Trade exhibitions generate a lot of sales revenue and are an excellent tool for branding your business and cementing the company in the minds of potential buyers and business partners. A lot of effort goes into creating trade show success, and you need to well organized and be able to manage the disparate aspects of the show so you meet your objectives.
Before the exhibition date, have your team rehearse their roles on the day. Do this several times because this will help make practices second-nature to them. It is a lot easier to meet and greet if you have been practicing doing it for several sessions beforehand for instance.
Your trade show booth and collateral will also have to be transported to the venue and set up. Practice setup for real and then have other staffers look at the show layout and display and let them give their thoughts on the impact and how to improve it. This is all good stuff to find out well in advance so you are not improvising on the day.
That said, the trade show itself will probably always have an issue which requires you to think on your feet. You can minimize these instances by performing some advance planning and research. For instance, where is the best food for the booth team to be found? How about where you will provide post-show entertaining if you hook up with prospects who want to spend time with you after the show? How about finding out where you can source items you may need if you have a breakage with your equipment or collateral?
By rehearsing and planning for the worst, you are more likely to have an incident free trade show, which will allow you to focus on the reason you are there – meeting people and generating sales interest.
