Page 4 - EXHIBITION BOOK - BOOK 1 Before!_Neat

you simply can’t get with other forms of marketing. I am biased because I am in the industry, but these are
not my simple flights of fancy…these are real facts. If you simply see Exhibitions as a waste of time, I firmly
believe that you have either done the wrong one or didn’t approach the one you did correctly. When you
are learning to ride a bike, you don’t get off the bike after your first fall and say the bike doesn’t work.

Exhibitions are no different and require hard work and effort but what you get in return are long lasting
results and ones and strong client relationships that last long long beyond the halls of the exhibition
centre. Face to face relationships are stronger and longer lasting. A website or ad in a magazine is great but
it’s no substitute for real face to face interaction or the opportunity to make your personality and product
shine. I give you an example of this from an article I did recently on Linkedin, whilst it’s not specifically
exhibition hall related, I think you will agree it makes the point….

I had been prospecting an office furniture company to do a show with me and they were a big name in the
industry and I really wanted them onboard. During our phone conversation we got to a semi agreement
that they would take a stand at the show (circa €1500) I felt he was really buying into the event but didn't
really understand that taking a small space wasn't going to benefit him much as office furniture is
obviously big! I didn't (at the time) particularly want to go and visit him as it was quite a distance away and
felt I could cover more clients and get more business by staying put in my warm office and not having to
stress about traffic. However, I also thought I was doing him a disservice by just taking the stand and
"winging" it so decided to make the journey to his factory.

After arriving and looking at his product range it became obvious this guy was a major player and he was
very excited about his new ranges. We sat down and discussed the show we agreed that the stand he
booked really wasnt going to do him justice and that he wanted to take more. We spent an hour looking at
different options and how he could really use the show as a springboard to launch his new range of office
furniture. It was a really enjoyable chat as you could see on his face how excited he was about his business
and the opportunities. I walked out of there with an order for over €20k. He commented to me that he had
considered lots if shows before but had never done one because nobody had ever called to see him in
person because they felt his premises was too far away. It was a simple throw away comment but has
always stuck with me because it shows how easy we assume things sitting in an office and not being
actually in front of a customer where we can build a far stronger relationship.

I’m Stephan Murtagh, The Exhibition Guy and welcome to the world I live in every day a world that is hard
work, ever changing, dynamic & stressful sometimes but ultimately a world full of great opportunities. I
hope you enjoy this little book and please feel free to give me any feedback either positive or negative at
any stage on stephan@theexhibitionguy.com