First Exhibition

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shaunatsf

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Mar 6, 2010
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  • #1
    Hi,

    We are attending our first exhibition in October (well two actually that are running almost back to back) and I have read a few threads on the forum about what to do and what not to do but I was hoping for a little bit more advice.

    We are a manufacturing company and are exhibiting in Birmingham at a fencing exhibition and then at the interbuild show in the NEC. As we manufacture gates, railings, posts, etc it will only be possible for us to take a few of our key products with us to show on the stand as it wouldn't be feasible to take a 6.0m sliding gate, for example. My question is what would be the best way to show off our products. We will have the following with us:

    1. Sample bollards
    2. Sample of our anti scale fencing
    3. Samples of our post system
    4. Samples of our railing system
    5. Hundreds of business cards
    6. The usual banners, brochures, etc

    I am wondering should we do a few folders show casing our best work, so clients can see them, or is there another way of doing this, maybe on a laptop? What sort of freebies could we give away on the stand. At other exhibitions I have seen the usual pens, stress balls, mugs, etc but I would love to do something different as that is what we want to get across to any potential clients, we are different. Ones of the reasons we have been able to grow over the last two years is we solve problems for our existing clients, we design and manufacture new products (one of which will be showcased at the exhibitions), and we are the ones who come in when something has gone wrong and fix it - I want to get this across to potential clients and while it will be us that must do the main sell I would love to have something on out stand that stands out.

    Any ideas would be greatly appreciated because while we can be innovative with our products this is a whole new territory for us.

    Thanks
     
    A

    athurart09

  • #2
    shaunatsf said:
    Hi,

    We are attending our first exhibition in October (well two actually that are running almost back to back) and I have read a few threads on the forum about what to do and what not to do but I was hoping for a little bit more advice.

    We are a manufacturing company and are exhibiting in Birmingham at a fencing exhibition and then at the interbuild show in the NEC. As we manufacture gates, railings, posts, etc it will only be possible for us to take a few of our key products with us to show on the stand as it wouldn't be feasible to take a 6.0m sliding gate, for example. My question is what would be the best way to show off our products. We will have the following with us:

    1. Sample bollards
    2. Sample of our anti scale fencing
    3. Samples of our post system
    4. Samples of our railing system
    5. Hundreds of business cards
    6. The usual banners, brochures, etc

    I am wondering should we do a few folders show casing our best work, so clients can see them, or is there another way of doing this, maybe on a laptop? What sort of freebies could we give away on the stand. At other exhibitions I have seen the usual pens, stress balls, mugs, etc but I would love to do something different as that is what we want to get across to any potential clients, we are different. Ones of the reasons we have been able to grow over the last two years is we solve problems for our existing clients, we design and manufacture new products (one of which will be showcased at the exhibitions), and we are the ones who come in when something has gone wrong and fix it - I want to get this across to potential clients and while it will be us that must do the main sell I would love to have something on out stand that stands out.

    Any ideas would be greatly appreciated because while we can be innovative with our products this is a whole new territory for us.

    Thanks
    Click to expand...
    Thanks for sharing.
     
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    shaunatsf

    Free Member
    Mar 6, 2010
    104
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  • #4
    Maybe I am thick but I dont understand why anybody would respond with the above two messages, but thank you for all your help you have both left very interesting and enlightening comments and you have left me with a lot to think about!
     
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    avantime

    Free Member
    Mar 22, 2009
    264
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  • #5
    I agree they are rather strange comments. Strange.

    You seem to have most things covered. What size stand are you having?

    I've done several shows and the important thing is to wear comfy shoes. One year I put decking squares down - this made things more comfortable and also meant that people on the stand were slightly elevated which seemed to make more people come over for a look.

    The main thing is to enjoy the shows! Good luck...
     
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    Kernowman

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    Aug 23, 2010
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    Cornwall
  • #6
    I think you are on the right track already.

    It is extraordinarily difficult to cram all your capabilities into one stand unless you can make cut down samples of everything that you do, even then you have to put big signs on everything to allow the passing people traffic to be attracted in. That becomes over busy and difficult to absorb as you are mooching past.

