Exhibitions

Many businesses utilize the idea of an exhibition at a trade show in order to introduce new customers to their products and services. Sometimes the exhibitions are local and limited to only a few people, but other times they are out of town sales conventions that allow for an entire group of company representatives to group together and share their products, services, and experiences. The size of the exhibition is not necessarily indicative of how much the business will derive from the show, though it may later show promising increases in sales following the exhibition.

Exhibitions may also be used as a training tool for businesses that have national or international standing to gather all of their sales staff into one location in order to share techniques and tactics that work in their perspect4ive territories. Even in the case of an international sales force, gathering everyone together can allow a sharing of ideas that work throughout the world. Consumers are not that much different, after all, and they look for the same basic thing: a quality product or service at a reasonable price. Companies, likewise, want to sell quality products or services at a competitive price that allows them to stay in tune with the competition as well as make a decent profit. Being able to share ideas from around the nation or the world make the process easier and allows everyone to learn from one another outside of the scope of the market where they will be competing competitively for the same business. The competition is strong in today’s market, and no one wants to share ideas with others who might reduce their share of the market, but during exhibitions, everyone is more relaxed and in the mood for sharing.

although your company may be the sponsoring organization, for those who are guests attending the event, the need exists for planning the event. It is important for the sponsoring organization to know how many exhibitors will be attending so that they can allot space in accordance with that number. The sponsor may choose to take a random survey and find out how many people would attend and schedule a venue based on that or they may schedule the venue and allow table rental on a first come, first serve basis. One problem that can arise in the latter scenario is that sponsors have a tendency to contact those who attended the previous events, and reserving very few tables for new exhibitors who wish to attend.

The problem with inviting too many past attendees to each exhibition and thus leaving out new potentials is that you limit the amount of information that each exhibitor can share with one another. There is no fresh blood, and thus, no new information from which the exhibitors can benefit. Even aside from the exchange of information among the attendees themselves is that of the customers who attend the events to meet vendors with whom they deal or consumers who have an interest in some face to face contact with distributors of products or services they use. If each event produces the same exhibitors, eventually attendance will drop so that only a marginal number of people are attending because there is nothing new for them to experience. In order to ascertain a good turnout at each event, only designate a few spots for returning exhibitors, and if space allows after all enrollments are processed, invite some of the other previous exhibitors to attend.

When you have finished the planning and organizing phase, you want to promote the event to the public. After all, even though you have exhibitors there, you want others there as well. More than likely, there will be training sessions and meetings for your exhibitors, but the public wants to see what kind of products and services the exhibitors bring with them. Trade shows/exhibitions are just as much for the benefit of the customers and vendors as they are for the exhibitors – perhaps even more so. Certainly, they help the exhibitors learn information about the sales goals and methods of both competitors and others in similar fields, but it is also a means for them to communicate to those who buy their products or services.

The best way to promote a trade show is to communicate with people you know who may wish to attend and put out flyers and advertisements in the area in which the trade show is being held. In most cases, consumers are not going to travel out of town to attend a trade show, so it isn’t necessary to do a great deal of promoting across state lines except in the general vicinity. For example, if the show is in New York, you may want to promote it in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and perhaps the New England states, but there is little need to extend beyond those borders. The same does not hold true for your exhibitors, however, because consumers will buy from anyone as long as shipping costs are reasonable. The main purpose of the trade show is to share information among exhibitors and allow the customers to see first-hand how the companies with whom they do business with .

For the exhibitor, it’s difficult sometimes to know just what kind of promotional materials will appeal to the customers. You want to make your display tasteful and informational without overdoing it. If your company has a great many products, instead of trying to display many brochures, choose the most popular products or those that the customers in the area of the trade show are likely to find the most useful. You definitely want to have a small handout of your company’s history and a copy of the annual report either for viewing or for take-away.

Another trick to assuring that buyers visit your display is to have small promotional items for them to take home. This can be pens or notepads with your company’s name, or a media kit that has your business card, a sales presentation letter, a catalogue or some other means to show product or service lines, a pen, and a notepad inside for the buyer to review when they leave. It is also a good idea to have a few higher end sales packs available to attract new customers that show an exhilarating interest in what you offer. You will know these customers because they will be over excited and ready to purchase something on the spot. They will not have the “let me think about it” mentality; rather, they will be ready to give you a sale immediately. Do not allow yourself to become over-anxious with this type of customer, but rather stay professional and simply give them a bigger boost than the non-chalant customers who appear to be “just browsing.”

When you arrive at the exhibition area whether it is after training, or when you arrive at the venue where the event is being held, take some time to look over the area where you will be setting up the display. Before you even do that, think about the reason for the display: are you attempting to attract new customers as in a trade show, or are you more likely to meet with existing customers that you invited to a sales presentation? These factors will determine the way you set up your display table.

