With exhibition season in full swing sometimes it’s easier to just go with the flow and attend your regular trade shows on auto-pilot. Things have always gone smoothly in the past, we’ve had good feedback and response in the past – why change anything?
Why change anything? The simple answer to that, is that if you refuse to travel with the fast-moving world of commerce, you will get left behind. Following each trade show, after chasing up all those leads, make time to reflect on how things went. Have a de-brief with your sales team to discover which aspects they felt went well, and areas identified for improvement. One of the key buzz-words in current business speak is adaptability, the act of responding to changing circumstances. Being fast to react to shifting market conditions gives you an edge, so what you learn on the ground at trade shows should be carefully analysed and processed for maximum benefit.
Three key areas where you should be excelling with your trade show appearances include stand/booth design, interactive tech and super-staff – work hard to get these right and watch sales figures climb…
Design details
A well-designed exhibition stand should be a thing of beauty, practicality and performance. First off, it must be eye-catching in order to pull the show’s audience in your direction. Depending on the product or service you are pushing, it needs to be different levels of welcoming, colourful, seductive, professional, cheerful, light, bright and firmly supportive of your brand. A clear and concise message that connects with visitors is essential if you want them to pause by your stand and investigate further.
The use of display boards is an effective way of communicating key points about your identity, brand and product, and they can take on a wide variety of styles. Display and marketing professionals such as www.ral-display.co.uk/display-boards provide solutions to those difficult staging headaches, producing display boards that are flexible and multi-tasking. An exhibition stand with a strong internal logic and flow, that steers visitors for optimal exposure to the display and hooks interest from the start, is something RAL Displays has expertise and experience in. When looking to adapt and refresh your booth to stay current and appeal to changing client profiles, go to the display and marketing professionals at the leading edge of what’s new in expo and displays.
Top tech
Everybody is connected these days, we live in a digital world and those that don’t embrace it are destined to go the way of the dinosaurs. A trade show stand that is fully rigged up for interactive tech that potential customers engage with, is the stand that gets the most traffic. Sad to say, we are often more comfortable interacting with screens than real people sometimes – be mindful of this and place your most interesting,tempting and hard-hitting product specifications where they can be discovered on iPad, screens and video. Integrated tech is useful for signing people up to mailing lists, completing surveys, entering competitions and helps to streamline the follow up of leads post-show. Free apps specifically designed for visitors to access product info, live social media feeds and innovative short films, are all fresh approaches being used at today’s tech-friendly expos.
Staff are your secret weapon
Staff with high energy levels, relaxed and personable demeanours and memory banks packed full of product data, info and details are what you need to make a booth a success. Enthusiasm is an infectious trait, so select staff bearing this in mind. Make sure you have enough people to cover busy times and to enable regular breaks for staff to recharge their batteries. Professional dress and attention to personal grooming is essential for expo staff. Mobile phone use should be strongly discouraged as this is a guaranteed turn-off for visitors. Serving freshly brewed coffee or offering tasty snacks is a proven technique for luring in leads and be aware that some staff are better than others at delivering this hospitable approach.
Trade show attendees are by definition interested and knowledgeable, so pushy staff that pounce on them are generally unappreciated. As well as being an expert on the product, a quick sense of humour, laid back approach and open personality are all desirable traits for stand staff.
Nailing these three areas at your next trade show could make all the difference between a lacklustre and a sensational performance. You have the power to change things, go ahead and adapt your exhibition methods so you get the results boost you deserve.
