Page 16 - EXHIBITION BOOK - BOOK 1 Before!_Neat

CHAPTER 5 DECIDING ON THE RIGHT STAND LOCATION FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Anytime I have been selling a show from the beginning, companies want to be right at the front of the
show as they feel it’s the best location. For some maybe it is but personally I disagree. The first thing I do
when I walk into an exhibition hall is to walk fast into the show…maybe that is my own insecurity that I’m
going to get accosted by the first exhibitor! But, I am not unique in that and have observed people walking
into exhibition halls over the years and suddenly feeling overwhelmed they keep walking to the safety of
the centre of the show. The exhibitor at the front doesn’t get the opportunity to greet them as they are
running away! Also, the other time the exhibitor at the front gets to see them is when they are walking out
the front door after pounding the aisles for a few hours…I think you will agree that this is not ideal either.

My own opinion would be to be located centre to back of the hall as by the time visitors get to your stand
they are more relaxed and have already started to formulate ideas as to what exactly they want or are
looking for. A more relaxed focused visitor is exactly what you want at an exhibition. Look at the image
below…. personally, if I was choosing a location I would be aiming to be in the area with stand numbers
B12/B16/C16/12 because they are central, not too close to the front and face the front door and by the
time the visitor reaches you is far more relaxed! Now obviously not everyone can have these locations, but
a good rule of thumb tends to be the more open the stand the better and central…. when I say open I
mean stands that are situated on a corner as they tend to get more visibility.

Some other considerations you should give thought to are who are your neighbors and how big are their
stands, I say this because you don’t want to be dwarfed by a huge stand beside you as it may take away
from your stand and reduce its impact. I would also be careful about being directly beside a very similar
competitor as whilst it may be good for a bit of banter, my experience is that it puts off visitors because
they may not wish to go to both of you and visitor awkwardness = visitor not engaging…. It’s perfectly
normal and acceptable to ask the Organizer who is situated in the stands around you and I would have to