How do you exhibit your business on a limited budget without looking unprofessional?

Does this sound familiar?

About a year ago you, rented space at an upcoming tradeshow, but now economic times have slowed business to a crawl.  You can’t backup without losing your booth space rent, so what do you do?

Here are a few ideas for over coming the budget challenge when exhibiting your company.

Read More→

I was teaching a class at the Small Business Development Center today and one of my students approached me during the break to ask about trade show displays.  She exhibits as gift type fairs and wanted a display that was easy to transport and use at indoors and outdoor events.  While I would love to produce a list of a dozen different options, reality is no such display actually exists.

Building a display for both indoor and outdoor events are a liability situation.  Making something that is heavy enough to NOT blow over in the wind yet light enough to easily move creates a potential for people getting hurt.  Pop-up displays have 78 square feet of surface area and are VERY susceptible to gentle winds knocking them over.  While popups are light weight and not very likely to hurt someone, they are very likely to damage adjacent exhibits and thus become a liability.

This leaves exhibitors who also show products at their events to their own devices.  More often than not the exhibitors get a hold of grid wire panels (typically used in retail establishments).  While these are very effective for showcasing product, they are very heavy and awkward to setup.

Popup display frames can sometimes be used to hang and showcase product, but they are only good for a dozen or fewer display items.  If you have a large number of items to showcase, grid wall panels are your best option, especially since they usualy can be purchased for about $30 per grid panel (typically 24″ x 84″).

If your display products are long and bulky, you might consider PVC piping. PVC pipe can use built to act as a free standing display stand and even painted or graphically wrapped.  With slip on PVC fittings, your full height display column can be broken down to fit in to the trunk of a small car.  By drilling holes in the PVC pipe, you can use wire hangers to display your product.  You can connect a larger diameter pipe section to the base and fill with sand to help keep the display unit standing in moderate winds.  The best part is PVC piping is very inexpensive, easy to service and replacement parts are available everywhere.  No getting stranded because one part breaks!

My point is trade show displays need not cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.  By being creative and using common hardware store items, you can create an attractive trade show display that can be used in any venue.  While I would love to sell you an expensive display, in many cases the best solution is more affordable from your local hardware store.

Ed Bejarana
BusinessBlogging.net
a division of Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Recessions are the best time to build your client base.  To build a client base, you need to get out and market your business.  Exhibiting at Chamber events, local business fairs and other regional functions is a low cost way to be seen. 

Tabletop displays and retractable banner stands are very affordable exhibiting options that you can use almost anywhere.  When exhibiting in non-standard exhibit spaces, exhibit size flexibility is critical.  For example, I am a member of the Gresham Chamber of Commerce.  Twice a year the chamber hosts a business showcase for new members.  There are usually about 40 businesses exhibiting in a small meeting hall.  The tables are only 18″ x 60″.

The challenge you face when exhibiting at smaller events is the balance between professional image and over-kill.  Attendees at small business fairs are much more likely to stop at every booth.  Your exhibit should convey the basic information about your business.  Don’t try to answer ALL of your prospects questions with your backwall.  Also, keeping your display general will allow it to be useful in many different types of venues.

Small, portable displays need not cost and arm and a leg.  If your budget is between $50 and $200.  Your best option is a cardboard tabletop display board (available from most office supply stores.)  Create your business message on your computer and have them printed on paper.  The cardboard display and paper graphics are only usable once, but you entire presentation can be produced for very little money.

Vinyl banners are a good next step.  Keep the size to no wider than 6′.  A standard 2′ x 6′ Vinyl banner with grommets can be found for as little as $120.  Hanging the banner in some venues may be a big challenge, but in a pinch, you can always hang your banner from your exhibit table.

Hosting you local Chamber of Commerce business meeting is another way to get out in the community and be seen.  For example, in the East Portland Chamber of Commerce, in addition to a ten minute presentation, the Chamber also helps you with internet marketing in advance of your meeting.  Smaller events must try harder to bring in exhibitors.  More often than not you can find excellent deals.

The most important factor for exhibiting in small venues is be creative!

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

For more information about trade show solutions, please call me at (503) 709-1454 or eMail me at ed@zenithexhibits.com

Click here for a two part article on dealing with recessions.

Trade shows are excellent venues for meeting new prospects.  Consumers value trust higher than price, meeting you face to face in a non-threatening trade show environment is preferred by most consumers.  Plus, show attendees paid an entrance fee to attend, so they are already qualified prospects; but how you greet them will make or break your relationship.

