Exhibition: A Special Art

Author: (Dutch) Ouwenel / Wu Yanting
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Ignite your passion! Inspire your creativity! Train you! Wishing you great success at your next trade show! In the Netherlands, millions of companies interested in exhibiting, as well as many trade show organizers and exhibitors, have long been familiar with this book by Désirée Ouwenel. This book, proven by the market, is a unique tool for enhancing the effectiveness of exhibitions, where every essential detail an exhibitor needs to know can be found. This book will help you answer the following questions:
· Why do we need to participate in trade shows?
· How can we get the best return from trade shows?
· What should our employees know before attending a trade show?
· What preparations should be made before the trade show starts?
· What should staff members pay attention to at the booth?
· What kind of message do we want to convey to customers?
· What is the correct way to follow up after the trade show?
Shanghai, as a modern international metropolis, hosts countless trade shows every year. With the successful bid for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, trade shows have become a highlight of the city, attracting exhibitors from around the world and visitors in droves, all of whom represent unlimited business opportunities. However, as an exhibitor, have you truly grasped the opportunities trade shows offer? How can you make your participation more rewarding? If you have carefully read Désirée Ouwenel’s book Exhibitions: A Special Art, you will surely realize: exhibiting requires an art, and only through meticulous preparation can you achieve great success.
The author has over a decade of experience in trade show training and has trained numerous companies and institutions that need to participate in trade shows, such as IT companies, financial firms, construction enterprises, food manufacturers, job centers, and universities. She has also served as a member of professional judging committees for major European trade shows on multiple occasions. Notably, before the 2000 Hannover World Expo in Germany, she trained all the staff of the Dutch Pavilion, helping them provide more (passionate and attentive) service, which resulted in significant achievements for the exhibition. The purpose of writing this book is to share successful exhibition experiences with everyone, enabling more companies and institutions to seize opportunities and gain greater benefits from trade shows.
In this book, the author first emphasizes the importance of participating in trade shows—it allows your salespeople to connect with a large number of potential customers in a short time, something absolutely impossible in daily sales, which is why trade shows are so attractive. Then, she systematically and comprehensively introduces the preparations before the trade show, the reception during the event, and the follow-up services after the trade show, guiding you through the entire process of exhibiting. She also summarizes 11 steps to successful exhibiting, including: clarifying exhibition requirements, defining target customer groups, conducting customer needs research, setting specific goals, formulating strategic plans based on goals, securing management’s (importance and support), pre-event promotion and marketing, designing activities for the trade show, establishing follow-up processes, making thorough preparations, and summarizing and evaluating after the trade show.
To ensure success in exhibiting, the author repeatedly emphasizes the importance of the quality of staff at the booth. The art of exhibiting includes the art of verbal and non-verbal communication between staff and customers, the art of staff’s appearance, behavior, and demeanor, and the art of the services provided, among others—not just the art of booth design. The success of an exhibition hinges on the performance of the staff. A successful trade show requires the passion, creativity, and effort of all participating staff. Therefore, several chapters in the book are dedicated to explaining what booth staff should do, how they should do it, and what they should avoid. The author places special emphasis on many important details, such as:
· Dress code—what men and women should pay attention to;
· Where to place hands when standing at the booth;
· How to make eye contact with customers;
· How to ask customers questions and what questions are appropriate;
· And more, including booth selection, layout, lighting, and slogans, etc.
Additionally, to ensure the success of the trade show, the author has carefully designed highly practical tables, such as the overall schedule for the exhibition, daily evaluation forms after the event, and response forms designed to facilitate communication between staff and customers.
The original version of this book is in Dutch. In the Netherlands, it is already familiar and beloved by many exhibitors because, proven by the market, it serves as a unique tool for trade show planning and enhancing exhibition effectiveness, making it an indispensable reference for company managers, marketing professionals, and trade show staff. Every essential detail an exhibitor needs to know can be found in this book.