    If I was in your shoes, I would feature what I do best and in the knowledge that nobody else in the industry does it, or if they do, I can do it cheaper and better. I would back that up with a happy relaxed disposition with the people on the stand, as nothing puts me off more than wandering into a shark pen. I look for the stands that interest me and if I see a bunch of miserable faces or they look as though they are going to intimidate me, I walk right past.

    The smell of fresh brewed coffee also helps greatly and the chance of a free cuppa and a sit down talking to some nice people is very welcome at some shows.

    Finally, ask yourself what attracts YOU to stands at exhibitions and that should give you more food for thought.
     
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    shaunatsf

    Free Member
    Mar 6, 2010
    104
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  • #7
    Thanks Avantime, I thought I was loosing it a bit there, old age setting in :)

    The comfy shows I have sorted and we are in a 3x3 stand, we are only a small company and thats all I could afford because both exhibitions are costing us about £5000 and I thought it best to test the waters first.

    Kernowman, I see your point about what draws us to a stand and we were recently at a massive exhibition in Germany and there are a few things that I took away from it that I plan to incorporate into ours. I think the main thing in our favour outside of the products that we manufacture is that we are a family run business and we are generally relaxed when approaching or dealing with our customers - one of the reasons they seem to come back, so hopefully that will come across on our stand.

    Thank you again for your help.
     
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    vvaannmmaann

    vvaannmmaann

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    Nov 6, 2007
    13,083
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  • #8
    As above,your main problem is space.Assuming you are not having a huge space,try and keep the stand tidy and not too cluttered.As you have mentioned take a few examples of what you do.And the laptop with slide show is a good idea.
    I googled "exhibition stands" to see if I could find something suitable for you,not much luck I have to say.
    As for freebies,I'm not sure depends on your budget I suppose.
    I have seen some people doing a "free draw" with a good prize.This will get you a list of people that have come to the stand which may be potential clients to follow up after the show.
    Good luck with it.
     
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    Kernowman

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    Aug 23, 2010
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    Cornwall
  • #9
    shaunatsf said:
    Thanks Avantime, I thought I was loosing it a bit there, old age setting in :)

    The comfy shows I have sorted and we are in a 3x3 stand, we are only a small company and thats all I could afford because both exhibitions are costing us about £5000 and I thought it best to test the waters first.

    Kernowman, I see your point about what draws us to a stand and we were recently at a massive exhibition in Germany and there are a few things that I took away from it that I plan to incorporate into ours. I think the main thing in our favour outside of the products that we manufacture is that we are a family run business and we are generally relaxed when approaching or dealing with our customers - one of the reasons they seem to come back, so hopefully that will come across on our stand.

    Thank you again for your help.
    Click to expand...

    Well I wish you a very successful exhibition then :)

    I think the real key is the way you can project your personalities out form the stand and draw people close enough to speak to and welcome them in. I have seen countless stands that must have cost many thousands of pounds with shiny products, posters and flashing lights, yet utterly empty, so it isn't necessarily the amount of money you pour into a stand that makes it a winner.
     
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    MikeJ

    MikeJ

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    Jan 15, 2008
    6,954
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    Northumbeland
  • #11
    As Vanman* said, make sure your stand is tidy. That means no stray bags or jackets etc.

    Who's manning the stand? Decide between you when you're going to eat, etc. Don't eat on the stand, eat in rotation. It keeps the stand tidier.

    Forget the giveaways. Nobody's going to buy a fence simply because you've given them a pen. Get some decent literature, or put a load of photos onto a CD/DVD to give away. Look at the credit card sized CDs, which are easy to label and easy for people to carry.

    Make sure your stand is easy to walk on to. Psychologically, they're invading your space and it's not an easy thing for some people to do.

    You've got about 5 seconds (the time it'll take people to walk past) to tell them what you do. Make sure it's obvious that you sell fencing.

    Prepare a strategy to get people trying to sell you stuff off your stand. We typically get 10 trade magazines, and people from 20 other exhibitions selling advertising/space. Be prepared to get rid of them in 60 seconds. "Here's a card, call me next week".

