In our industry, it’s rare that you get an opportunity to talk face-to-face with so many people who work within our area in one place, at one time.
These face-to-face meetings with like-minded individuals can help you attract business to your shop and help you make connections you wouldn’t have had a chance to make otherwise.
Attending auto performance events is something that shouldn’t be overlooked as just another business expense
- you can stay up-to-date with the latest innovations and trends, meet new people and see the latest advancements in technology.
Here are five ways you can increase your shop’s revenue by attending auto events.
1. Networking
Networking - sounds so simple, yet it’s so often overlooked. Networking can often lead to new customers, new suppliers and creating important contacts with potential collaborators. It’s also a great way to learn new things from other shop owners and businesses in the industry.
A great tool to use at events is LinkedIn’s ‘Find Nearby’ feature. With Find Nearby enabled on your phone, LinkedIn helps you locate other LinkedIn members in your proximity. This really helps you meet the right people at the right time.
If you don’t see yourself as somebody who is naturally social then consider bringing some conversation starters, a list of questions or even some topics for discussing with you to these events.
Try to explore opportunities outside of your comfort zone too - consider getting onstage yourself or writing a guest article in a relevant magazine (this is something we regularly do too! Check out our latest piece in The Shop magazine).
2. Learning New (More Profitable) Ways Of Working
There are always opportunities to learn more in the business world - especially when it comes to productivity and profitability. Things in the auto performance and auto restoration industry evolve every year. New products hit the shelves and new, more efficient ways of doing things are discovered.
Attending events is a great way to chat with other shop owners about the way they do business - and take a few cost-cutting techniques home with you to try out.
Learning new knowledge about a product or developing your business skills is always something you can get out of attending auto performance events. You will always come out more informed and ready to deal with any new challenges that you might run into.
While you can learn a lot from the people in your industry and experts in your field, events are also the perfect place to show off some of your skills. You can also spread your knowledge and teach people about the tricks you’ve learned over the years and become known for being an expert at what you do.
3. Pick Up New Technology
A lot of auto performance and auto restoration trade shows highlight the latest tools, technologies and research that has surfaced in the industry over the year or the last couple of months.
Depending on the event and what area of the auto industry you specialize in, you can attend seminars, talks and lectures to learn about the latest innovations that are most relevant to you. You might find there’s also group workshops you can attend which are a great opportunity to network with like-minded people.
Events are the perfect place to see any new machinery or tech as you can talk to the experts behind them in person - and even get demonstrations on how each one works.
It’s common to see vendors giving away free samples of smaller items too - making this the perfect opportunity to try out new products without having to invest in the whole thing.
There’s a lot of innovation within the industry and it’s important to try and stay on top of it all in order to get ahead of your competition when it comes to offering the best service and products for your customers.
4. Check Out Your Competitors
Events give you the opportunity to see what your competitors are doing, how they are doing it and what you can learn from it. It gives you the chance to see first-hand what their strengths and weaknesses are and how you can learn from their mistakes - or their successes.
It all builds up to valuable knowledge that could help give your shop the edge it needs to pull ahead. You can see for yourself what sets your business apart from your competitors and what you can do that they can’t.
5. Promote, Promote, Promote
You can promote your company in a number of ways at events, but one of the most popular ways is by becoming a guest speaker. When you give a talk at an event you become seen as an expert in your niche. This can help boost your reputation in the industry, raise brand awareness and help increase your popularity with potential customers.
If public speaking isn’t something you are comfortable with, then there are plenty of other ways at events that you can promote yourself and your shop:
- Take part in group discussions and events
- Book in to have a trade stand
- Advertise through leaflets or posters
- Go to talks and network with people who have similar interests as you
That’s all for now, but we hope you enjoyed our blog on attending auto performance events. If you’re interested in learning more about the events we find the most beneficial to attend,
get in touch.
If you want to gain some serious exposure for your shop with tried, tested and proven methods, check out our
Marketing Maximizer. 
