Tackling your first trade show booths can be a nerve wracking, stressful process. Although it gets much easier with experience, your first few conventions can be difficult. These tips will help you have success with your initial trade show displays, allowing you to gain experience and see great results now and in the future.
1. Just Showing Up Is Not Enough
Many exhibitors would love to erect their trade show displays and then go home for the weekend. Unfortunately, your products will not sell themselves. You need to ensure that you put in the time and effort to make your trade show booths as successful as possible. Remember, when you rent the space for trade show displays and set one up, you’re buying access to a potential audience. You still have to earn the attention of that audience and bring them to your trade show booths to drive the sale.
2. Paying Someone To Set Up Your Trade Show Displays Can Be Costly, Yet Well Worth It
Most first timers are shocked at the rates for labor to set up your trade show displays. Especially if you need your trade show booths set up on a weekend, the people that hang your signs, set up your trade show displays, run your lines, and generally get everything working can cost a bundle. In most venues, the wages of those workers are governed by unions, ensuring even higher fees. If you are worried about having to pay, go for smaller trade show displays and secure your contractors ahead of time.
3. Plan Your Trade Show Booths Early
There is no such thing as “too early” when it comes to planning logistics for your trade show displays. The earlier you start planning, the more likely you are to think of any possible flaws in your plans, and the more likely you can work around them. You’ll require less leeway time as you become more experienced with trade show booths, but in the meantime give yourself a lot of time for errors.
4. Nobody Wants To Help Track Leads, But Everyone Wants To Help Design The Exhibit
As soon as word gets out that you’re designing trade show displays, everyone in the office will want to help. Yet as soon as you get back from the convention, all those helpful hands will be too busy to actually track the leads that your trade show booths produced. If you want to incentivize them to help, let them know that there will be no new units unless this year’s trade show displays show great results.
5. Your Trade Show Booths Are Most Likely To Break In The 10 Minutes After Show Closing
When the convention is over, everyone packing up their trade show displays is suddenly in a rush to leave. With all the commotion, it can be easy to accidentally harm your trade show booths and cause costly repairs. The trick to avoid this is incredibly simple: just let your staff know that they must handle your trade show displays with care, and take your time if you’ll be packing up the trade show booths yourself.
6. The First Lead Is The Hardest
Getting started with selling at trade show displays is the hardest part. Once you’ve made a few deals, you’ll know how it works. Until then, just stick with the techniques you know. Engage the lead, qualify their intentions, present your product, and then close the sale. You’ll get the hang of it!
7. You Might Get Addicted To Trade Show Displays
After a few times working at trade show booths, you’ll either start to dislike the time on the road, or you’ll find yourself starting to love it. Many people thrive on the thrill of being near clients, working directly with people inside trade show displays. No matter how you feel about the experience, you’ll come away knowing that you did your best at the trade show booths, and that you’ve made a positive contribution to your company.