Soap Warehouse Blog

I just went to the Waste Expo that is being held here this year in Atlanta. And since Soap Warehouse in just the past few years has been moving in to this industry to sell cleaning products I decided to go and check it out.

This is three day event with the first day starting with a normal Key note followed by different class offerings and panels. Day two and three also have break out meetings but most of the attention shifts to the Exhibit Hall. 

I walked the entire floor, some isles more than once, passing every one of the over 540 exhibitors. There was every thing to do with the Waste Industry, from safety gear for the workers to every type of waste container you could imagine big and small, trash cans of all styles and type, many lockable to keep out everything from rats to raccoons and bears. Trash receptacles for events that are reusable to disposable. Larger commercial containers, some in the same old steel varieties to many made of newer lighter space age plastics that even them selves can be recycled. 

Just like at the trucks shows we go to there where the large booths of motorized equipment from small vacuum litter collectors to massive Caterpillar landfill movers. Compactors and Shredding machines for everything from paper to cars. Not to mention all the different sizes and types of waste, aka garbage trucks, that are currently being made. There were top loaders, side loader, home trashcan pick up and dump machines of all sorts, mini trucks to collect in small areas like tight motor home parks. Not to mention all the machines made to move containers, like roll loaders, hook and hoist trucks.

Going Green and recycling was a big part of this show with one entire area, 12 exhibitors, devoted to new types of recycling, Organics and Composting, from home size units to turning entire landfills into one gigantic compost methane gas/energy producing farm. The rest of the recycling was through out the show with things like separators, sorters, and trucks that could pick up and separately store different types for transportation, thus eliminating multiple runs with multiple vehicles to cover the same route.

Another large number of booths at this show was soft ware, programs to manage fleet routes, maintenance and entire waste management systems in Quickbooks style called WasteBooks and a major industry player Soft-pak.

And although the cleaning industry was not left out it was not a large segment either. The companies that were in attendance where less than 10 in number; Hotsy, Aaladin, Power Kleen, Hydro Chem, InterClean, Neptune Wash, Concrete Washout, Aaqua Tools and Fleetwash. 

The swag at this show was also cool, over a dozen different types of garbage truck, cans and equipment stress squeezers, mini trash cans metal and plastic, the usual candy, pens and drink coozies, new smash lights (flattened led flash lights), items for your smart phone from phone stands, screen wipe pads to my favorite a Smart Wallet (a rubber stretchable pouch that attaches to the back of your phone to store 1-2 cards like an ID and Credit card). Even big items like ear buds, safety glasses, work gloves, tumblers, plastic trash containers for your car, T-shirts, ball caps, biker dew caps, and stuffed animals. One company RDK Truck Sales even was giving away no less than $200 every half hour (had to be present to win) at their booth for both days. 

All in all this was a jam packed day for me from 10-3 with just 20 minutes for a quick lunch but I can say it was educational and interesting to see what the Waste Industry has to show. Now I can only work and see if the 7-8 company contacts I made become Soap Warehouse customers.

 

 

Spring is the time for Home Shows, now and in the Fall. Participation in a Home Show is an investment; exhibits take a lot of time and require a lot of resources. Plus, they can be expensive, but the benefits can make the cost well worth it. Here are the top five reasons to participate in a home show: 

• Reason #1: People go to home shows to buy. While it is true that many attend just to pass the time but most have a purchasing reason to be there. They’re there because they have a need—perhaps one that your company’s product or service can fill. In a nutshell, home shows might be just the place to generate hot leads that are ready to schedule or buy (from you), that very day.
• Reason #2: People still conduct business offline and in person. They may price shop on line but those that, need to see to be convinced, may be just the type that needs to meet you in person, see your booth, your before and after posters and get to know you. And those that come to home shows are more than 96% from that local area. This puts your services in front of a heavily local audience. Where else can you get in front of hundreds of prospective buyers all in one day?
• Reason #3: People attend home shows to see new products. In fact, this has been the number one reason to attend a show for over twenty-five years. Has your company recently introduced a new product or service you’d like to feature. Or, perhaps you have just added new equipment or machinery that prospective customers need to know you have, shows you are Waste Water compliant, etc. Trade shows can be just the place to show off your latest improvement.
• Reason #4: Home shows yield a positive return on investment (ROI). The average ROI for every dollar spent on a trade show is $4.99. And that’s just the average. Imagine the possibilities if you went above and beyond this return. Do a little research, find out what the competition is doing and if they will even be there. Do you have a prospective customer list? A target zip code you would like to sell too? Reach out to them ahead of time. Send them an e-mail or letter asking them to stop by and see you, include a special offer. Invite them to pick up a limited gift in person on exhibit day. Or send an email or letter that attendees can show for an extra chance to win in a prize drawing, entered only at the show.
• Reason #5: This show may be the only one a prospect attends this year. Close to half of all attendees only attend one home show a year. That gives you the potential to reach someone you may not reach even if you exhibit at another show. Once they’re there, make them glad they came. Provide value by having knowledgeable and helpful staff available to answer questions, have before and after photos, a demo video and show customer testimonials. And send these special visitors away with a little something to remember you by. A premade care package, complete with branded hand wipes, pain reliever, bandages and LifeSavers® that can come in handy in their car. Visitors can find out what they need to know about your company while getting items they will use and think of you well into the future. Regular attendees can be given other single give-a-way items like branded magnets, pens, jar openers, note pads, anything that has staying power to be in their home.

