Exhibitions are a major source of new business for many companies, so wowing prospects and existing customers is critical. As well as making a great impression with your exhibition stand, your stand staff should enjoy themselves! Here are a few tips on reducing anxiety:

• Anticipate technical difficulties. If you’re using or demonstrating equipment allow enough time for troubleshooting – and have a back-up plan!
• Don’t sit down on your exhibition stand and wait for visitors, approach them and engage in conversation.
• Use engagement tools and interactive media to encourage visitors on to your stand.  Games and surveys are a great way to engage and capture visitor data that can also be used for personalised post show follow up.
• Avoid eating and drinking on your stand, it makes the stand less inviting.  Instead provide staggered scheduled breaks for staff to get a bite to eat away from the stand.
• Cushion the floor. Selling all day is hard enough without standing on carpeted concrete.
• Have fun – an upbeat stand stops more people!

Before you book your exhibition stand space, ask yourself some straightforward questions:

• Why are we exhibiting at this show?
• What products/services will we be promoting?
• What do we want to achieve from attending this exhibition?
• What will we be doing to achieve the results?
• What image do we want to project?
• How does this specific exhibition fit into our broader sales and marketing plans?

Your answers to these questions form specific objectives needed for a successful exhibition. And remember, the objectives you set should be measurable and obtainable. If you set a specific number of leads to generate or units to sell, you will find it much easier to judge your success at the end of the show. Setting challenging goals for performance is important, but don’t be unrealistic – you want to succeed.