Planning a Successful Trade Show Exhibition

There are plenty of different ways to approach a trade show exhibition, but not all of them will yield the same results. Why spend hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars on a trade show booth if you aren't going to make the most of your experience? A trade show is meant to generate publicity and interest in your business, and in order to meet those goals, you will have to know how to plan a successful trade show exhibition.

Planning a Successful Trade Show Exhibition: Don't Do It All Yourself

One of the reasons why trade shows are so difficult is because they take an inordinant amount of planning. You have to arrange for travel, submit your paperwork, collect decorations for your booth and set up a strategy. That's a lot of work for just one person! If possible, set up a trade show committee consisting of people who are as committed to success as you are. Let one person handle setting up travel and hotel reservations, another to complete and submit the paperwork, and so on. Keep a binder full of all the information you will need, and instruct each of the committee members to add things to the binder as they are completed.

Planning a Successful Trade Show Exhibition: Set Your Goals in Advance

There is no reason to attend a trade show unless you have specific, well-thought-out goals in mind. For example, if you run a travel agency, your goal might be to collect the names of 100 prospective customers and to pass out 200 brochures about your business. If you are soliciting credit card applications, your goal could be to sign up five people every hour. Whatever the case, you should keep your goals in mind throughout the entire trade show.

Planning a Successful Trade Show Exhibition: Focus On People Rather than Decorating

One of the major mistakes that business owners make is focusing on the wrong thing during the trade show exhibition. Although your booth should be attractive and neat, it doesn't need to be the star of the show. Your planning should focus more on the purpose of the trade show - to garner publicity - than on how your booth looks. The booth itself should be functional, which means not crowding the table area with decorations. You'll need to have easy access to business cards, order forms and contact sheets. All boxes should be shoved under the table so that they aren't visible to passerby and your decorations should not disturb or preclude the actions of others.

Planning a Successful Trade Show Exhibition: Label All Boxes

Unfortunately, things get lost at trade shows, so you'll want to have everything properly labeled. All boxes, bags and materials should have the name of your business, your cellular phone number, your booth number and your address on it. Make sure that you have someone in charge of inventory and supplies so that things are not lost as easily. And be kind - if you find something that belongs to someone else, make every effort to find the owner.

Planning a Successful Trade Show Exhibition: Follow Up

Don't waste any time on following up after the trade show. Sort through the contact information you've collected from prospective clients and get in touch with them immediately. Send out brochures, make phone calls and respond to questions. The people you met at the trade show will be more likely to do business with you if you show a genuine interest in their needs directly following the event itself.