First some rules.

1. Do not eat in your booth
2. Always smile
3. Look professional at all times

It is sometimes difficult to avoid breaking the first rule, but even if you are working your booth alone, greeting people while chomping on a sandwich will turn people off.  Standing for hours on end is hard work.  Your feet will hurt, you back will ache, and you are going to hear a lot of rejections, but under no circumstances should you be unhappy.  Prospects don’t want your problems, they want your solutions.

What is your opening line?  “How are you doing?” is not a very good greeting.  Get to the point, “are you in the marketing for {fill in the blank} at this time or will you be considering {fill in the blank} in the near future?”  People attend trade shows to get information and find products or services, very few people walk up and down the aisles of a show just for the exercise.  Trying to trick them in to stopping and talking insults people and wastes your time.

Script your questions.  You get paid for the information you gather, not the information you give.  Don’t recite the encyclopedia, asked the prospect questions that elicit a response that either advances the sale or disqualifies the prospect.  You need to have an easy to use data capturing method.  When you ask a question, make a note.  While this might surprise the prospect at first, when it comes time to set an appointment to further the sales process the prospect will appreciate your preparedness.

Make sure everyone on your booth staff asks the same questions.  Without consistency in the questions, you will not have any basis for making improvements.

Booths don’t sell, people do.  Put another way, people don’t buy from your trade show booth, they do business with you.  Let your trade show booth answer the big questions, who are you and what do you do (in as few words as possible).  Let your questions qualify the prospect for advancement to the next step; a post show meeting.

The trade show meeting is the beginning of your relationship with the client (even if you sell something in your booth).  You can be certain the moment the prospect walks away from your booth they have forgotten you.  It is your job have memory of the meeting and it is your job to follow up with the prospect immediately after the show.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Zenith Exhibits, Inc. is a trade show display solutions provider.  For more information about our products and services, please visit our display solutions website:  www.zenithexhibits.com or our BusinessBlogging.net website.

Retractable banner exhibits are a very affordable way to create a full back wall graphics presentation that works equally as well on the trade show floor as the local chamber of commerce event; all at a fraction of the price of other trade show display options.  There are a few considerations you should keep in mind, however, when designing a retractable banner exhibit so as to maximize the functionality as cost effectiveness of your display.

Avoid designing a display for a single function!  Every display designed should be laid out such that it could be used at any type of event.  Either as a back drop when making company presentations, as a lobby marketing enhancement, a trade show exhibit, or an identity display at a public function.  While retractable banner stand displays are very affordable, during times of recession portable exhibit designs should stretch your marketing dollar to more places.  The goal, during a recession more so than normal time, is to get out and market your business more for less and retractable banners give your company a professional image at affordable prices.

Layout your graphics such that replacing only one of the banner stands allows for a new message.  In a typical three banner display exhibit, we like to have one banner for company identity, one banner for expanded corporate branding and the last banner with the specific product or service message.  More often than not the two branding banner stands act as book ends to the specific message, but in the case of a multi-division business each branding banner stand can be its’ own unique (but coordinated) layout.

Be careful when crossing the banner breaks.  The gap between banners will vary based on the type of banner stand, but you should always try to limit cross seam text or images so as to avoid the awkward visual presentation should environmental conditions prevent perfect alignment.  For example, many conference centers have low points in the floor to allow for flooring control should the fire sprinklers accidentally discharge.

Booths don’t sell, people do.  Put another way, people do business with people, not back wall displays.  Your graphics presentation should be immediately representative of who you are and what you do.  You should avoid using retractable banner exhibits to communicate long messages (there are a few exceptions) and instead keep your back wall display general.  One exception is when you are creating an information exhibit–say for a museum or a special event.  Retractable banners are a very affordable way to present event information in the middle of a lobby or registration area without requiring special rigging.

Lastly, your retractable banner stand should be kept simple.  Don’t try to get the extra brochure attachments, lights, shelf’s, etc.  Most retractable banner stands weight less than 15 lbs and this lighter weight display makes for easy and affordable transportation; adding extra attachments complicates matters and decreases the portability factor.  One exception, of course, is if the banner stand is going to be staying put for a while and you want to include collateral materials.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Zenith Exhibits is a full service, internet base trade show display solutions provider.  We specialize in lightweight, affordable trade show displays and internet marketing.  For more information about our products and services, please call (503) 709-1454 or eMail info@zenithexhibits.com.

