Are You Outstanding At Exhibitions

Why do we go to exhibitions is a question that can be asked by visitors and stand holders alike. In fact the answers from both sides are not as clear as they should be and indeed after the visit or taking up of a stand, the question could be why did I go?

Apart from the time and expense involved the visitor should have started out knowing what the objectives of the visit are e.g. to catch up on the latest trends or technology, to see an intended purchase before buying, to attend a talk or workshop or just to network and meet people in the trade.

From the other side of the fence the stand holder should be asking themselves some pretty important questions not only regarding there own reasons for going but how to attract the vast potential market to their stand.

Some of the answers I have come across just by asking stand holders why they were at the exhibition would make you cringe. "We thought we would give it a try." "This is a big and well known exhibition and we thought this is the place to be seen." These are just two of many which showed no real thought had been given to why the company was there.

The sort of questions that should have been asked before even booking a stand are What are the aims or goals of going to the exhibition that will benefit us? How are we going to attract people to our stand? What are we offering at this exhibition,? How are we going to provide information - brochures, talks, video presentations etc, how are we going to attract people to the stand? How many people are going to man the stand? How much can we afford to spend on this exhibition? Is it worth spending so much? Are there better ways we can spend our money on to get the same or better returns?

So you have decided to go ahead and book your stand and you turn up and decorate it as well as you can with your posters, video monitor, brochures, pop up displays,
chairs and tables, balloons and maybe even a potted plant or two.

If you are not laying on drinks or coffee for visiting guests I would strongly suggest you take some bottled water with you as you can become quite dehydrated.

You are now set up and then the announcement comes the doors are open to visitors. Then what?

Gradually the wave of visitors filtrate towards you and the pantomime begins with the inexperienced stand holder.

With an inane smile you say "hello, can I "swipe" you" and before they can utter a word you have grabbed their lapel and swiped a badge. Well that is one name for the file. That assault done the victim is released to fly on or browse your stand or worse still others.

There are usually two methods of "getting" people - the person on the stand approaches the person and deals with them themselves. The second method is the pass-on method. You get the front liners of your stand to get the person to come onto the stand and after a few preliminaries you introduce the visitor to the "expert" who knows all about the person's problem.

One aspect that many exhibitors overlook is that besides getting names and addresses, exhibitions are an ideal information gathering place.

Time and time again I have seen exhibitors lose opportunities to get information. Remember information is money why waste this opportunity.

We have all seen it and done it as a visitor. We wander casually pass the stand holder, in many cases because we have no interest in what they are doing or perhaps out of courtesy smile and decline the leaflet or brochure thrust in our faces.

Although these visitors have no interest in your product or service, how much better is it to ask them if they could spare a few minutes to find out about their problem areas and perhaps ways in which you could help them.

I should point out at this stage to anyone who mans an exhibition stand that once you set foot on your stand it does not suddenly become an island surrounded by hungry sharks. Get off that stand and get to your visitors. You are not marooned on an island.

If you are manning a stand there are certain no,no's One of the worst is talking on a mobile whilst "on duty." This is particularly bad if the stand is manned by only one or two people. I have personally hung around one stand for 15 minutes just to see how long the one man stand exhibitor would stay on line. I noticed many people just give up and walk away and who could blame them?

If you are going to use the mobile use it away from the site or at the very least be out of sight.

Another no, no is going into long conversations with fellow stand holders. Remember you are trying to make your stand worth the money so go and talk to the visitors not your mates.

When it time for tea break, lunch break etc then try and have your drink and food off the stand. Go into the exhibitor area or the many café's around.

Generally visitors to exhibitions expect to pick up freebies and a lot of thought has to be given to this aspect if it is to be worthwhile.

These freebies can range from a bowl of sweets, key rings, pens, stress balls, cameras etc. The idea, is of course, to attract people to your stand but you can't be everywhere at once manning a stand and so you are going to get a lot of "snatchers," who dive in grab a sweet, pen or whatever and disappear into the crowd. O.K. you have lost a possible customer but how much better if you have your name and contact details on the freebie and the longer you can get that "snatcher" to keep your freebie the better. So look for freebies which are likely to stay with a person for a time like a mouse mat, perhaps a small cute looking toy cat with a scarf with your firms name and telephone number on it, maybe even the products that are produced, a ruler or a digital plastic clock.

There are plenty of firms who advertise their freebie wares so it is worth getting a catalogue or two. You might even find it worth going to the Incentive Fairs held in Birmingham.

Gimmicks to attract people to stands are not new and it might be found useful to attract people to your stand using them.

These take many forms from attractive promo girls, people dressed up in costumes, to people going round the exhibition handing out invitations to parties, dinners and the like, to draws with entry via the posting of ones business cards.

One attraction to stands which is quite new is to have a complementary therapist on the stand.

This attraction has quite a few benefits. Firstly people can get a refreshing treatment. Secondly it is in full sight of the visitors and people stop to watch and also wait a turn. This gives the salesmen ample time to get round those waiting and onlooking to give their sales pitch or gather further information.

Thirdly your own stall people can benefit from treatment to keep them refreshed. It gives a much better impression to visitors if they see bright looking exhibitors instead of wilting flowers.

Finally the announcement comes that the exhibition is now closed.

Is that the end until the next time? It is, if you are an inexperienced exhibiter, however, the more experienced exhibiters will make out an exhibition report with full details. This will include the cost of the stand, the accommodation, and all other expenses.

There will be full details of the exhibition stand, contacts at the exhibition hall, notes on whether the aims and objectives were met, the results of follow ups, any press write-ups, a full list of what had been taken along and what should be taken along the next time if the exhibition was found to be successful.

There should be a written write up on the whole experience noting good and bad points.

It is only then that one can put the project to bed knowing that you have a reliable reference for the next exhibition.