Exhibitions are a little like Marmite – you either love them or hate them – fortunately for us we love them; seeing a hall transform from an empty soulless space into a bright, colourful show full of opportunities and potential is quite simply, what makes us tick. For exhibitors, there is the sense of the unexpected, a lot of preparation all coming together for a few days in the calendar year. If you are not yet on the band wagon to love exhibitions, here are a few reasons why you should consider a change of heart….
Opportunities to learn
The majority of trade shows add seminars to their program; these can be attended not just by visitors but exhibitors can benefit too, so if you have enough staff on your stand, drop into a few and you could be rewarded with a bit of market knowledge or information to help elevate your business.
Show off and be proud
An exhibition is an opportunity to show the very best your company has to offer, not just to visitors, but to competitors and industry contacts alike. They are one of the few times in the year when you can really show off and be proud of who you work for and what you have all achieved as a team. Exhibitions are fantastic teamwork opportunities because they take so many people working together to make them successful. Teams spend a lot more time with each other during trade shows especially when you have a roaming sales team, so its great for everyone to work together and create something amazing.
Anything Can Happen
The unexpected is an exhibition’s trump card. Anyone could visit your stand be they customers, press, competitors or industry contacts and they can all bring opportunities that you would not have anticipated. You can never predict all the benefits you will gain from exhibiting at a trade show because so many opportunities present themselves in a live environment, so be open and prepared for any number of conversations!
Customers…Everywhere!
Any sales or marketing team should be overjoyed with the opportunity to gain a bit of face time with their customers or leads, especially when the hassle of driving to appointments and carrying box loads of samples has been eliminated. Use these conversations to canvas opinion, introduce the wider product range and enlist your colleagues to share feedback from their customers to help facilitate additional sales.
Whether your stand is busy from the moment you go live or whether you have quiet periods, a trade show is your chance to make your own opportunities. At quiet times take a walk around the show and see what your competitors/peers are doing, what they think about the show and whether there are any collaborations to be had. During busy times, enjoy the buzz and excitement that your stand, product and service is attracting – all those leads will be fantastic fodder for future sales.
So next time a trade show is looming, don’t roll your eyes and drag your feet – walk into the show with an open mind and the motivation to make “magic happen”.