I hope that you picked up a reason or two to justify exhibiting at a Home Show this Spring or next Fall. Home shows can provide such a great way to reach people ready, willing and able to buy your product or service.

This is my take on this years Mid-America Truck Show. This will be my fifth year either exhibiting or attending this truck show. As in the years past this was a huge show, vendor, space and attendee wise. This year I was lucky to be invited to help with the UAMCC booth  that was there to promote their membership and try to match up fleet washer contractors with fleet owners that could use their services. Soap Warehouse along with Jerry McMillen of SiroccoVacuums helped Nichole Anglin man the booth during the three day event. 

I think this years MATS had much better class offerings than in the past to start things off on Wednesday and all the normal big players in trucking were there. I actually got a chance to walk around the North and South Wing this time more than in some past years but I really did not see any great new ideas or offerings. The special guests at displays where also fewer to me. There was Edgar Hansen from the Deadliest Catch, Erik Thompson the "The Yankee Hunter", NASCAR's Clint Bowyer, Country singers Tony Justice, Craig Morgan and Sara Evans at different vendors over the three days. Another crowd pleaser was the Chrome & Elegance models and of course the Hooters girls. Not even listed and one I found out after we left is a favorite person of mine, Alex Debogorski from Ice Road Truckers who came in just on Saturday to the Bridgestone/Firestone booth and to hand out a plaque at the 2014 Paul K. Young Truck Awards and was never even listed anywhere I saw. 

Soft side trailer covers where being sold by many more dealers this year, due to this being the third year since their arrival to the market, yet the question I posed to all of the ones I found could still not give me a good answer to the question, "What are the pH requirements for the soaps used to clean your fabric covers?" Most where just sales or pitch men that had no idea other than the basic, "Just use a mild dish soap like Dawn or Ivory." Which of course for all you Fleet washers out there that is not much help because none of you are going to get a dirty truck clean with dish soap! And most of you have set contracts and ways to clean for the price contracted, such as two stepping, which should not be used with these covers. Low acids and high alkaline soaps cause fading and embrittlement of the fabric that will cause them to fail and rip. And no fleet owner wants to hear from their contractor, "Sorry but to clean your new trailers it will now cost you twice as much." Because you are in fact having to wash the same truck twice, once to safely clean the fabric side trailer covers and then a stronger soap to really clean the road film and stack staining from the tractor and lower portion of the trailer. Here at Soap Warehouse we are now working with the manufacture we located that produces the fabric for these trailers and hopefully will soon be able to market a cleaner that will work on both the soft side covers and the rest of the rig as well. 

Next I saw more duplication of smaller vendors this year than in years past, like three aluminum welding systems, multiple aluminum wheel cleaning systems, three C-Pac vendors. Which is good for the truckers and being able to compare and price shop but it made for a more seen it all before feel to many of the isles in the West Wing and Food Pavilion. I was happy to see one contractor in the Food Pavilion, who also happens to be a Soap Warehouse customer, that paid the high booth cost to attend the show and that was Power Washer Plus out ofBloomington,IN.I hope more contractors and professional organizations besides the UAMCC starts to exhibit at these large shows to give the drive through truck washes like, Blue Beacon, Flying J and Pilot more competition and options for the managers and owners of trucking fleets. 

Nothing really new with the swag give-a-ways this year. Nothing stood out to me; tons of pens, rulers, candy and bags of all shapes, styles and sizes but not any great must have items. Mobil Delvac didn't even have their iconic black cowboy hat that has been a crowd pleaser the last few years. I guess they finally went through their 1,000,000 count supply they bought three years ago. Their free concert was a hit as usual and they had given out their entire supply of tickets well before mid day on Friday for that nights concert with Gretchen Wilson. 

One new feature this year was MATS move into mobile social media with Cummins backing the official MATS app for both android and Apple. But it was very late to be made available to the public and I did not find it that useful even after down loading it. I tried a few times to get info with it but found it still much easier and faster just to grab a buyers guide or the MATS Daily Guide. 

This was the 25th anniversary of the PKY Truck Beauty Contest but I felt it was also a little subdued this year. There were fewer outrageously painted tractors and trailers. They said the entry number was up for this event but very few trucks where shown inside this year, due to more paying inside vendors taking up the room, and with the rain that moved in on Saturday there were not as many visitors out looking at the winners as in years past. I felt the traffic in the West Wing was also down due to the fact of fewer people were walking through there to get to the Beauty Contest area. 

All in all it was a very good show and I enjoyed going. I hope many more of you get the chance to get to a huge National event like this and see the possibilities of new business networking there can bring you.