Have you got your Exhibitor Checklist?

If you’ve made the decision to partake in an exhibition stand in a trade show environment then in order to ensure that your efforts are successful and the exercise is considered a productive and profitable marketing tool, it’s important to be prepared, as many first time exhibitors are unprepared and fail to capitalise on their exhibiting opportunity.

By being prepared we mean developing an exhibitor checklist that covers all aspects from pre show planning right through to post show sales lead follow ups. Pre show planning includes ensuring you have enough items like promotional materials including brochures, business cards and coordinating any pre advertising leading up to the show. It also consists of determining the key message and/or messages to be communicated to your customers on the day and ensuring the staff working at your exhibit display are also aware of these messages together with the goals and measurable objectives your company wishes to achieve.

The sales process is considered an eight step process. The initial post show follow up whether it be a direct mail piece or email is only two touches or contacts, leaving another six steps to complete an actual sale. So, the post follow up process is very important in terms of initiating a sale and turning any leads into potential sales. Therefore, having lead cards and a lead retrieval system are important items in the post show checklist. No matter what lead system you decide to implement whether they are processed electronically or manually, it’s important there is a process in place that works effectively for your company. It’s also imperative that the information collected is of high quality as the success of the post show follow up is directly reliant on the quality and accuracy of information taken.

Furthermore, make a point of organising a debrief with all staff who were involved in the exhibition stand and determine new ways to improve on sales, analyse the efficacy of advertising and promotions and even reflect on the design of the display stand itself. These are all critical factors to include on a post show checklist.

After all is said and done, at the end of the day it can be difficult to measure the success of a show based purely on just one exhibition. If the customers attending fit your desired profile and meet your target market then realistically it is ideal to give the show at least three successive try’s as it’s pretty much impossible to meet all of the attendees solely at the one event. With this in mind, together with a comprehensive exhibitor checklist your exhibition stand has all the makings to becoming a profitable and productive marketing exercise.

Pre-show checklist:

• Brochures
• Business cards
• Advertising booked
• Key message
• Advise those working on stand of key messages to communicate
• Post show checklist
• Lead cards
• Lead retrieval system
• Review sales
• Analyse efficacy of advertising and promotions
• Review stand design