For distributors and members of the UNION Group, the Sales Forum is the most efficient way to maintain contacts and get to know products. At this year’s sales forum on 9. and 10 May, a good 350 visitors from the UNION Group met 40 E/D/E concept suppliers. “This is real-life practice,” says Markus Bielefeld, who is responsible for the UNION Group at E/D/E. “For us as organizers, practical relevance is very important. This means that the industry is given a platform to showcase its products and product innovations, and the purchasing and sales staff of our member companies receive sound information and sales arguments.”
Get-together and depth of content
Interview with Kai Trabandt, Advisory Board Spokesman for UNION power tools and tools
PVH Magazine:
Are trade fairs like this sales forum still necessary in the digital age or should new digital formats be sought?
Kai Trabandt:
Nowadays, many providers only think about leads and numbers when it comes to customer contacts.
I think that’s the wrong approach, because business is done by people for people.
At a trade fair, there are products to touch and try out – you can’t compare that with looking through an online catalog.
And the personal exchange of arguments cannot always be replaced by video conferencing.
That’s why events like this should continue to take place in the future.
What do you think of the member companies’ opinions on events and sales groups?
The UNION Sales Forum traditionally takes place shortly after the catalogues are published.
Due to the events of the last two years and the resulting price dynamics, this was not possible this time.
Conditions have changed so quickly at times that we waited with the event until this dynamic had calmed down somewhat.
And I only heard positive comments about the fact that we could “finally” meet again.
So: the marketplace is clearly what the members wanted.
This also applies to all other event formats, such as our conferences. However, the marketplace also has a direct link to the products. This is an invaluable advantage for members’ sales staff.
What advantages do E/D/E suppliers have by participating in the sales forum?
This year, the industry partners even have a double advantage because the sales forum and the marketplace have been organized by two sales groups – UNION and the PVH systems HANDWERKSTADT UND PLUS 1 GRUPPE.
A large number of exhibitors will therefore meet a large number of distributors over three days.
As far as the two days for UNION members are concerned, the response from suppliers is consistently good.
They appreciate the depth of the discussions and the expertise of the buyers and sales staff.
The effect for them should be great.
