own apprentices develop a ordering app and voilà, coffee and more arrived at the table.
Not that this is now a “mission-critical” trade fair application, but it shows that this company is thinking about innovations.
No wow or aha effect after leaving the booth
I would have actually liked a direct response after leaving the booth. A brief email like “Dear Mr. Groß, thank you very much for your visit….”, but nothing came.
Only one provider out of approximately 20 conversations sent me a corresponding email on the same day.
Well-organized and digitalized processes look different.
Let’s see how long it takes the others before any response comes at all. I fear that nothing will happen here either.
Conclusion: Where are the CRM systems? I did not notice any of them. It seems to me as if the providers have completely “forgotten” to “exemplify” digital processes. They live in the Stone Age but sell digitalization. Somehow does not fit together at all.
Interested in trade fair and sales optimization? Use my experience in the IT industry and from>75 tender procedures since 2005 and optimize your sales. You can schedule a free initial appointment here via the link.
Modern work tools at software companies – Tablet V 2024
New WMS Providers for the IT Matchmaker Platform
On our Matchmaker platform (IT or BVL Matchmaker) we already have 122 WMS providers (warehouse management systems) in direct comparison as of March 21, 2024.
What could be more natural than to check at LogiMAT whether there are still providers missing from the platform? I found 7 and all were of the opinion that the entry should be made quickly.
Since I am currently conducting a tender for a large and well-known provider of customized logistics solutions (warehouses), new providers were naturally very interested in being listed on this platform.
Because our motto is “anyone who does not want to be compared on the Matchmaker is not included in the tender”.
Any provider of a software solution, whether logistics or from other areas, interested in a free entry can contact Mr. Klein from Trovarit AG, here via the link.
Here you will find not only 122 WMS solutions in comparison, but also many other solutions
Conclusion: “The cobbler still has the worst shoes. Leading by example looks different”
Image sources: Shutterstock, Messe Stuttgart (LogiMAT)
