The stand
Many people order furniture for a stand for the wrong reasons. It looks nice, its handy to sit down when you are tired or perhaps it will be used as a display for the brochures.
The problem with furniture is that it becomes a barrier. Unless you need to sit down to write orders you are probably better off without it. For example if you place brochures on a table you will probably do what most people do and that is arrange them in a nice pattern. Believe it or not most people do not like disturbing items arranged in a nice pattern so they probably won’t take one. You are better off either having a proper brochure stand (which you can hire) or handing them out. Free samples and promotional items left on a table will be picked up by everybody. If you are happy with that, fine, but if these are expensive items you can be more discerning by handing them out. Furniture also restricts movement on a stand and people like the ability to move about unhindered.
The people on the stand
If you are not use to standing all day, then you will find that Trade Shows are one of the most tiresome, energy sapping, crippling exercises around. Long hours on you feet, hot lights and the quiet, boring moments that seem to be endless. This affects the attitude of the representatives on the stand and usually manifests itself with arms folded, bored looks, and a mental picture that says ‘do not disturb me’ - certainly not the place to go if you are a visitor. The seasoned rep. knows how to handle visitors, put off time wasters, use spare time to look at other stands and collect information on competitors. As with all things in life there is a right way and a wrong way but the good news is, there is a short cut to learning the art - training videos (contact me for details). They are a great tool and should be viewed by all those intent on exhibiting.
Collecting the information
You set up a stand to a) sell your goods to a new or existing audience or b) introduce yourself or a new product line/service - in other words you want to add to your database. You will not do that efficiently unless you have a clearly defined method. You should either design an enquiry pad in advance so that you have worked out the information you require (make sure that you have a stapler to clip business cards and also make sure your people write legibly) or allow people to register online.
Backup and follow up
It is important that the executives on the stand have office support. All enquiries, contact notes and orders should be collected as soon as possible, brochures/quotes sent immediately and appointments made. It is amazing sometimes to find that all of the expense and enthusiasm put into a trade show ends up with a potential customer’s first experience being a negative one. Information collected and lost, promises of brochures/quotes sent weeks after the show or not sent at all and appointments not made. The worst part of it all is that the show whether it is good bad or indifferent will be blamed for being a disaster.
Finally, I hope that the information supplied is of value and that the world of Trade Shows has been made more accessible. Good hunting.
Source: Alec Drew, Baseline http://knowledge-centre.bidsupport.ie/