For existing customers, you want to concentrate more on a display that will show the future growth of the company and what is likely to happen in terms of products and sales within the next five to ten years. They already know about the history or your company and the information contained in the most recent annual report, so you need to concentrate on the future.

For potential new customers, the emphasis needs to be on growth of the company. When did the company begin? Where was the company five years ago? What kind of growth did they experience last year? What kind of growth do economists predict for it in the next five to ten years? These questions are going to be important to the potential customer because they want to ascertain that if they choose to purchase your goods or services, the future of your company is stable. Certainly, that is never a guarantee, but past performance is usually a very good indicator of future stability.

Although your main focus of the trade show/exhibition is to meet with customers and potential customers, you also want to take the opportunity to meet and speak with the other exhibitors as well. This is a non-competetive environment for all of the exhibitors, so it gives everyone a chance to share some of the “tools of the trade” without worrying about someone stealing away customers. The focus is on promotion of your company, and at some shows, there may be meetings and training seminars for the attendees in order to assist them with methods for meeting sales goals. That will depend on the type of show. Sales presentations with accompanying exhibitions are more likely to include meetings and training seminars than are shows that are booked strictly as trade shows.

If the show is a sales presentation and training seminar, it’s more important to mingle with the others than it is with a trade show display. Why is that? The answer is quite simplistic: during a trade show, everyone’s purpose is to attempt to recruit new customers and perhaps meet with existing customers who visit your display. As such, you want to be customer-oriented and focus on that aspect of the event. While you do not want to appear to your competitors as aloof, you also don’t want to risk losing business by being over friendly to someone in the exact same line of business. Know when to draw the line so that you don’t risk losing business for your company.

When you receive an invitation to attend an exhibition, before you agree, it’s important that you understand whether it’s a sales presentation or a trade show. Although some of the concepts may be similar, their purposes are entirely different. A sales presentation, for example, has the sole purpose of training and learning with a lesser emphasis on the exhibitions. In many cases, exhibitors trade off on the training sessions they attend to allow someone to always man the display, but that is not the main focus of the event. In some cases, the sponsor of the show may not even allow displays to open until all meetings and training sessions have ended. The reason the sponsoring company may do this is to allow the attendees to focus on the main event of the presentation rather than its secondary purpose. You are here to learn, and if you happen to attract new customers in the process, that’s just an added benefit.

The purpose of a trade show, however, is to meet with existing and potential customers. Your display has the sole purpose of drawing attention to your company and the kinds of products and services it offers. Although a portion of your existing customers may choose to attend, your focus is more on recruiting new customers, and as such, your display needs to be focused in that direction. You don’t want to overdo it, of course, but you want to make it attractive and create an interest for those who would normally walk past your table to the next display. Keep it interesting, but you also want to keep it simple and informative.

When all of the events have ended, it’s a good time to take a few minutes and meet some of the other exhibitors if you haven’t had a chance to do so. This is especially important if the event was a sales presentation, and there has been little time to get to know anyone beyond the main presentations. Why is it so important? This is not a sales meeting in terms of trying to sell products or services, so it’s a good time to talk to others who are in similar fields to discover what kind of things they find works best or to offer advice to someone that you sense is new to the field. The exhibition should be a meeting of the minds and not present an aura of competitiveness and fear of losing one’s customers to another exhibitor who has a nicer display or whose company appears to be in better financial shape than yours is. If you come across to others as being fearful and untrusting of others, they will sense that, and you will leave the event feeling that you have accomplished very little.

A trade show should never leave you with a feeling of competition since no one is here to sell anything. The purpose to learn what others are doing and to put your company in the best possible light in order to attract new customers and impress old ones with your expertise about your company and the products and services it provides. If you do not do it at any other time, be certain that you refresh yourself on the history of your company and its products before you attend a trade show or a sales presentation/exhibition. If someone asks a question about your company or the products you sell, you certainly want to present yourself as knowledgeable in those areas. If you’re not sure, be willing to say so, but let the customer or potential customer know that you will be happy to find out and call them back with the information.

Exhibitions are an important part of a company’s business promotion, and they can take place as part of a sales presentation/training meeting or they can stand alone at a trade show. As a representative of your company, you need to make certain that you as much knowledge about the company you represent as you possibly can in order to answer questions that others may ask. This is especially important during the training sessions because others in the training sessions and meetings may be interested in knowing information about your company, and you do not want to appear that you are representing your company, yet are uneducated about what they represent.

Exhibitions can be a very effective tool for promoting your company as well as promoting yourself as a representative of that company. Remember, your company sent you to represent them because they have faith in your ability to be a good salesperson, so you don’t want to let them down. Your job at trade shows and sales presentations is to be a salesperson for your company rather than the products or services it sells. Selling of products and services are part of your job when you are in your office or on the company clock, but when you are away on a business trip or at a sales event, your purpose is to promote the company. If you keep that in mind, you will be much more effective as a representative for your company at exhibitions.