Tips for the First Time Exhibitor

Tips for the First Time Exhibitor

Attending an exhibition is a great way to market your business and get feedback from customers instantly. Whether you plan on networking, creating brand awareness, researching, or making on-the-spot sales and getting some leads, exhibitions are an excellent place to start. The number of exhibitions held each year could be in the ballpark of thousands or more.

How do you know the right exhibition for presenting your products and or services?

Well, there is no good or bad exhibition. One could be an event that plans to have exhibitors showcase a particular industry’s products and services that your business offers. Alternatively, it could be, say, an environmental impact event where companies exhibit their responsible enterprise efforts. Such an event enables your firm to earn recognition as a local or global player in the fight to reverse issues such as global warming, pollution caused by plastics and any other adverse business-related effects on the environment. If leveraging exhibitions is a strategy in the works for you, the pointers below are crucial.

The Pre-planning Phase

Businesses attend exhibitions with different goals and objectives in mind.

• Have some reasonable achievements that you would like to come out of your presence at the exhibition.
• Consider your line of business and industry and lookup exhibitions that are yet to come.
• Create a list of potential exhibitions that are likely to suit your business strategies.
• You will need to accommodate the event into your business’ schedule.
• You will need to assign a team and supervisor to oversee your company’s contribution to the exhibition.
• Make reservations for a stand builder to set-up your stand at the event and design and install all other makeshift structures and components that will be necessary for a fruitful engagement at the
• Conduct In-depth Research

It’s now time to collect all the relevant information.

• Check the fine print of the exhibition,
• Figure out the intended duration of the showcase, the organisers and their reputation,
• Compute the exhibition fees, if any, and
• Think about the location of the show. Of course, location makes better sense when matched with your targeting and marketing capacity.

Gathering this information will help you narrow down the portfolio of exhibitions you populated earlier. At this point, you’ve got a clearer path and can use your judgment to choose the most promising exhibition in the right venue.

Don’t Forget the Logistics

Organise in good time to have issues such as transportation and hotel bookings done appropriately. You can even send a reconnaissance team to work with suppliers and ensure that they have all the essentials, such as stand designs and specifications, and that they fulfil their contracts.

• Confirm whether exhibition registration documentation is in order and that all advanced payments are paid and receipts issued.
• Request for the transfer of the products that will be on display and sale at the exhibition.
• Account for all the items at the warehouse. If it is a cohort of products on the production line, fresh arrangements will allow ample time to prepare and assign them to the exhibition exercise.
• You should also ensure that any pending approvals and consent are given by management to facilitate any other logistical needs. Or alternatively if you outsource your stand building to a custom stand builder, they can do most of this planning for you!

Hire a Stand Manager

The purpose of a professional stand manager is to ensure everything runs smoothly. The floor manager ensures that all customers get appropriate service, each member of staff has time to rest, the stand looks presentable, and each person is playing their role to meet the targets. You can compare the cost of investing in a manager to the expected results.

Ensure Your Team has the Skills to Handle the Exhibition

Some of the attendees who will frequent the exhibition may have heard of your products or services, while others will not be familiar with them. In that case, sending in an unqualified team to represent your business is setting a precedent for poor performance at the exhibition.

• Establish training resources such as profiles on company products and services,
• The procedural steps taken once a client orders one of your business services or products up to the point of delivery,
• Forms for after-sale services available,
• How to navigate the company’s website and mobile application, the distribution of company branches and so on.
• Marry the theoretical approach with practicality by simulating exhibition situations that members of your team are likely to face. Check how they respond to that exposure and assess them accordingly.
• Make sure you send in the individuals with above-average communication skills to engage potential clients in natural conversations. Such a move will result in either spot purchases or generation of strong leads that you later pursue and hopefully turn into loyal customers.

Finally, and perhaps the most critical aspect of an exhibition, make sure you collect as much feedback as possible. Pick the constructive criticism and work those flaws as you improve your business operations and offerings and scout for other exhibitions.

 

See how to budget for a custom exhibition stand here.