exhibiting 101 |
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Candy Adams,
CTSM, CME,
CEM, CMP, CMM,
is an independent exhibit-management
consultant, trainer, speaker, writer, and an Exhibitor conference
faculty member.
CandyAdams
@BoothMom.com
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 e’d all love to start our careers with the knowledge and experience of a veteran. But, for the most part, we need to pay our dues and learn from our mistakes before we truly understand the ins and outs of the industry. To help you get a leg up, here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.
1. Start with the strategy, not the tactics.
Like many new exhibitors, for the first year or so I considered a show successful if I filled out all of the order forms in the exhibitor services manual and lived through the show. And since I was in the marketing department and the sales department was in charge of lead follow-up, I didn’t worry about how well we qualified attendees, how we recorded our prospects’ information, or how we handled the leads after the show.
Then I started thinking about the investment my company was making to exhibit at numerous trade shows, and about the return we were getting on the investment. I asked questions about why we were attending shows and got a seat at the management table to discuss the trade show program. Suddenly I was no longer just an administrative pencil pusher. My career took off.
From that point on, I began planning for trade shows strategically rather than tactically, setting measurable objectives, profiling attendees, determining which of our company’s products/services would interest them, and then putting together a plan for pre-show, at-show, and post-show promotion to meet our objectives.
2. Always have a plan B.
Managing an exhibit involves too many variables to have everything run perfectly. Sooner or later, you’ll get to a show and find that disaster has struck: Your exhibit is damaged or missing important components, key exhibit staff members are sick, or your installation-and-dismantle lead is behind bars. (Yes, all of these have happened to me.)
Your only defense against inevitable mishaps is to plan for contingencies. For example, to help prepare a viable plan B for the unenviable event that your booth doesn’t show up, conduct a mental walk-through of possible options. Would you rent an exhibit from the general services contractor? What exhibit properties and equipment could you borrow from a local distributor? Where could you get replacement graphics printed on a weekend?
Also program any phone numbers you may need into your cell phone. Bring a CD of your exhibit graphics. Pack an extra set of blueprints. Make sure you have the evening and weekend phone numbers of your exhibit house account executive and transportation agent (and then test them to know that they do answer their phone after 5 p.m. and on weekends).
3. Arrive at the show early.
Many on-site problems stem from trying to do too much in too little time. I’ve arrived at my booth space to find my entire exhibit set up backward, missing freight, and, even worse, no freight at all. Had I been on site earlier, I would have had more time to solve or even prevent these problems.
So be sure to arrive at the show during setup to orient yourself, make certain everything’s going as planned, and correct any problems as efficiently as possible. Locate the exhibitor services, electrical, floor manager, and labor desks; the show manager’s office; the press room; the on-site business center; and even food concessions and restrooms. Find a nearby drug store, office-supply store, convenience store, hardware store, computer store, and document/graphics printing center, in case you need to make any last-minute purchases.
4. Cultivate good relationships.
In this business you’ll work with a long procession of vendors, show managers, and show laborers. Treat them well and give them respect, and they’ll jump through hoops for you. Clearly communicate your objectives and expectations with your vendors — including your exhibit house, I&D provider, specialized shipping agent/carrier, talent agency, etc. — and make them feel like part of your team.
It’s critical that you get to know the people you’ll work with on the show floor: those who drive your exhibit to the show on huge tractor-trailer rigs, work on the convention center freight docks, and man the contractors’ service desks. It’s a small, tightly knit industry, and you’ll probably run into a lot of the same folks year after year. Until you’ve aggravated a teamster or delivered a box of chocolates to an overworked rep at the general contractor’s service desk who didn’t get a lunch break, you haven’t experienced the power of relationships.
One of your most valuable allies will be the show-management team. Let them know who you are and what you need to have a more successful show. Work with them to negotiate custom sponsorship packages and to get rule variances when needed.
5. Always ask for discounts.
You can find discounts just about everywhere in the industry, but you have to ask. When you’re working with your show vendors, always ask them how to get maximum cost savings.
