What's the first thing you are going to do when you get to a trade show? Before you start attracting people over to your stand and making sales, you will need to set it up. This is an area in which many companies fall down, as they are simply not prepared for how troublesome getting everything prepared can be!
If you don't get yourself set up in time, you can really lose out at a trade show. The first attendees will see you as disorganised and be put off coming over and seeing what you have to offer. Meanwhile, you will be stressed out and panicked all day, further affecting your overall success!
So, what is the trick to setting up productively and on time? There are a number of things you can do to make sure everything is ready for the trade show, ensuring you get your day off to a good start. Here are our top tips for setting up an exhibition stall:
Draw up a plan
First of all, you should plot out how your stall should be structured. One of the biggest wastes of time you will encounter is having to decide where everything goes on the day. If you have all this plotted out beforehand, it will be a much quicker process.
This will also make your stall more appealing to conference attendees. If you try to find a place for everything as you're setting it all up, then eventually your promotional material will just get placed anywhere it will fit as you are pushed for time. Planning out where it will look the best is essential if you want the best results.
Have a practice session beforehand
This seems like an odd thing to do, but you should set aside some time to set up and put away your stall in your workplace before the trade show. This should give you a good idea of how long the process takes, so you can go into the exhibition ready and with all the knowledge you need.
It's all very well to have a good idea of where you want everything to go, but if it takes two hours to set up when you have only planned for one then you will be back to where you started. Setting it up beforehand will ensure you have all the time you need, and you might even get it done quicker the second time around!
Get there early and eat on the way!
Of course, the best way to get everything set up on time is to make sure you arrive at the trade show as early as possible. This can mean getting up at a ridiculous time in the morning in order to travel down, but it will be worth it. However, no matter what time you arrive, you and your employees will probably be quite tired.
You don't want people to be stopping for constant breaks midway through setting the stall up, so it is usually a good idea to have some breakfast before you arrive. This will wake you and your team up and give you the energy to set everything up on time.
