Planning
Arguably the most important stage. Consider your objectives. Why are you exhibiting? What do you hope to achieve? How much do you have to spend? What is your expected return on investment? How does this break down into leads, conversions and predicted future revenues?
Take the time to read the exhibitors manual to understand what you can and can’t do, what’s included in your package and the early bird deadlines. It’s a good idea to start planning early.
Plan your stand for maximum impact. Are your competitors exhibiting? Have you considered your USPs and how you may compare? What do you want to promote? How are you planning to catch the attention of visitors? The answers to these questions will help you shape your key messaging.
Brand your stand to stand out for all the right reasons. Plan meeting areas and think about how visitor data will be collected. Are you bringing your own equipment or do you need to hire any? Do you have any storage on the stand and is it lockable?
Once you have designed your stand and ordered equipment and materials, book hotels.
Presentation
What are you promoting on the stand? Are you launching anything new? How is it different? What problems does it solve? Make sure you plan this in advance to ensure you have included it in promotional materials. Use of space is important, don’t be tempted to over-dress your stand and overdo the promotions.
People
As well as training your stand team, make sure they are well-dressed and present. Make sure your stand is manned, even during the last hour of the last day. Having a stand manager to co-ordinate staff is useful to ensure adequate cover.
If your sales team are busy with demonstrations do you have any support staff to qualify visitors until they are free? Encourage your team to be proactive contacting visitors. Never be tempted to sit back and chat to each other. Arrange customer meetings after hours so you can focus your time on prospects.
For more tips on how to maximise your investment at events, contact Jola. Jola is a channel-only supplier of internet connectivity, hosted voice and mobile solutions. We help our partners increase ARPU and win new business.
