The Exhibitionist. Steve Reeder

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      First published in Great Britain by

      Practical Inspiration Publishing, 2019

      © Nichola Reeder and Steve Reeder, 2019

      The moral rights of the authors have been asserted

      ISBN 978-1-7886-0092-7

      All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the authors.

      Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

       CONTENTS

       About the authors

       Introduction

       PART I: Why engage?

       Chapter 1: Why trade shows matter even more in the digital age

       Chapter 2: Are trade shows the right tactic for your business?

       PART II: P.I.E.

       Chapter 3: Planning

       3.1 SMART objective setting

       3.2 Which show?

       3.3 Budget planning

       3.4 Buying your space

       3.5 Stand design

       3.6 The exhibitor manual

       3.7 Lead capture

       3.8 Pre-show marketing

       Chapter 4: Implementation

       4.1 On-site final build

       4.2 Selecting your stand squad

       4.3 Opening lines

       4.4 Squad training

       4.5 Filtering visitors – prioritising prospects and leads

       Chapter 5: Evaluation

       5.1 Breakdown

       5.2 Follow-up

       5.3 Evaluation

       PART III Final considerations

       Chapter 6: Maximising the media

       Chapter 7: Going global

       Closing remarks

       Contact details

       Bibliography

       ABOUT THE AUTHORS

      Before you start on the journey to your trade show success, it might help to know a little more about us and why we’re hoping to inspire you to think differently about your own campaign. In different ways we’ve been involved in trade shows and exhibitions for more than 20 years collectively, as exhibitors, visitors and helping organisers to add value to their events.

      We started out much the same way as many of you will, inheriting the planning and execution of a trade show as a ‘development’ project, with a reasonably sized budget but very limited information on what had and hadn’t worked in the past. The only way we learnt how to do it was to ask questions, lots of them, about everything from where to store huge boxes of chocolate or crates of beer, to which colours are most likely to catch a visitor’s eye on graphics and how many staff to have on your stand. We asked everyone from event organisers to stand design agencies, visitors, other exhibitors, venue managers and logistics experts and found that everyone had a different version of the truth. One of the most important things we learnt on our own trade show journey is that there isn’t one single truth when it comes to trade show execution. So much depends on the specific circumstances, objectives and resources of an organisation that not every piece of advice is going to work for every single exhibitor or event. However, there are some general principles that help provide a framework of best practice that help inform decision-making and generate powerful results.

      Steve Reeder

      Logistics guru and lover of a planning spreadsheet, I thrive on working out how to get all your kit, equipment and people there on time, in full and with all the right permissions. My areas of expertise are in the operational aspects of trade shows, understanding the Exhibitor Manual and scheduling what needs to happen when to make sure an exhibition stand looks as engaging and professional as possible. As a quick-thinking problem-solver, I have overcome several challenges on behalf of clients including regularly finding homes for stock and kit when no one has booked storage, writing risk assessments and health and safety statements when exhibitors arrive on-site without either, and getting very large boxes through very small holes.

      Nichola Reeder

      I thrive on discovering an exhibitor’s commercial selling story and bringing that to life through their stand, pre-show marketing, squad training and follow-up. Finding the reasons why an exhibitor’s product or service meets (and exceeds) a visitor’s need brings the whole campaign to life, and for me it’s the core to so many other decisions and actions that will ensure a trade show fills an organisation’s sales pipeline. Having delivered trade show campaigns on behalf of multinational organisations, I also understand the crucial role the stand squad play in the success of the show and have trained exhibitors on how to engage, develop and filter visitors to ensure that the most valuable visitors become future buyers.

      We’ve worked on several different projects as exhibitors ourselves as well as with clients who need either a guiding hand with their decision-making or want us to do all the work for them. We also work with event organisers on several exhibition elements including exhibitor training courses, developing and managing live