Best Way to Plan an Exhibition

Regardless of the type or size of the exhibition, a number of points must be taken into consideration when planning. Here is a useful checklist.

Your exhibition checklist

• Agree the budget – this will have a vital bearing on your subsequent planning.
• Reserve a site – try to select a position near an access point or other feature such as toilets or snack bar; this ensures that most visitors will see your stand.
• Design the stand. Unless you have experience of this, enlist the help of a stand designer. Use the space available intelligently, don’t overcrowd it with products. If possible, set aside an area for discussing business with prospective customers.
• Appoint and brief a stand contractor to build the stand.

• Arrange for supplies of electricity, water and so on, to the stand.
• Agree which products are to be displayed.
• Arrange for transportation of equipment, products and so on to the exhibition site.
• Order stand furniture and other fittings.
• Plan staff requirements.
• Brief and train staff.
• Arrange hotel accommodation where necessary.
• Ensure supplies of product literature.
• Arrange for invitations to be printed.
• Prepare list of people to be invited.
• Send invitations.
• Plan advertising and publicity.
• Order tickets and badges.
• Place advertisement in exhibition catalogue.
• Prepare press releases.

As can be seen from the above list, there are many things to be done and each will require a date by which it should be completed.

Selecting staff

The number of people required to man your stand will depend on its size. The stand should appear neither overcrowded with salespeople nor under-manned.

You will probably involve all of your sales team (unless it is a small, localised exhibition, when you will only need the salespeople from the geographical area covered by the exhibition).

If your products are of a technical nature, it can be very useful to have someone from your research or production department present, to answer technical questions. You may also want a secretary to deal with the administration. You should appoint one person as the stand manager for each day. This need not be you; choose different members of your sales team for this responsibility. Apart from anything else it will help their own job development.

Training

You will need to train your salespeople in the following areas:

• Location of the stand in relation to features such as access points, toilets, restaurants and so on.

• Familiarisation with the stand layout. A model, or at least a detailed plan, is essential for this.

• Knowledge of fire and safety regulations.
• Ensure everyone has full product knowledge.
• How to approach visitors to the stand. NEVER say ‘Can I help you?’ as this usually results in a negative response. The following suggestions are more likely to bring positive replies: ‘What are you particularly interested in?’  ’Who do you normally buy from?’  ’How does this compare with what you are using at present?’
• How to complete Enquiry Forms.