Exhibiting abroad?
Participating in a foreign trade fair is a way of promoting your company and product in a different market. It allows you to meet prospective buyers face-to-face, take direct orders, listen to feedback and investigate competitors' products. Here’s lots of information to help you plan for this opportunity, avoid egg on your face, and have a successful fair.
Before you sign up for the show, with all the associated expense, check that it is the best one suited to your product. You should be able to ascertain this from the fair’s website. See if you can find out visitor numbers, too, and whether these are on the rise or fall. Find out who else exhibits at the fair.
Your success at the fair will depend on careful advance planning. Contact the fair’s organizer well in advance: a year, at least. You should be sent an exhibitor’s pack containing an application form for a stand reservation, a floor plan of the show, a list of fees and hire charges, shipping details, lists of hotels and so on. Make sure you reserve your exhibition space in good time and find out what is included (usually just a table and chair). You can hire extra furniture from the organizers.
When choosing a stand location, consider where visitors are likely to be concentrated: near entrances, on the ground floor, along major walkways, near escalators and cafeterias… These spaces are desirable and likely to be snapped up first, so don’t delay.
Make sure the stand size you choose will be big enough. Very small stands are unimpressive and easy to ignore. You will need room for confidential discussions, as well as space to show your product to its best advantage, display promotional literature and so on. You can design your exhibition stand yourself, hire a consultant, or engage the services of a contractor local to the fair. If you take your own stand, consider the costs and logistics of shipping. Follow the trade organizer’s shipping instructions and schedule to the letter.
How many staff should you take? You don’t want to crowd your stand with colleagues hanging around at a loose end. On the other hand, you don’t want to miss a new business customer because you are engaged with someone else. Once you’ve done a show, you will have a better feel for how many people you need on your stand. It’s a pity to attend a show and not get a good look at the competition, so make use of quiet times by sending surplus staff to nose around the halls. Never leave your stand unattended, though.
Remember that hotels get heavily booked up at exhibition time, with many seasoned exhibitors taking out reservations a year in advance. So book early.
Well before the show, send out invitations and press packs, and start your appointments diary. Get extra business cards and catalogues printed and delivered. Consider freebies and giveaways – with your company name and website details printed on them.
Use the evenings after fair closing-time to meet again with interested customers at their hotel or yours, and make follow-up appointments for after the fair if necessary. If orders were placed during the show, make sure these are followed up efficiently. Contact buyers who expressed an interest without making a firm order. You might need to prod them several times before they place an order, so persevere!
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