In the past, trade shows have always provided a forum to display the new products and advancements of a particular industry. New trends and innovations are usually the center of the event, and with a competitor only a few booths away, the hard sell has always been inevitable – until now.
Current trends are creating a different climate at trade shows these days. With competition for the customer’s attention stronger than ever, exhibitors are no longer fixated on separating themselves from their competitors by focusing on a particular product and simply talking about solutions and benefits. Which leads us to the first, and probably most profound, trend in trade show exhibiting.
Experiential Exhibits:
Product pitches and demos are “out” – at least they are no longer the centerpiece of a trade show exhibit. Instead of the literal, one-on-one, “we’re better because . . .” spiel, the challenge has become creating an experience for the potential customer that leaves them in awe, or at least makes a strong enough impression that they forget about the competition. While the trade show booth is a temporary fixture, the idea is to create a space that has a feeling of permanence and keeps the customer engaged. So engaged, in fact, that the customer has a memorable experience, and associates that experience with your product – eliminating the need for the hard sell, and creating a smooth landing for the soft sell.
So if you want to attract—and keep—their attention on the cluttered trade show floor, you have to truly stand out from the crowd with attention-getting technology and design—while simultaneously creating trade show booths that will be easy to use, lower costs and save your organization’s marketing dollars.
Not sure where to start? If you’re in the market for new trade show exhibits, look for trends that incorporate these key features:
- Portable – Is the trade show exhibit you’re considering going to be easy to transport and set up? A portable trade show exhibit helps reduce operating costs in a number of ways: lower transportation costs and drayage fees, shorter installation and dismantling time, and more flexibility in where and when you can use it.
- Scalable – Can you reconfigure the trade show exhibit’s size as needed? For example, if you’re interested in a 20×20 exhibit, look for one that can scale down to 10×20 or 10×10. Think of it like stacking Legos—you can use your trade show exhibits in more ways and at a broader range of events because you can add or subtract elements where and when you need them.
- Tech-Savvy – Today’s trade show exhibits are all about multimedia, so make sure you invest in a display that will work with elements like workstations, plasma screens and audio-visual presentations.
- Attention-Getting – Does the trade show display you’re considering allow for large-scale, billboard-style graphics? Can you utilize innovative lighting? Do the colors, material and overall appearance draw the eye? A great trade show exhibit will invite attention and introduce your brand to the public.
Opening a successful business is much like trying to build a rocket to hit the moon. All you need to succeed is Knowledge. However, it is much easier to succeed in business than to be a rocket scientist.
Few would consider building a rocket to Mars in their garage or from their bedroom, but many expect to become millionaires off the revenue from home-based businesses or businesses started in their garage. With a lot of knowledge and a little bit of luck, success is possible.
STEP 1: MATCH THE ITEM YOU WANT TO SELL TO A GROUP THAT DESPERATELY WANTS IT.
Whether it’s rocket science or building your business, you need a target for your efforts. For the rocket builder, the question is simple, where is my destination, the moon, Mars or Pluto. For the business person, the question is harder. Who are my most important customers?
Even a lemonade stand has a target audience. You can only serve people in the neighborhood or those who happen to pass on the streets.
Every business has a target audience and recognizing those important potential customers will help you find them and serve them better.
STEP 2: MAKE SURE THAT THE ITEM YOU SELL WILL BE ATTRACTIVE TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE.
For a rocket to reach it’s target, it needs fins to guide it. The four factors of a business which guide it to the target audience are the item for sale, the price of the item, how it is promoted and where it can be purchased. If any of these factors are out of balance the business will go off course and fail.
The item which is being sold can be a product, a service, knowledge or entertainment. In general, products are something which you can touch like a car, a baseball or a can of spinach. A service is work you do for others such as washing their car.
Knowledge is the content of books, newspapers, websites and magazines which educate you and make your life easier to live. Some books, magazines, records, radio, movies and games are entertaining and can help you pass time in an enjoyable manner.
In the future, business will be more involved in the sale of Knowledge and providing entertainment.
WHATEVER ITEM IS BEING SOLD, IT MUST BE DESIGNED TO BE ATTRACTIVE TO THE TARGET AUDIENCE.
Not everyone is interested in horror movies or heavy metal music. Nor does everyone want knowledge, a Dr. Pepper soda or a Chrysler New Yorker. But when enough people want your product, your business will succeed.
STEP 3: MAKE SURE YOU CAN DELIVER THE ITEM YOU OFFER TO THE GROUP THAT DESPERATELY WANTS IT.
In addition to matching your product to your target audience, you must be in the right place or have a way of getting your product to your customers. It would be difficult to sell freezers in Antarctica or bob sleds in the Caribbean.
