by Justin Hersh, Chief Executive Officer, Group Delphi
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
This famous quote paraphrased from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is at the heart of knowing what you want out of your trade exhibition experience and ensuring that your exhibit has the correct floor plan. Too often we find exhibiting clients start with what they want in the exhibit before they know what they want to accomplish.
Before creating your sales floor plan, ask yourself some key questions. Are you reaching out to 2,000 potential influencers of your brand, or are there 25 key customers that you want to spend 90 high quality minutes with? Both are critical audiences that deserve an effective and authentic experience, but need two entirely different experiences to be reached.
For example, the goal of a transactional exhibit is to sell products on-site and introduce new products. Consider designing the space to be inviting with easy access to the products, and allow room for the sales staff to casually approach the customer and close the sale. Think of Apple retail, where they have eliminated the cash register by completing the transaction on mobile devices. This allows the sales staff to engage the customer and close the sale in a seamless conversation as well as showcase their own products.
If you’re narrowing your focus for high-level conversations with key accounts, you may want to provide the hospitality experience. In-booth cafes, lounging areas and conference rooms create a sense of stepping off the exhibition floor and creating personal connections. This is perfect for targeting those 25 key customers, but would alienate 2,000 potential influencers.
There are many paths to successful exhibition sales, but first you need to know to whom and how you want to sell. Know where you are going, and otherwise you might just end up somewhere.
For more information on creating a game plan for exhibiting, check out the following Guru article: Beyond ROI and ROO Using Measurement to Enhance Decisions & Improve Exhibit Results
