Exhibiting At Your First Event
Last week I took part in our local Chamber’s first tradeshow or Showcase as they preferred to call it. A mix of thirty local businesses from Banking to Website Design, covering not just business but also the home.
Attending a trade fair or business event as an exhibitor can be a significant and costly decision. You need to have a balance between the cost and effort involved. It’s not just about the cost of the event itself but also the cost of the advertising, display materials, handouts, products, samples and your time in preparation and marketing for the event.
If you’ve taken the decision to book up your first event then here are a few tips, to make sure you get the most out of the event when you’re actually there.
1. What is your main objective for attending the event? Write it down.
2. Get rid of the chairs behind your stand. There’s nothing more off putting than someone sitting behind their stand, quite possible not even making eye contact with the people walking by. Stand up. Get onto the same eye-level as the people passing by.
3. Even if people aren’t going to buy, don’t let them just walk away or move straight on to the next stand. Entice them to try and buy. Have testers or samples available or something they can sign-up for, information they can take away.
4. Give something away in exchange for their contact details. Have a prize draw for some of your products or services.
5. Engage with your visitor. If someone takes the time to stop at your stand and shows an interest – start a conversation. You don’t need to launch into a sales pitch. Talk about your products – find out about them. Discuss the weather. Anything that will start a conversation.
6. Smile! There’s nothing worse than someone on a stand looking bored or fed-up and it can make a real difference to whether people stop and take a closer look or walk straight past.
7. Oh and if all else fails – have a bowl of sweets. It kept visitors and other exhibitors coming back. :)
Don’t forget to follow-up afterwards and also look at whether you achieved your objective (1), what worked and what didn't.
Attending a trade fair or business event as an exhibitor can be a significant and costly decision. You need to have a balance between the cost and effort involved. It’s not just about the cost of the event itself but also the cost of the advertising, display materials, handouts, products, samples and your time in preparation and marketing for the event.
If you’ve taken the decision to book up your first event then here are a few tips, to make sure you get the most out of the event when you’re actually there.
1. What is your main objective for attending the event? Write it down.
2. Get rid of the chairs behind your stand. There’s nothing more off putting than someone sitting behind their stand, quite possible not even making eye contact with the people walking by. Stand up. Get onto the same eye-level as the people passing by.
3. Even if people aren’t going to buy, don’t let them just walk away or move straight on to the next stand. Entice them to try and buy. Have testers or samples available or something they can sign-up for, information they can take away.
4. Give something away in exchange for their contact details. Have a prize draw for some of your products or services.
5. Engage with your visitor. If someone takes the time to stop at your stand and shows an interest – start a conversation. You don’t need to launch into a sales pitch. Talk about your products – find out about them. Discuss the weather. Anything that will start a conversation.
6. Smile! There’s nothing worse than someone on a stand looking bored or fed-up and it can make a real difference to whether people stop and take a closer look or walk straight past.
7. Oh and if all else fails – have a bowl of sweets. It kept visitors and other exhibitors coming back. :)
Don’t forget to follow-up afterwards and also look at whether you achieved your objective (1), what worked and what didn't.
Labels: business, communication, networking
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