Seriously, will your exhibition stand actually sell anything?

You’re certainly hoping it will, because you wouldn’t be spending your company budget on it if it didn’t. However we have some bad news – exhibition stands don’t actually sell anything (well very little anyway).

Imagine that at your next event, you set up your stand and then walk away, leaving no-one around for the whole show. How many orders do you think you’ll get as a result of your ‘presence’ over the following days? You might receive a couple of puzzled calls asking why there was no one to talk to, or asking for information, but let’s face it, they can always get that from your website. Your exhibition stand will have done nothing to bring in the business.

The truth is, what really sells your products and services is your people.

Customers who are interested in buying from you will visit your stand to find out why they should place an order. But your stand – unless you’ve invested in some ingenious AI – simply can’t move prospective customers down the sales funnel on its own.

As such, when it comes to your next show, it’s worth thinking about what your exhibition stand can and should do for you. And, the good news is that the right stand will play a critical part in the selling process.

So, how do you ensure bang for buck?

Firstly, your stand should stop people in their tracks and grab their attention. No matter how good your products and services are, your attendance is unlikely to generate those all-important sales if you don’t actually talk to anyone. That’s why you should maximise your exhibition space using colour, signage and lights to draw visitors to you like moths to a flame.

Secondly, your exhibition stand must be a catalyst for sales conversations to help get the orders flowing. As such, your stand not only has to look good, it also needs to support your business objectives and work with your people during the event. To do this, you need to align your stand with these conversations and provide a consistent visitor journey. Where suitable, you could also consider using interactive technology to help bring your stand to life, give customers another reason to engage, and experience the benefits of your product/services for themselves.

If your stand fails in one, or both of these ways, no matter how much money you spend, your stand won’t bring in the business you need.

Big or small, modular or custom-built, at Apex, our designs always take these two essential functions into consideration. Of course your stand must look great, show off your brand, and set you apart from your competitors, but it must also have that extra dimension that brings in the footfall, and allows your sales team to start those all-important conversations.

An exhibition stand on its own may not sell anything, but we know how to make sure it’s the reason that serious business gets done.

Apex creates award winning modular and custom built exhibition stands that look fantastic, and are created specifically around your objectives. Click here to find out more or give us a call today on + 44 (0)1625 429370 to discuss your requirements in more depth.