Why Exhibit at a Trade Show? Tips on Exhibiting
Exhibiting at a Trade Show will provide you with a unique platform to communicate with motivated owners, directors and entrepreneurs who visit the event to find information, inspiration, advice and new ideas to help them grow or improve their businesses.
If you still can’t understand the benefits of this direct route to your market then below are our top reasons why you should exhibit.
Meet potential customers: this is the most common reason for exhibiting, and we have it here in pole position. The organisers will be delivering thousands of potential customers of your products and services, who will be piling through the door over the day. Make sure your organisation is totally geared to meeting them.
Demonstrate new products: brochures, videos and even CD-ROMs are all very well, but nothing beats being able to show your product in a working situation for your visitors to see how it can apply to their needs.
Meet buyers face to face: research shows that over 70% of the message picked up by one person from another is through face to face contact – yet so many of us rely on the telephone, where we have no ability to read the body language of our contact. An exhibition offers the opportunity for you to meet with prospective buyers and let them assess you in the flesh – and remember; people buy people first.
Sell yourself, as well as your company: remember the old adage “people buy people first”? Our American colleagues tell us our prospects will make up their minds about us within 7 seconds of our meeting them. First impressions are vital, and a host of pleasant, presentable hosts inviting visitors onto the stand can say more than the most expensive exhibition “gin palace”.
See buyers not usually accessible to sales personnel: research shows that directors senior and managers attend trade shows, either as visitors, speakers or fellow exhibitors. This is an excellent opportunity to see people who often are shielded from telephone calls by their staff and who feel that less senior managers should be dealing with the more “traditional” sales calls.
Uncover and reach multiple buying influences: many major business decisions are rarely the sole decision of one person; usually they are the result of multiple influences within an organisation. Your presence at an exhibition can allow you to identify and then make a “pitch” to all the relevant parties; management, Purchasing, Finance, IT – and tailor the pitch to their specific needs.
Shorten the buying process: research has shown that leads secured from exhibitions normally convert into sales far faster than from other routes. Maybe it’s because of the more relaxed atmosphere, the removal of many of the “trappings” of power, the ability to assess a prospect’s level of commitment from face to face meetings, or the avoidance of all that unnecessary “small talk” which business meetings often require. Whatever the reason, be there to exploit it.
Offer visitors an immediate response: a visit to a client’s premises can often – through no fault of anyone – result in a lot of sitting around in reception areas. However, exploit the “immediacy” of the exhibition environment, and make everyone feel like a VIP.
“Fly the Flag”: this is the second most popular reason for exhibiting; however, we recommend that exhibitors spend time evaluating precisely what is meant by this (unless you really do make flags!). Make every attempt to quantify what this term means, in terms of sales, advertising, key account development, image building, public relations, investor relations, or whatever else you might consider.
Turn existing customers into referrals: ever been in a situation where a satisfied and long-term customer just wanders onto your stand full of praise for your organisation and its services? Ever wished you could bottle that enthusiasm? Well, one valuable – and very low-tech tool – is a “Visitors Book”. Invite your clients to sign it and comment within it and show it to other visitors. It costs nothing, and the “independence” of these visitors has a huge effect on wavering prospects. After all, this approach works incredibly well in hotels and restaurants – why should an exhibition stand be any different?
Network and sell to other exhibitors: now, this isn’t the main reason for being at an exhibition, but it is worth talking to your fellow exhibitors in those quiet moments, and exploiting any potential links. For example, someone who is after the same type of visitor, but offering a completely different kind of service could be worth talking to about cross-promotion and the judicious swapping of lists
Enjoy yourself! Trade Shows are fun, they’re buzzy. They work. Need we say more?