Guest post by Michael Thimmesch of Skyline Exhibits
I asked Michael Thimmesch from Skyline Exhibits to finish up our series on Exhibit Booths. This has turned out to be quite a popular series and I thank my guest bloggers for packing in valuable information for our readers. Mike has done a really great job here winding everything up…and so without further ado…I give you Mike’s 4 words to describe what your exhibit house must do to serve you better. Mike, take it away!
The first thing an exhibit house must do for their exhibiting clients is simply to listen. Listen to what the exhibitor wants to achieve. Listen to what they think about trade shows. Listen to the image they want to portray. Listen to the activities the exhibitor wants to take place in their booth. Listen to the outcome they want from the show. Without listening, there is no trust, and without trust there’s no sharing of what the exhibitor really wants. Without listening the exhibitor is less likely to succeed in the end. But when the exhibit house truly listens, they’ll more easily hear the spark of the creative exhibiting solution we’re all looking to deliver.
Then the exhibit house must anticipate exhibitors’ needs. An experienced exhibit house knows where the common pitfalls exhibitors stumble upon are. They can see trouble ahead, whether it’s lack of time or budgets or multiple stakeholders or unrealistic expectations. Knowing what exhibitors often require, the better exhibit houses have found the best solutions to meet those common challenges. They’ve armed themselves with the ability to create exhibit solutions of all sizes and multiple styles. They can manage the entire logistics program if the exhibitor lacks the internal capacity. And because many exhibitors are charged with creating similar or greater impact with lower costs and greater flexibility, better exhibit houses find lighter weight and rentable exhibit structures with more modularity. They further anticipate exhibitors’ needs by continuing to look for new solutions to strong and emerging trends.
Next, the exhibit house needs to be a genuine advocate for their exhibiting client. Having listened intently to the client and anticipated their needs, they truly know what they’re looking for and can deliver it. They propose exhibit design solutions that fit the best interests of the exhibitor with the goal of a partnership for the long term. But advocacy doesn’t stop there. It’s also providing training so they can create a more effective and profitable trade marketing program. It’s giving the data and tools they need to help justify their trade show program to their management. It may even mean being willing to tell clients they’ve asked for exhibit features that actually prevent, rather than help achieve their marketing goals. Overall, it’s about being so vested in the success of the client that you’ll go to the wall to ensure they achieve or exceed their goals.
And finally, exhibit houses need to respond. They must deliver on exhibitors’ ever-increasing need for speed and change. Exhibiting used to be a marathon, but now it’s become both a sprint and a marathon. Island exhibits are being requested, designed and built within timeframes that used to be for inline exhibits. That’s because exhibit marketers now wait longer to book their booth space, due to economic uncertainty and the lack of need to commit to space a year in advance to reserve it. And trade shows are complex, so it’s not a question of if issues will arise, but when. Plus, exhibitors have less people on staff, which puts greater demands on the exhibit house to turn things quicker. So exhibitors require a nimble exhibit house that has structured itself with the team, technology and resources to respond quickly.
With an exhibit house that listens to the exhibitor, anticipates their needs, advocates the right solution, and responds quickly to their challenges, an exhibitor will have a complete partner that helps them achieve success on the trade show floor.
You can find Mike’s Blog at http://www.skylinetradeshowtips.com
You can find Skyline at http://www.skyline.com
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Traci & Michael. You’re dead on with these qualities. A tradeshow is an extension of an existing marketing strategy and it’s important to view your exhibit provider in a similar light you would a PR or advertising agency. As a marketing professional, keep your provider aligned with your strategy for your specific event and let them “respond” with new ideas that compliment you. You’ll find that a good exhibit provider is flexible and innovative to cater to your specific needs.
The main aspect regarding trade shows is the Trade Show Displays. Trade show displays play a vital role in drawing the customers to the stores. The trade show displays are considered as mini advertising campaigns.
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later
There are some people who underestimate the usefulness of trade shows.
Many have given up on them. In fact, more and more business owners are pulling out of trade shows. This is a wrong strategy. Instead of pulling out, they should think of various ways of improving their trade show displays and their booths. This way, they would have better shot at attracting
potential customers.
Just want to say what a great blog you got here!
I’ve been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!
Thumbs up, and keep it going!
Great series! I found this today and will be passing it on as an exhibitor resource. Thank you for the info-