Tradeshows are like door to door selling, only at a trade show it is the customer that walks from house to house.  Most people are automatically drawn to the big houses (exhibits) because of the extra lights and activities/amenities, but your smaller house can attract new prospects too.  You need only slow them down long enough for the prospect to find out what you do.

The trade show attendee has purchased a ticket to get into the exhibit hall: so they are already interested in the general theme of the event.  Home and Garden shows, computer fairs, business expos, and holiday showcases are just a few of the general audience type events taking place in every major city.  Attendance does not automatically qualify one as a prospect for your business, but the attendee has the expectation that they will explore the possibilities.  Your task, in the seven to twelve seconds it takes for the prospect to evaluate you and your exhibit, is to engage, enlighten or entertain.

Image driving down the street and seeing a sign outside a vacuume store that reads, “Henry the Magician Performs Magic, come on in!”  Would you stop?  More than likely not, but change the setting to the trade show floor and the answer changes to probably.  Entertaining the prospects gives you more time with the show attendee.

When enlightening your prospects, you are giving them knowledge that can be useful outside of the exhibit hall.  Some products are very difficult to understand, setting up a theater setting and giving 5 or 10 minute demos may be necessary for people to understand what you do.  The down fall of in booth presentations is the loss of information gathering.  Sometimes you need just a little bit of information about your client in order to advance the sale, but if you do all the talking you’ll never gain important information.

Engaging the prospect is the act of striking up a conversation.  Too often I see exhibitors use one liners to try and start a conversation, but truth is people don’t like slick sales pitches.  Script out your questions.  Meet with you team in advance of the show and make sure every one asks the same intro questions.  Create your questions to gather information, not just give out sales pitches.  Let me put this another way, you’ll get paid for the information you gather, not the information you give.

During recessioniary times, trade shows will be one of the most effective ways to build trust with you prospect.  Meeting you face-to-face will make the difference between you and your competitor, but only if your meeting is memorable.  So when Engaging, Entertaining or Enlightening the prospect, make sure you do so such that they don’t forget you the moment they leave your booth.

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Zenith Exhibits is an internet based full service trade show display solutions provider.  Our mission is to provide first class service at internet prices.  For more information about our products and services, please call me at (503) 709-1454 or eMail me at ed@zenithexhibits.com.

Put yourself into the shoes of the trade show attendee.  When walking down an aisle lined with exhibitors, what has to take place before you’ll stop and talk with one of them?  If you do stop, what do you expect will happen?

Trade show attendees have proven interest by buying a ticket to enter the event.  While some may just be browsing, most attend trade shows to find new products and services.  Why?  Because consumers have options.  For any particular product or service, there may be half a dozen or more exhibitors at the event.  With competition comes great deals, and the American consumer loves a great deal.

Lets go back to our questions, why would you stop and talk with an exhibitor?  Did they tackle you in the aisle or did their exhibit immediately convey a message that peeked your interest?  If you sell a product that is self explanatory (door, windows, flooring, etc) then your exhibit need not convey info about your product.  If, however, your product or service is not obvious, then your exhibit must communicate who and what you are.

Drawing people into you booth first requires you to clearly communicate who you are and what you do in eight words or less.  A bowl of candy certainly helps but the deal closer is YOU, are you engaging the prospects walking by your booth with a compelling message?

Cheap one liners are horrible draws, “hey how are you?”  or “Want to save some money?” don’t engage your prospect.  A smile and an offer to help is a more effective intro.  “Hi, my name is Ed, can I help you find a service provider today?”  Have a copy of the show exhibitor list with you and point out the exhibitors who might help serve their needs.  The goal is to keep the prospect in front of your booth for a longer period of time and build a basis to start a relationship–this guy is offering to help me.

The offer of help will be seen by some as a ploy to capture attention.  Some may even ask you, “Is this just a ploy to get me to stop and talk to you?”  I always respond honestly, “Yes it is but my offer is sincer.  If you are looking for a specific service I can help guide you to the right exhibitor.”

Ed Bejarana
Zenith Exhibits, Inc.

Zenith Exhibits, Inc. is an internet based full service trade show display provider.  We help our customers build exhibits that meet budgets constraints and draw traffic.  For more information about how we can help you and your trade show or portable marketing program, please call us at (503) 709-1454.