Association Insight International & European Association Insights Winter 2015 | Page 22
Association Insights | Article
A very different approach needs to be taken by exhibitors at
a conference, with limited time, space and people, than that
which they would take at a normal tradeshow.
Exhibitors have to tell their story – very quickly – to
several delegates at once, in an exciting, entertaining
and compelling way, and they need to leave the delegates
wanting more. The real objective as I have learnt over many
years should be to “sell the next appointment”.
Trying to sell products or services to delegates who
are brain-strained from lectures cannot work. But an
entertaining, dramatic, attractive stand experience, lasting
no longer than a few minutes, carefully planned, scripted,
rehearsed and professionally presented will work wonders.
Another strong tip is that wherever your exhibitors or
sponsors have a seminar or presentation slot, they need to
put out feedback forms, which are simple to complete and
can yield a fortune in terms of market intelligence from the
audience.
and here is where your exhibitors will derive serious value.
particularly at conferences – can offer.
1 It is permission marketing – your delegates have chosen
to attend and if they approach a stand or walk past it,
the exhibitor is entitled to approach them. After all they
are subsidising the delegates’ attendance.
2 Exhibitors can gather enormous amounts of market
intelligence by listening carefully to the views and
comments of your delegates. They should consider the
three or four key questions that they would like to ask
and then create an appropriate way of doing so (our
Outcomes product has been proved to work extremely
well in these situations).
3 Exhibitors need to remember that there is no better
way of initiating and developing personal contacts
than meeting at a conference. All attendees are in the
same space at the same time and share a common
experience. This can develop into a relationship on
which long term business is built.
4 Exhibiting is the most measureable medium. Everything
can be planned. How many delegates do they need to
meet to end up with the required number of enquiries?
How many enquiries will they need to turn into sales
later? And at what average customer value? How many
market intelligence questions can they ask – and of how
many relevant visitors? How many more visitors now
know an exhibitors brand – and their key messages after visiting their stand?
5 Exhibitors need to be reminded that they have the
opportunity to deliver a total experience of their
organisation – not just their products and services
– but their values, their culture, their people, their
professionalism and their relevance to your audience.
If you are serious about attracting new exhibitors and
sponsors and getting existing exhibitors to return and play
insights of value both to your own organising team and to
your exhibitors.
In summary, you need to manage the expectations of all
parties and in this way; your sponsors will see what an
intensely valuable opportunity you are offering. But “if you
always do what you’ve always done – you’ll always get what
you’ve always had”.
Be brave and challenge your own teams, review the idea of
a new conference format or model, and risk changing the
exhibiting habits of a life time.
S
P
EXHIBITORS
N
S
O
R
S
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John Blaskey is an International
Exhibition Consultant at the Exhibiting Agency, and has nearly 40 years’
industry experience. He is a pioneer of
exhibiting effectively, challenging and
modifying his clients’ exhibition strategy to ensure they gain the most from
their investment.
[email protected]
22 | Winter 2015
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