Advantages of Exhibition Stand Hire

There are several advantages that exhibition stand hire  provides to both first-time trade fair exhibitors and larger companies who are seeking to downsize their trade fair investments while still maintaining a good presence at industry exhibitions.

The first advantage is convenience - Exhibition stand hire can provide you with a large impact without having to invest large sums of money. This is especially useful if you are attending a trade fair for the first time and are not sure of the ROI it will provide you.

The second advantage is flexibility - Exhibition stand hire allows you to customise your exhibit for each trade fair you attend. You can also experiment with size and configuration to see what works best for your schedule of exhibitions.

The third advantage is cost effectiveness -  If you do not attend many trade fairs or have added one or two new ones to your schedule, hiring an exhibition stand can be a cost effective way to make a good impact without spending a lot of money. Exhibition stand hiring is also cost effective for shows that are overseas, saving you substantial amounts on freight charges.

The fourth advantage is extra options - By hiring an exhibition stand, you can probably stretch your trade fair budget to include new options that you might not have otherwise been able to afford.  Dramatic lighting, extra large format graphics, brochure racks and furniture are hire options that can add impact to your trade fair presence.

By working with an experienced exhibition stand vendor like Discount Displays, you can give yourself many more options for hiring a standout exhibition stand.  Discount Displays have a 20,000 sq. foot showroom that features over 90 percent of the exhibition stand products they offer on their website, allowing you to see and compare options that would work best for your trade fairs or exhibitions.

The Rules of Engagement

A brief guide on the importance of interaction between you and potential customers.

So you've bought all the components needed for attending a exhibition, you've spent time creating a design to make your stall stand out from the rest, and you've meticulously planned the logistics of getting to the event itself.

All this is great, but where many exhibitors fall down is that when it comes to crunch time, they do very little to actually interact with potential customers, and are content to let them just walk on by.

It is perplexing, and surprising, as a regular attendee of trade shows and exhibitions, to not be engaged even when I'm looking at the product or service on offer. To know how much effort has gone into exhibiting and to then not capitalise on it is a crying shame.

There are obvious, yet simple, ways to maximise the conversion rate of passers-by to potential customers:

• Make eye contact - I'm not talking about staring here, just catching somebody's eye can lead to them engaging you in conversation or for them to take a second look at your stall, enabling you to start your pitch.
• Preparation - a well known saying states "luck is where opportunity meets preparation", well this is your opportunity! Before you set off to your event, make a note of the key benefits of your product/service, any special offers for this event, anticipate objections and how you can overcome these, and if they aren't willing to commit instantly what measures do you have in place to follow-up with them (e.g. mailing list, contact details database, brochures/catalogues to take home).
  
• Mentality is the key - some people are gifted sales-people, but perhaps this isn't your forte. The key here is to change your mentality to 'what have I got to lose', or more importantly 'what have I got to gain'. If you see somebody walking past your stand without taking a second glance, and you don't actively engage them, the chances of them becoming a customer are roughly zero. If, however you take a moment to announce your product to that person, you never know what the outcome will be, hopefully a new customer, or at least a sign-up to your mailing list.
  

If you recognise yourself as one of these exhibiting culprits I hope this guide can serve as a useful reminder on the importance of active selling, and increase the return of investment on your exhibition displays.

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