There are many different types of discounts available, such as early bird discounts for meeting early deadlines, new-client incentives, package deals for ordering common items together, and volume discounts for multiple shows. Especially in this economy, vendors may be willing to meet or beat other quotes or past prices.
One thing to note is that the best discounts may not be in the base price, but the associated services, such as decreased shipping, lower delivery costs, waived supervisory labor fees, or only being charged for the show days you’re using the equipment instead of the entire time the equipment is out of vendors’ shops. By using the “official” show contractors, you can generally avoid paying material-handling charges on the products being hauled onto the floor for you, such as rental exhibits, furnishings, audiovisual equipment, and computers.
6. Pad your budget.
After I estimate my budget, I add 10 percent just in case I get hit with unplanned expenses like overtime on material-handling and labor charges, or in case I have the opportunity to pick up a last-minute sponsorship or advertising opportunity at a reduced price. If you don’t need to spend it, that’s great, but it’s better to be prepared for contingencies in such an unpredictable industry.
The sooner you can get through to your boss that trade show expenses are far from fixed, the better off you and your budget will be. I include a line item right at the end of my budget form for the contingency amount, so there won’t be any surprises if I have to use it. One thing that will help your budgeting credibility is to include a section in your post-show budget report that points out not only where and why you went over budget, but where and how you managed to come in under budget as well.
7. Build extra time into your schedule.
Just as you should pad your budget, it’s a good idea to always pad your schedule as well. About a year into my career in exhibit management, I had an epiphany. I realized that there was only one exhibitor services manual in our company, and I had it. No one else on my trade show team knew the specific deadline dates published in the manual. Now, when I put together my deadline list for internal distribution, I make each of the deadlines a few days to a week earlier than the actual deadline dates, to protect against procrastinators, travel schedules, illness, vacations, and other variables. As you get to know your trade show team, you’ll know who’s the most likely to throw off your schedule.
After all, this is a fast-paced industry with more deadlines than you can shake a stick at. So giving yourself a little buffer time here and there is a very good idea. Now, if something unexpected delays any step in the process, it doesn’t throw off my entire show schedule, and I don’t miss the discount deadlines nor incur costly rush charges.
8. Spoil your exhibit staff.
The happier your team, the more productive they’ll be, the more qualified leads they’ll gather, and the better impression they’ll make on attendees.
Make sure your staffers feel like they have a stake in your success and that they know what’s going on. Provide an in-booth orientation and off-site sales training before the show opens so they know what to expect and understand your objectives and key messages. Hold a daily debriefing to thank them for their hard work and to discuss how the day went and what can be done to improve your exhibit’s performance during the next day of the show.
I also like to make sure that my exhibit staff is as physically comfortable as possible. For example, I bring small bottles of water for parched throats; a variety of snacks for when lunch just isn’t an option; bottles of hand sanitizer; a variety of headache and cold remedies; antacid tablets; Pedialyte or Gatorade for the dehydration and electrolyte imbalance of hangovers; throat lozenges and/or cough drops; an assortment of Bandaids, mouthwash, and mints; foam insoles for staffers’ shoes; and a box of anti-viral tissues. One of my clients even has me ship a vibrating foot massager that the staff uses to refresh their feet during breaks.
9. Underpromise and overproduce.
Finally, if you want to be seen as a true trade show hero, learn to underpromise and overproduce. For one thing, it’s easy to get overconfident when you’re preparing for a show and inadvertently commit to unattainable goals that you won’t be able to deliver on in the end. And what’s the point of setting unrealistic objectives and having a show that is, by all means, successful feel like a failure if you come in under goal?
So set measurable objectives that are reasonable, based on past benchmarks if possible, and accurately reflect what would be considered a successful show. You don’t have to tip your hand and show all your cards before the show — whether it’s the fact that you plan to come in under budget or outperform your measurable goals and objectives. There are multiple factors (from flu warnings to the weather of the host city) that can have small but significant impacts on your booth traffic or lead counts. So it’s always better to set reasonable objectives and come home a hero than it is to make sky-high promises you can’t fulfill.e
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