Exhibitions – Creating impact to develop business

Basic Principles:

Exhibitions are about engaging with potential customers to develop business opportunities – Key Words – Engaging/Potential Customers/Developing Business – anything less is a waste of your investment

Determine exactly what you want to promote and why it would be beneficial to the people attending this event

The event is not the place where you will do business, so develop a robust follow-up programme that will enable you to progress opportunities created.

To make the follow up programme worthwhile plant seeds in the heads of your stand visitors, by telling them how and when you will follow up

Make notes on the back of their business card or on your information records

Getting Attention:

Go for an Open Plan stand with good imaging/graphics and use engaging alert staff and make sure everyone is fully briefed, good-humoured and friendly
If possible have videos playing of your products and services related to the business sectors you are aiming at…only use good quality equipment and professionally made film…anything less could result in you focusing more on technology than visitors to the stand.
Having lively wandering people (not necessarily from your company) with leaflets diverting people to the stand
Use a prize draw to get people to complete their details and then assess whether they are potential customers

Keeping Attention:

Interactivity is important – so if your business can find any way of having some computer game/activity to get people to stay –a rifle range/a sports car – not necessarily items related with the actual products/services, but perhaps linked to the way the business operates or the relevant business sector
Demonstrations and on-stand presentations need to be lively and interactive and brief
Focus on something that affects the individual in their personal space as well as their working space

Demonstrating Expertise:

Referencing always works well – who are your customers & what do they say about you
Bring projects to life – focus on benefits achieved – not just how the customer benefited but how the customer’s customer benefited
Pictures of your staff/managers – show them interacting with the people they work with if possible – but the pictures must not be stuffy
Knowledge transfer/Learning opportunities –demonstrate how you do this

Enduring Memories:

Coherent messages – thought through and reinforced by literature and overall theming
If a seminar is delivered – it must be lively and engaging as well as interesting and stimulating
Branded Give-aways – themed stress balls are good fun (people hang onto their own) – pens/mugs are favourites but are not personalised – they go in a cupboard – staplers/desk tidies are more unusual and less likely to be given away