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How to get profit from participation in exhibitions

The exhibition — this is the best place to introduce the achievements and developments of your company. Here, you will immediately receive a «feedback», see the immediate reaction and opinion of your potential and present customers.

Today, participation in the exhibition — it is a large-scale, deliberate and very effective advertising campaign.

Kiev AgriHort is one of the top market international events, which includes, alongside with the exhibition itself, conferences, roundtables and workshops to provide the most complete exchange of information, skills and experience among the leading specialists of the industry.

In addition, the exhibition will bring together experts, representatives of government structures, professional associations, manufacturers and, finally, customers and clients — all of them have a unique opportunity to personally meet and talk informally, and have to communicate in the atmosphere of the exhibition. For example, on the exhibition will be specially made room for negotiation.

If you professionally organize your participation, during three days, you can find quite more useful contacts than a year of work in the office!

The exhibition — it is the modern way is on the top of the development of the industry. If you are going to be in the forefront of the industry, we welcome you to The International Agriculture and Horticulture Exhibition KievAgriHort!

Here are few tips, how and why the companies have to participate in the exhibition

Perhaps you noticed that some companies’ stands always full of visitors and potential customers, while others practically empty. What is the reason, and how to get maximum effect from this event? There are some rules that must be kept to achieve the most return of funds invested in participation of the exhibition. The practice shows that many companies are not able to participate in exhibitions. «Companies buy the space, set specimens of the products and this is the end of the exhibition organization» — note our experts.

Schedule of exhibitions

There is a need to plan and coordinate the major stages of preparation for the exhibition in advance. The first things we recommend you to start — up schedule of events in which the company must participate. Of course, the biggest and most important events, like World Food Ukraine 2009, which includes in the category of mandatory for most companies is not too much. Once more, you can include into the budget the costs in case if a new interesting event would appear.

Define the targets

We need to clearly define the goals and objectives of participation in the exhibition. Here is an indicative list of possible targets of participation in the exhibition:

• The search for new customers;
• Increase sales;
• Study of general trends in the industry;
• Exchange of experiences;
• Development cooperation;
• Monitoring of the competitors;
• Support of your status.

The objectives of the company may differ, but it is necessary to formulate them so that they were understandable to each employee. In this case, all the staff’s power will be aimed at the realization of the maximum effect and purpose of the exhibition will be reached during the further training.

Direct communication with the customer at the exhibition can increase the possibility of a contract signing by 75%!

Stand design

Hard to squeeze the recommendations on stand design in one paragraph. But there is a golden rule and the summary:

• Stand to be clear and practical;
• Make sure the visitors have to remember your stand;
• Maximum use your products in stand decoration;
• On the stand accentuate your most powerful competitive advantages.

We should not forget that the stand should be convenient for the staff. If possible, there should be three zones of the booth: negotiation, exhibition, secondary (technical).

Those who consider it inappropriate to develop stand alone, can apply to specialized companies. In Ukraine there are more than 30 companies specializing in the design and construction of the stands, the price of their service starting from $ 50 per square. m and depends on the complexity of the stand.

If you plan to more than once take part in shows and know your best «format» of the stand, it will be to develop a stand repeated use. In practice such stands are paying off for the 2—3 exhibition.

Organisation of work at the exhibition

This factor has always been and is the key. The main recommendations are:

• Before you begin an exhibition every manager who works at the stand, should be briefed and know his task;
• Obtain information from visitors in the exhibition is no less important than to provide it. It is also important to write down important facts from the conversations of visitors and the reactions to their own and competitive products, the system of reasoning (this will be useful in designing further marketing activities);
• If you hand out the catalogs and other promotional materials on the stand, it is important that managers are able to identify visitors who really need to provide appropriate materials. Otherwise the handouts will be not utilized efficiently;
• All contacts have taken place at the exhibition must be documented. To do this, should develop a simple (no more than 5 points) survey questionnaire;
• You may not sit down being on the stand (with the exception of the negotiations);
• Forbidden to eat lunch in the square of the stand;
• if the stand is less than 10 square meters, preferably to stay outside of the stand.

Work on the stand is rather exhausting physically and psychologically, so care about dinners and drinks availability of the managers.

Aftershow work

The effectiveness of participation in exhibitions at the 50% depends on how the company will be able to use information gathered during the exhibition. This is concerning, most of all the gathered contacts with potential partners and customers.

Mainly, during the exhibition, the visitors declare willingness to cooperate, are pre-dating, and gather lots of information but rarely make an order and sign the contract. That is why it is important not to allow the collected contacts to be «cooled down and obsolete» and use all their potential immediately after the exhibition. It has to be added to the customer base and develop a productive relationship with visitors to your stand. This approach makes it possible to realistically assess the profit of the exhibition.

You should keep in mind that the results of successful participation may be obtained only after 1—6 months.

So, while the participation in exhibitions is not a cheap pleasure, but should take into account the complex effect, which gives the work in the exhibitions. In this case, the costs can be profitable investments.