In some cases, getting the items to your customer is getting easier. Knowledge and entertainment can be sold and downloaded from the Internet. However, a cold glass of lemonade is still best sold in hot populated areas.
WHATEVER IS BEING SOLD, YOU MUST BE ABLE TO GET IT TO YOUR CUSTOMER IN THE MOST CONVENIENT WAY FOR THEM.
Effective business networking is the linking together of individuals who, through trust and relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another. Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others. Visit as many groups as possible that spark your interest. Notice the tone and attitude of the group. Do the people sound supportive of one another? Does the leadership appear competent? Many groups will allow you to visit two times before joining.
These are the five tips for Success in business networking:
1) Ask yourself what your goals are in participating in networking meetings so that you will pick groups that will help you get what you are looking for. Some meetings are based more on learning, making contacts, and/or volunteering rather than on strictly making business connections.
2) Hold volunteer positions in organizations. This is a great way to stay visible and give back to groups that have helped you.
3) Ask open-ended questions in networking conversations. This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them.
4) Become known as a powerful resource for others. When you are known as a strong resource, people remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you visible to them.
5) Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes your doing it special or different from others doing the same thing. In order to get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.
No matter which company you work for, you always have to bring a strong and successful trade show presentation to the largest annual convention your industry has each year. Pretend that you have reserved a booth space of 20’ x 30’ and now have less than six months to get a custom exhibit designed in time to use during the show. You want a custom design that will draw leads and create more customers for your product. You have your general construction budget for the exhibit estimated and now you need to go out and find someone who can create your dream exhibit. It’s time to start the process of negotiating your new custom content exhibit. Make your company’s products the most important release of the year at the biggest trade show event of your industry.
The Typical Strategy for Custom Design
Typically, you will want to contact a number of local builders for your exhibit. Each one will need to meet with you to understand your individual company presentation needs. You need to immediately show off your company policy, project samples and any specific case history papers they have that show why one strategy worked well for past clients with their own unique objectives. Can these past successful strategies work for your business as well?
Get a list of references from each builder before they leave. Call and ask specific questions to these references. Ask if they would do business with this exhibit builder again in the future. If you know certain goals that you want to accomplish, see if these references can help you determine if the builder can help you achieve these goals.
The Usual Tactics with Custom Builders
After you have contacted all of the references and gotten their opinions, one or two builders should stand out to your business now as good candidates for your trade show design. Your management should agree that these candidates would do a great job.
Start a creative session that will outline what your company needs to display in the booth. What to you want to show? What do you need to show to pre-qualify trade show attendees walking by? What do your prospective leads expect to see from your booth when they encounter it? Once you have started this design process, you will want to put the experienced design builders in the room to let them say what is included, what is possible and good ideas that have worked in the past.
Exhibit builders should come back after a few weeks after the creativity session and give you rough estimates. In addition, there will be a general construction schedule until you can expect to see your custom booth design. Now you need to chose your builder based on these estimates and officially start the process. Ask your purchasing department to issue a purchase order for all necessary details and items that will be required in the booth.
When you review your production schedule, make sure that there is still plenty of time for revisions and for transportation to the actual convention. You will need a lot of time to pack and transport a custom design, especially a new one that no one is yet familiar with handling.
The Cost Analysis Strategy
How much will the exhibit design and construction cost your business?
Look into shipping cases. If your exhibit is being shipped, you will most likely want your own cases. Also, use a company that can guarantee specific delivery dates and tracking throughout the transportation process.
How much time will you need to assemble the custom booth design? Your team will be inexperienced with this new booth. Consider how much time and labor will be required to receive the exhibit and deliver it to your booth. How much time will it take to unpack and install your exhibit? Plan accordingly.
How much time and men will it take to dissemble your exhibit booth? Will you repack it into your own custom shipping case or load it in the back of your van to deliver back to your office storage area? Get a clear plan for disassembly to plan when everyone should be out of the convention. Many trade shows have clear rules about when and for how long you can take down your booth.
The Unusual Booth Strategy
Make sure that your design is fully created with all details on a sketch pad before any construction is done. You will want to go back and forth with the designer before any actions are done that are irreversible. Building a trade show booth can be just like designing a house and you will want to see the full details and design for the construction before any real work is done on the booth.
In addition to looking for exhibit builders, you can also consider a design firm that specializes in custom looks. You can hand them specific requirements the same way that a future homeowner would ask for certain properties from their architect.
