Five lessons from a local exhibition
Last month we exhibited at the Best of Bristol exhibition sponsored by the Federation of Small Business. We decided to go along to meet local businesses, and to see if we encountered anyone new at this sort of event rather than through our main channel of social networking. It was fascinating to see how different businesses, both attending and exhibiting, approached the day.
I thought I’d share a few things that we either learned, or had reinforced, on the day. There are loads more, but here are my top five…
1. Remove the barriers
As part of the exhibitor pack you could request a table with cover. And, most people did. They had their display graphics in the background, then two people sat at seats behind a desk in front of that. I implore you, if you’re exhibiting at a show, resist the temptation to set your stand up like this. Apart from looking bit like a table top sale, it puts a barrier between you and the visitor, and takes you out of their eye line. If you’re sitting down and they’re walking past, you’re very unlikely to catch their eye. We had ours set up with a high table, wine bar style that you can stand at, with two high bar stools to perch on if our feet got tired. It worked really well.
2. Have an opener
So, now that you’re standing up and looking welcoming. What are you going to say? Most attendees have a few people in mind to visit, and may mill around a few of the other stands. A large number are a little wary of being sold at by every stand holder, and scurry by trying not to catch your eye. But, if you’re going to get the most from the day, you have to get as many people into conversation as possible. You need to catch people on their way by, ask them a question and strike up a conversation. At this event, my standard opener to every passer by was “Hello, are you exhibiting here today, or just having a look around?” – nothing about us at all. Just a friendly question to get them into conversation.
3. Champagne is boring
Now, it’s really important to have a data capture device at these shows. That is, a reason for people to give you their business card so that you can follow-up. I counted at least five companies giving away a bottle of Champagne in a business card draw. Unless your company has some tangible link to Champagne, this is a wasted opportunity. Prize draws can work really well, but have a think about something that relates to your company or acts as a talking point.
We selected five of our favourite business books and gave one away on the hour for every hour we were there. We also promoted it beforehand, so that delegates could get two entries into the draw if they pre-registered and stopped by to say hello on the day. This worked on loads of levels. We had a few people who’d registered already, so we knew we’d get some visitors. The books themselves were a great conversation piece as we could give people a precis, tell people why we chose them and relate it to what we do. And, doing a draw each hour added a bit of drama to our stand.
4. Talk to everyone
Everyone at a show is someone worth talking to. That includes other exhibitors. It can be easy to simply stick to your own stand all day talking to passers by, but your best prospect could be doing exactly the same on a stand at the other side of the room. We split the duties. I stayed on the stand, and Cheryl took herself around the show saying hello to all our fellow exhibitors and encouraging them to pop over to see me and enter our draw. The great thing about exhibitors is that you know they’ll be there, so you can do a little research beforehand to pick out those you’re particularly interested in talking to. And, you have a ready-made opener by comparing notes on how the day is going.
Oh, and competitors are people too. I had lunch last week with a chap I met at this event, who was surprised that I took 10 minutes to chat to a fellow marketing consultant. The way I see it, we couldn’t fulfil all the marketing needs of all the companies in the South West even if we wanted to, and we’re not the fountains of all knowledge. So, I love meeting fellow professionals. There’s almost always a chance to co-refer or support each other in some way.
5. Follow-up
This is probably the single most important tip we can give you about doing a show. You must follow-up. There is no point gathering business cards if you do nothing with them. We’d also suggest that you do a little more than simply adding them to your mailing list. Actually calling them or emailing them as an individual, referring to the show and a conversation you had is much more powerful. And, you need to do this within a week. Go through the cards, check out their websites, there are bound to be a few nuggets in there. Why not pick up the phone and invite them for a coffee? Go on, what’s the worst that can happen? And, what’s the best that can happen? It’s almost certainly worth it.
I’d also round up with few other mini tips:
- Take a camera and remember to take some photos (we forgot!)
- Find out if there’s a Twitter hashtag for the event and use it
- Do a write-up after the event, as a blog for example
- Wear comfortable shoes
- Take lots of water and change for buying food
Please add your own examples and tips for how small businesses can make the most of events and exhibitions.
By Bryony Thomas | Chief Clear Thinker | Clear Thought Consulting Ltd | @bryonythomas | www.clear-thought.co.uk
If you liked this post, you may also enjoy:
- Blog: How to avoid embarrassing mistakes at events
- Blog: Is local marketing a good technique for small business?
Clear Thought Consulting works with small businesses, equipping them with the marketing strategies, suppliers, skills and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses. We do this by planning and delivering 12-month marketing transformation programmes – supporting a small business through a step-by-step process to making marketing pay. We firmly believe that when you can’t out-spend your competition, you have to out-think them.
Published on 18 April 2011
