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Today's Insights: How to make your company stand out at the exhibition?
Table of Contents
- Importance of Exhibition Days
- Booth Management Strategies
- Engaging Customers Without a Booth
- Dealing with Low-Traffic Exhibitions
- Joint Exhibitions with Local Partners
- Post-Exhibition Follow-Up
Importance of Exhibition Days
Overseas exhibitions usually last for 3 to 5 days, and longer exhibitions are rare. Therefore, if you want to find high-quality target customers within a limited time, the days of the exhibition are particularly important.
When I first started doing foreign trade, I participated in overseas exhibitions. On the first day, I would try my best at the booth—receiving people, exchanging business cards, and explaining in detail. As a result, I was exhausted and my voice was hoarse when I returned to the hotel at the end of the day.
Later, I followed up on the business cards I received and found that many of the people who came to the booth were not target customers and were not even related to the industry I was in. They just came to take a look.
The experience of participating in overseas exhibitions again and again has allowed me to summarize a set of my own exhibition strategies.
Booth Management Strategies
First of all, we can divide the types of exhibitions into two categories: those where foreign trade enterprises have their own booths, and those where they do not reserve booths and just visit the exhibition.
Let’s discuss the first scenario. The booth is the base and headquarters of the company. Generally, if you participate in an exhibition, even if you book the smallest booth, the company will send at least 3-5 people. This number of people is essential for handling reception duties at the booth effectively.
Every time I participate in an exhibition, I bring a new notebook and a stapler. After negotiating with each guest who visits the booth, I staple the business card I receive from them to the notebook and make a simple note about the negotiation and future steps.
I do this because I believe it is disrespectful to write directly on the other party’s business card. Another advantage is that if the other party does not have a business card, I ask them to write their name, email address, and mobile phone number directly in the notebook.
When a customer is willing to leave their contact information, it indicates that they are interested in your product and want to communicate further. This notebook becomes an important asset after the exhibition.
However, it’s important to confirm the email address and mobile phone number with the customer after they write it down. I learned this the hard way at a previous exhibition. After returning home, I found that several letters and numbers were unclear, leading to the inability to contact some of the people I met, resulting in lost opportunities.
For companies with booths, there is another way to efficiently find high-quality customers. I enter the exhibition hall the day before the exhibition starts to remember the exhibition halls and booth locations of my peers, especially the best ones.
From the morning of the first day of the exhibition, I take turns watching the booths of these competitors. I stand at a distance and observe which customers enter their booths, especially those who sit down for a long negotiation. Once they leave the booth, I approach them after a short interval.
I tell the customer that I saw them visit another booth and suggest exchanging business cards. I then offer to give them a detailed introduction at our booth, along with a small gift. This method has been highly effective in attracting potential big buyers.
Engaging Customers Without a Booth
In the second scenario, where there is no booth, I take advantage of the freedom this offers. I focus on the booths of my peers during the busiest times at the exhibition. After customers leave, I quickly approach them, hand out business cards, and introduce myself.
For customers who engage in deep conversation, I suggest taking a break in the nearby coffee area to continue the discussion at a more relaxed pace.
By employing this strategy at an exhibition in Mumbai, I once collected business cards from over 100 companies in three days, all of which were target customers with genuine needs.
Camping at a competitor’s booth is the most direct and efficient way to acquire customers at an exhibition, and the results are much better than passive reception at your own booth.
Dealing with Low-Traffic Exhibitions
As mentioned earlier, the flow of customers at an exhibition in Tehran was very low. I have also participated in several exhibitions where the attendance was sparse.
In such cases, the only option is to carefully screen everyone entering the exhibition hall and guide those with relevant needs to your booth.
Once, at an exhibition in Pakistan, the turnout was low. Recognizing the situation, I moved a roll-up banner prepared for the booth to an entrance with the most traffic and stood there with the company’s product brochures, offering a brief introduction to everyone who entered.
Though few people attended, every customer who entered quickly saw my products. I used a simple English sentence as an opener: “If you have a clear demand for our products, you can go directly to our booth, or I can take you there, and a professional colleague will give you a detailed introduction.”
Uninterested people didn’t respond after seeing the roll-up banner and brochures, but customers with a purchasing intent directly asked where the booth was. After a brief chat, I guided them to the booth, handed them off to my colleagues, and then returned to the entrance.
In quiet exhibition settings, this kind of proactive engagement makes customers feel the enthusiasm and professionalism of your company. Especially when other exhibitors are not as active, customers are likely to have a deeper impression of you.
In my experience, low-traffic exhibitions are generally small-scale. The customers I receive at the entrance often return before leaving the exhibition, either with new questions or just to say goodbye. This repeated interaction helps establish stronger customer relationships.
Joint Exhibitions with Local Partners
Another cost-effective method for small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve good publicity and customer acquisition is to jointly exhibit with local partners. This approach, however, requires strong cooperation and trust between the enterprise and the local partners, as well as the personal ability of the salesperson.
For example, in my early years working in the oilfield drilling equipment industry, I once participated in an exhibition in Singapore with a customer. The local partner was our buyer, a pure trading company, but they had extremely rich sales resources.
After discussion, we decided that I and a technical colleague would jointly exhibit as manufacturer technical support. The partner allocated a small area for us in their booth, but the location was excellent, and the sample brochures we sent in advance were displayed.
At the exhibition, I deliberately appeared "non-active" and let them engage with customers first. When technical product questions arose, I guided the customers to me. I would then hand out sample brochures, exchange business cards, and begin discussions.
This form of joint exhibition with local customers requires trust between the two parties. During the exhibition, I did not participate in any business or quotation discussions; my partners handled those separately. Only product-related questions, such as technical parameters and delivery inquiries, were answered by me.
This business principle must not be broken. I completely suppressed the urge to "talk directly to end customers." Additionally, joint exhibitions have many advantages, such as not needing to invest as much energy in market promotion and development.
Post-Exhibition Follow-Up
The most important aspect of participating in an exhibition is the follow-up after it ends. I recall attending an exhibition in India before the pandemic, where I met many potential customers.
Besides selling products, I also aimed to find local partners and establish assembly production lines to save on the high tariffs on finished product imports, enabling lower-priced local sales.
When I discussed my cooperation model with customers at the exhibition, everyone showed great interest and invited me to visit their companies afterward to discuss further.
After that exhibition, I visited many cities in India and met with numerous customers. They were all very enthusiastic and cooperative, even inviting me into their homes. I was well-prepared, having done my homework in advance, and I engaged in detailed discussions on cooperation plans.
The most critical task after the exhibition is to send emails to customers shortly after returning home. Review the negotiation content recorded in the customer information notebook and make the necessary arrangements for follow-up.
A small suggestion: if time permits during the exhibition, try to take a photo with potential customers who have a clear intent. When you send a follow-up email, include the photo. This action will remind the customer of their experience with you and will help you stand out among the many exhibitors they encountered.