    Make sure you've got a method of logging enquiries, and make sure it's backed up. If you can (really depends how busy you are) log them onto a laptop, with a bare minimum of their name, email, phone number and what they're interested in. Either email it to yourself, or copy it to a memory stick every few hours.


    * add other letters as required
     
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    Lorro2

    Free Member
    Dec 29, 2009
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  • #12
    You are jumping in at the deep end at the NEC and I imagine its very expensive. I would probably of done a few small events to get the feel and experience of the exhibition environment. You seem to have the essentials outline and its really only experience. Having a good website is very important and these days there is no real need to go out on the road to shows if your business has a good internet presence and is well established in the market.
     
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    KreativeJuice

    KreativeJuice

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    Nov 30, 2007
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  • #13
    Do you have a height restriction? if not then how about some 4m high flags to catch the attention of folk across the other end of the exhibition ;)

    We are about to run an offer on flags since we are in the middle of a large job so we are looking at a very good discount from our flag supplier at the moment. If you are interested then pm/email me for some prices.
    Kind regards
    Karen

    [email protected]
     
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    Jonnyboy678

    Free Member
    Oct 30, 2009
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  • #14
    shaunatsf said:
    What sort of freebies could we give away on the stand. At other exhibitions I have seen the usual pens, stress balls, mugs, etc but I would love to do something different as that is what we want to get across to any potential clients, we are different.
    Click to expand...

    What about a pen holder type thing for peoples desk which they can put all their other free pens in. Could you create a small square holder type thing which shows off your products on a smaller scaler, ie the sides are like your anti-scale fencing, and the corners are samples of your posts.

    Might be a but expensive to put together I suppose but it's something different at least.
     
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    shaunatsf

    Free Member
    Mar 6, 2010
    104
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  • #15
    Thanks for all your ideas, it really is appreciated. The reason we are going with the NEC is that although it is our first independent exhibition its not the first one we have been involved in. In my previous job we had to attend quite a few (but back then I didnt realise how much work went into organising it).

    MikeJ, I 100% agree with you on the eating on the stand thing, i detest it when I go to exhbitions and the people who are on the stands really dont give a toss about being there and are stuffing a sandwich in their mouth. I also really like the idea of the CD, thats not something I have seen before.

    Avantime, we have a choice of going with a shell or an open stand at both shows because of where we are located - would you have any recommendations on which to go with. I think the NEC is more than likely going to be a shell but I will have to double check that.

    Thanks again for all your comments hopefully I will be able to come back after successfully implementing them :)
     
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    NuBlue

  • #16
    Hi,

    As mentioned, it sounds like you have most things covered. One idea which may help if space is an issue is to take a flat screen TV or large computer monitor. Then if you have any photos, videos etc.. of your products in real life environments have these rotating on the screen using some sort of slideshow presentation (could plug a laptop into a TV with this on).

    Peoples eyes always tend to look at a screen if it has moving images on it and it also allows you to deomnstrate the products in actual settings to give people a better feel of how those products will look once installed.

    Another option would be to have your website on a screen with a mouse so people can come and navigate this whilst on your stand, just to add a bit of interactivity. Hope that helps and best of luck with it :)
     
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    Psl

    Psl

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    May 4, 2010
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  • #17
    1.Buy a 40inch LCD TV.
    2.Make videos of your manufacturing process, 30-40seconds runtime.
    3.Make vidoes of your finished/installed products, 30-40seconds runtime.
    4.Play the videos on a loop from a DVD, on the TV.
    5.Run a prize draw to win the TV at the show.
    6.Keep the audio of the videos at a level that can be heard whilst stood on the stand near the TV but not heard when stood off the stand.

    Having vidoes of your manuafacturing process can help you explain it better and you can explain it to more than one person at a time.The same with your finished products and you could choose to make a video of a bespoke product you have designed and manufactured for an existing client(s).Produce of video of the design process. Put all the videos,digital brochures, images of finished products, links to your website and anything else you can think of to promote your business, onto a CD or DVD, and give this away.

    A nice clean stand, 1 x TV, 2 x Laptops on small tables and plenty of space for people to stand and watch the videos looping. :)
     
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