Find an exhibit designer who can give you a full package of all the research and information that your business will need for the convention. These designers can do all the work for you at an additional cost, but can ultimately save you countless hours of time and money. Give them your company’s specific objectives and budget up front for clear communication.
Once the design is completed and approved, you will own a custom piece of product presentation that can be used to sell your items or services.
Cost Analysis for the Design
Save on shipping by getting the design booth created in the same town as your large convention. For example, if your biggest convention is in Chicago each year, have a design firm in Chicago handle the design of your custom booth and deliver directly to the trade show. Using a local firm can help you save a great deal of time and money.
Having the Right Person for Trade Show Booth Duty is crucial
Who will you have working at your next trade show booth? The question seems simple enough, but the wrong person can have disastrous results on your convention success. This question can create interesting problems and challenges, including a number of hotly debated discussions about who is best suited for this intense and sometimes chaotic sales environment. The success or failure of a trade show can often rest on the shoulders of the people who worked the exhibit. Therefore, the individuals that make your booth team should be a crack team of quality sales and marketing gurus with top expertise.
How do you start selecting the right people and what will determine the “right” person? Which types of personalities work best in the trade show booth and who from your company is best suited for this position? Who from your corporation will be responsible for selecting the members and training them? There are a number of different personality types and options to choose from. Keep in mind that these individuals will also have to work well with each other for maximum success.
Here is a casual look at some of the different personality types that can be observed at a trade show:
The Know-It-All – This person has worked at least one trade show in the past and now believes that he or she is fully immersed in all of its complexities. From exhibit design to sales strategies and the type of attendees, this person spends most of their time lecturing others. Giving these individuals direction is virtually impossible and often a waste of your breath.
The Tech Guru – This person has superior technical knowledge and you should be honored to be in their presence. Your technical experience is nothing compared to what he or she knows and they will tell you at every opportunity how advanced their skills might be. Standard practice for communication involves arguments over very technical ideas and anyone who disagrees with this tech genius will feel the wrath. Talking down to the clientele is the name of the game for this individual and anyone trying to calm him or her down will just be dismissed.
Introverted – Why was this person brought to the trade show? Oftentimes, these individuals hang in the back of the booth, too nervous or intimidated to talk with customers face-to-face. Although they might be friendly and hold invaluable knowledge about the product, their initial shyness limits them.
Game Talkers – These individuals love to tell you what to do, even if they don’t follow their own advice. Words are this person’s favorite tool and they can use them well; however, these game talkers often leave the booth and are unreliable at best when it comes time to working their shifts. They like to set their own rules and can make up excuses for anything.
Smiley – Overflowing with happiness and charm, these individuals simply do not stop smiling. They are willing to deal with anyone who has wandered near their booth and will usually talk a lot more than listen. However, their over exuberance will often drive the prospect to the competition out of sheer frustration and annoyance.
The Inventor – This person is the one who often developed the product and was dragged to the trade show for this fact. In reality, they just want to be left alone and put back in their happy place of being at home, in the lab or in their own office environment.
The Boss – Hey, this guy or gal is the boss and everybody will know it right away! You can usually spot this individual spouting off and being the uber-executive who is too important to do the menial tasks of booth duty like talking to the customers for a long period of time, setting up the exhibit and especially taking the booth down.
The Jokester – These individuals will be chatting it up, telling loud jokes and stories, while making side comments about any unusual person that might walk by. Where they here to work? No way. They’re “building relationships” with other competitors and potential customers, but actually never step in the booth to work very long.
Hangover Central – These individuals let loose a little too much the night before and now their time in the booth has come a little too quickly. Reeling from a hangover and some “crazy time” the night before, these individuals are a burden at the booth and a huge disappointment.
Party Time – The Hangover Central individual the night before, these participants love to have a few drinks and a huge meal while staying up all night in the convention town. They party hard, but when it comes time to really sell the next day, they fall short. These individuals will do little to support a growing list of goals and objectives, especially in a highly observed environment like the trade show.
Don Juan – The wedding ring has been conveniently misplace and the cologne has been drenched on. This individual is ready to pretend they don’t have a spouse and family back home and their unacceptable behavior is a poor representation of the company to the rest of the industry.
Keeping these personalities in mind, the top 5 characteristics of booth participants are:
A willingness and excitement to be there to meet new people and build the business
An appreciation for the importance of the trade show for the future of the business
Great listening and questioning skills to get to the heart of the specific issue for the prospect
The ability to listen more than talk to really hear what the customer has to say (tough for seasoned sales people)
A quickness and versatility during presentation to help cater to the visitor’s requests
By avoiding some of the offending personalities and concentrating on the top characteristics needed to run a successful booth, you can ensure that your exhibit presentation meets its goals and rewards itself by reaching its objectives.
