How to be a better exhibitor
Before the Show
Spending a little time and thought planning before an exhibition will pay big dividends when show time comes.
Set Specific Goals
Is the purpose of your participation to generate 200 sales leads or launch new products to customers or the media? If you know your goals before the show, you have a much better chance of achieving them.
Establishing specific, measurable goals is probably the single most important thing you can do before an exhibition.
Plan the stand to meet the goals
Your stand location, design and activities should reflect what you want to achieve from the show.
The number of staff manning the stand and the skills that they have should also be thought of before the event. Do you want technical staff to demonstrate complex machinery? Do you want sales staff to generate leads? Do you want senior managers to meet with decision makers? Let your goals be your guide.
Tell people why they should visit
More than 80% of the most successful companies at a range of exhibitions (in terms of business generated and sales leads collected) were the ones who took the trouble to mail their prospective clients before the event. Simple, but too often not done.
PR and Marketing
You can mail your own lists, buy in a list or mail to the event organiser's list or pre-registrants.
Tell people what you'll be doing at the show and why they should take the time to come and visit you.
Train your staff
The first rule of exhibitions should be 'the people make the stand'. Make sure that yours are well trained for the job. Selling at an exhibition is different from selling in a showroom or on the telephone. Your stand staff need to understand your goals and each member's specific role in achieving them.