✍️ BRAINR's Adventures by Expo& Expocarne 2024 in Leça da Palmeira...

To show or not to show, that is the question

There are three food fairs that those who want to do business with the food industry in Portugal simply cannot miss: LFA, SAGAL and Expo /Expocarne.

BRAINR had already been to LFA and SAGAL this year, mainly because we had good references about the events. However, about Expo/ Expocarne, we didn't have much information.

Therefore, there was an internal discussion about the relevance of exposing. And the main question was that, since Expocarne is a fair where our potential customers - food producers - go to exhibit their products, sales teams that are super focused on developing business, and less on “buying” will be present.

The truth is that few people are actually able to sell factory management software to commercials, and especially to the meat industry. Experience teaches us that these commercials are fantastic at convincing someone that they successfully “sold” a solution, but often subsequent follow-up leads to little or nothing. And that was the main argument against participating in the event.

On the other hand, there was a strong argument in favor of exposing: people buy what they trust. Fairs, seminars, symposiums, and summits are excellent for building trust, as long as the company brings the right people. A team capable of providing a quality pre-purchase experience is needed, right there, on the spot. Someone to establish contact and break the ice; someone to present an initial pitch; someone to carry out a focused and empathetic demonstration; and someone to discuss costs in an accessible way, almost like a conversation between friends. At BRAINR, the team that goes to the events follows the marketing framework AIDA.

It is this “AIDA” team that will ensure that any event is a success - captivating the ambitious operations manager who wants to impress the boss with new technology; the quality director who sees the event as an opportunity to leave the factory and meet new people; or the owner of a company that seeks to change things and regain pride in the business he founded 30 years ago.

Thus, two weeks before the event, and after weighing potential costs and benefits, it was decided to move forward with participation. A stand, merchandising, a communication strategy, and a perfect defined team were designed and approved.

As a supplier of software for managing food factories, with the reliability of the cloud, BRAINR is certain: in its area, trust is the main asset behind signed software contracts.

Why?

Because in the food industry, factories can't stop. Margins are tight, and sometimes there are only a few hours between production and shipment. In addition, there is the natural entropy that comes from a factory floor with many people, each with their limitations and challenges.

For a business owner with decades of experience in food production, who has seen technological trends come and gone, tested new solutions while dealing with everyday problems, the idea of software that permeates every aspect of the factory can be, understandably, daunting. At BRAINR, this reality is referred to as Fear of Operational Hijacking (FOOH). It is a reality and a challenge that cannot be overcome only with storytelling, demos or experts. Trust is needed, a lot!

Thus, it was clear to us, the main objective would not be to capture leads, but to build trust with an entire ecosystem. Be present and speak with passion and interest to any and all visitors who show interest in BRAINR.

A bit of a shaky start

Still, the beginning had some surprises... When the team arrived at the stand, they found a half-drunk yogurt bottle on the meeting table, garbage on the floor, the walls of the stand were poorly assembled, the lighting was insufficient, and the table requested for the demonstration computers and tablets was missing. In addition, the stand, originally sold in a 4x3 format, was assembled with a 3x4 format, which compromised the intended reading sequence. Frustrating.

After a few hours, the team got a table and more lighting, and the visitors began to pass by and interact.

Participating in a fair always involves the concern of being that stand that no one visits... but that fear was quickly overcome.

It was possible to talk with several companies in the food sectors other than meat, such as fruit, bakery and even tools.

What attracted the most attention were the visitors who had partial solutions to manage their factories, some completely “not digitized” (or only with Excel), and others dissatisfied with current solutions. One of the visitors, CEO of a tool company from the north of Portugal, commented: “I was looking for a cloud solution to help manage production and warehouse, because I already had a fire at the factory. A lot of information was lost forever. We don't want the risk of dealing with servers.”

This was an excellent reinforcement for the argument in favor of the cloud, although it was not an opportunity that BRAINR could exploit. As a native manufacturing execution system for the food industry, its main value lies in functionalities designed for the specific pains of this industry, different from those of the tool industry.

CEO Seminar

Exposalão was very understanding and generous to us, even though it was an exhibitor who only confirmed participation close to the date. :D

BRAINR had a last-minute slot to present the successful case of the digitization of the Lusiaves Group, and no one better than the CEO and Co-founder, Paulo Gaspar, to do so.

It was great to see the auditorium almost full, even with relatively limited social media work...

The team is proud of its roots, vision and traction, and Paulo transmitted that message with the passion and efficiency that are recognized to him. So effectively that some seminar participants ended up visiting the stand and became potential customers: a company that produces processed fruits and another in the frozen food sector. All with similar challenges — many difficulties connecting production, warehouse, team responsibility, traceability, batch management efficiently.

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Objective accomplished?

Over the next two days, the fair continued with great conversations with potential clients and partners. But last but not least, the good conversations within the team were an excellent conclusion. Teams need time to build and mature relationships in different contexts. Team-building days are great, but they're just a context. One of Amazon's key leadership principles is “Build Trust.” Building trust with potential customers and partners happens naturally when there is a solid foundation of trust within the team. That's what highlighted BRAINR at the fair (even with a stand location far from being premium): underlying all the discussions about technology, AI, food production, MES software, ERPs, and more, was a genuine enthusiasm to be at the fair as a team!

At the weekly marketing meeting, when the big question comes up, the answer is: yes, goal accomplished!

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