Trade shows booths are a tool that no business owner should be without: trade shows are an excellent way to reach a broader audience and the right trade show booths can increase a business owner’s sales. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t recognize the benefits that the use of a trade show or exhibition booth offers; from easy set up to portability, trade shows booths are the perfect tool to help any business owner improve their profit margin.
Setting up and establishing a trade show booth or an exhibition booth , allows business owners to catch they eye of potential customers: a simple, portable trade show booth is set up in under twenty minutes and the business owner can display their products or information about their services. An innovative advertising technique, trade shows are the best way to meet other business owners, vendors, and new customers. In fact, a trade show booth or an exhibition stand are an ideal tool for business conventions and trade show booths can even be used within one’s place of business to display current specials and promotions.
When it comes to getting a trade show display booth, business owners have one of two options available to them; a business owner can either rent or purchase a trade show display booth; either option allows the business owner to take advantage of unique marketing opportunities. Ultimately, only the entrepreneur can determine which of the two options is most suitable for their business and advertising needs; to decide if renting a trade show booth or owning a trade booth is the correct option, the entrepreneur will need to consider how often they will require the use of the trade show booth equipment. Repeated uses of trade shows booths will demand that a business owner purchase the booth, while the occasional use of the trade shows booths or exhibition stands will probably result renting the equipment.
Benefits of Trade Show display Booths:
What are the benefits of trade show booths? Are trade show display booths really worth the cost? How does the entrepreneur get the most out of their trade show , conference or exhibition booth display? There are, in fact, myriad advantages that one derives from using a trade show display booth. The primary benefits are diversity, the ability to attract a wide audience, the ability to augment the appearance of one’s products, company logo exposure, and business owners will discover the unique portability and reusability of trade show display , conference , and exhibition booths once they are used.
Diversity: Trade show display booths are available in an array of shapes, sizes, and colors. Thus, trade show display and exhibition booths can match the personality of the business owner or the image of the company. Companies and small business owners can match trade booth displays to their company logo and can therefore create a unified appearance. Plus, there is an assortment of trade show display booth accessories available for purchase that companies can use to improve the overall appearance of their display and to come across as absolutely professional in every regard. Ultimately, with such diversity available, companies and small business owners can use trade show display and exhibition displays to create a public image that is completely professional; a well established, business presentation.
Attract an Audience: If a company wants to attract the attention of new customers, there is no better way to do so than the use of a trade show display or exhibition display booth. With a trade show display booth companies can create eye catching displays and they can get their products or services recognized and remembered. Plus, trade show conventions have thousands of visitors—thus the use of a trade show display and exhibition displays gives unlimited exposure to the business owner, their products, and/or their services. Finally, if one is a vendor looking to get other clients to purchase wares and resell them, the trade show display and exhibition display stand booths is more than just an advantageous tool, it’s a necessity; vendors get their best exposure at trade show display booth conventions every year.
A well-orchestrated media program—one that gets the right message into the right hands at the right time—can turn a trade show or exhibition into a uniquely powerful marketing opportunity.
Where else can you get in front of all the top editors and reporters from the leading publications serving the market, demonstrate your products and share your company vision? Prepare for your Trade- Show or Exhibition.
It is important that you ask yourself the following questions to help better prepare for the tradeshow or exhibition.
What is the aim of the exhibition? What are you trying to promote? What services are you offering? What do you want people to feel when they attend? Are you trying to target a specific audience or is this an open event? Is there a specific theme to the exhibition? (Technology, health, beauty etc), Where will this event take place and at what time? What equipment will you be needing (e.g. pop-up display stands, lighting, projector screens, banner stands etc).
PrintSmart Graphics can provide highly creative visual, yet cost effective portable display solutions for all, regardless of stand size, using: Roll up Display banners / Pop Up Display stands / Retractable pull up Displays Lotus Fabric pop up wall Banner Display Systems X-Treme Banner Stretch Display Systems Snap Open Poster Frames, Promotion counters, Brochure Stands , portable display stands, hanging banner displays ..etc.. Once you have made a plan of action, made a list of all the things you will need, calculated the costs and the number of people needed for the event, only then can you take the next step into hiring equipments, booking a venue early and spending out on promotional information.
This strategy works for bigger and larger events. Make calls to your clients, put up notices on websites, use press releases and if you need to get in contact with the media. Whilst making this effort into publicizing the event, find out what you will be displaying, what equipment you will need, designate tasks to different people (as you can run the organization on your own), see to the design of the banner, graphic or pop-up display stands (decide which ones are most effective taking into account of the costs).