Exhibition stands play a vital role in a company’s marketing strategy. They can come in many different forms and their design must be very carefully considered. The exhibition stand should feature your logo, product name and eye catching graphics. One of the things that an exhibition stand offers is of course the opportunity for new business. If carefully planned and put together, the combination of human contact, as well as a visual overview of your company and its services, should allow you to establish new business leads. At the event, the stand will need to be staffed by people who are well trained and who know how to give a good overview of the company, strike up conversation with potential customers, answer any questions and possibly close a deal.
At an exhibition, the company representative(s) stand a good chance of having significantly more contact with potential customers compared to one working day. For example, a company that sells automated response systems would be likely to target the education industry and the medical industry, because they often host events where this product could be useful.
A company representative can simply pay an admission fee to participate as a vendor at a national exhibition hosted by a company within any given industry. National exhibitions attract hundreds of participants. Throughout the course of the exhibition, participants will walk around the exhibition room and view other companies’ exhibition stands. Thus, in one weekend a company could potentially collect a large number of sales leads which could ultimately transform into actual sales.
The aim is to present the exhibition stand in the most effective manner possible in order to generate as much exposure as possible and generate a positive response from any potential customers. The following are some of the things you should do to get the most from your stand:
- Position the exhibition stand near to an entrance, exit, or high traffic area like a wine bar, buffet table, etc.
- Ensure that you have an abundance of marketing materials available for potential customers.
- Design the exhibition stand so it is eye catching and unique.
- Ensure that the exhibition stand is staffed at all times and alternate shifts between staff members.
- Make eye contact with as many passers-by as possible – once eye contact has been made, visitors should feel more at ease to approach the exhibition stand and start a conversation.
- Be as enthusiastic as possible about your product/service – you may not find your best potential client/customer until just before the end of the day, but she or he will still only be impressed by an engaging, enthusiastic approach.
- Most importantly, follow-up on the leads received while at the exhibition stand. Participants are likely to have met many people from many different companies at the venue, so it is very important to make sure that they remember who you are and what you discussed.
If you follow these guidelines, your exhibition stand should bring success to your business.
This was a guest post by Edward Langley on behalf of Nimlok. If you have any comments or contributions please comment below.
