Crowded booths, blurred advertising graphics or even worse: only insufficient power supply at the booth. As trade fair construction experts, we at SYMA know all the possible stumbling blocks and can help you to skilfully avoid them right from the start. In this article we uncover for you what we consider to be the 8 most common mistakes in trade fair construction, so that we can work together to counteract them.
1. mistakes in trade fair construction: start planning too late
The cardinal mistake in trade show planning is being tardy. The earlier you start pre-fair planning, the better. The planning process always involves a lot of questioning, fiddling, discussing, rejecting and redesigning. Each venue and supplier has specific deadlines that must be met or costs can quickly mount. For a well thought-out trade fair presentation, sufficient lead time is therefore essential to prevent short-term problems from ruining the valuable work.
2nd mistake: Choose the wrong fair
At the beginning of every trade fair and stand construction planning is the selection of the appropriate format. If you present yourself at the wrong place and at the wrong time, you waste important resources. Questions that must be answered are: Is the trade fair you are planning to attend the right one for your project? Is your target group present at the trade fair? Will you achieve the desired reach with the trade fair format? We will be happy to support you in this decision with a trade fair stand tailored precisely to your objectives and the size of your company.
Error 3: Optimizable budget planning
Of central importance for every trade fair construction project is a clearly defined budget in advance, which in the best case also takes into account possible unplanned costs arising at short notice. In our experience, change requests sometimes only occur in the final moments of implementation or can only be expressed by the customer in this phase. For these situations, it is advisable to include a small reserve item in the initial budget planning.
For the calculation basis of the stand builder it is important and decisive: The more concretely you as the customer can communicate your wishes and ideas already at the beginning of the planning phase (in the briefing phase), the easier it is for the stand builder to give an accurate and realistic cost estimate.
4th error: inaccurate specification of pantographs
Another classic among the sources of error in trade fair construction: power devices. If not all electronic devices, or their positions on the booth, are considered and properly planned for, serious challenges can arise during the event. Especially strong current collectors, such as sausage and water boilers or large coffee machines are easily forgotten in the planning phase. Therefore, all devices and current collectors that are used at the exhibition stand should really be taken into account by our exhibition stand construction team in the electrical planning. After all, once the stand has been completely erected, it can be annoying, costly and sometimes even impossible to tear up the floor again.
Error 5: Careless transport planning
As a stand builder, we calculate the total volume of stand construction material on the basis of the stand design approved by the customer, on the basis of which the transport to and from the exhibition site is organised. These logistic costs are thus reflected in the stand builder’s offer.
The transport of customer exhibits, advertising material, electrical appliances etc. is not included in any of these transports and is also not calculated in the offer.
If you would like to provide the stand builder with transport goods, please inform him in good time – this can prevent many misunderstandings and also costs!
6. mistake: poor quality advertising material
If you plan to use printed advertising materials such as banners, canvases or similar over a longer period of time, then take care: the material can easily become brittle or lose its shape during storage. Always check the condition of the material in advance. In the case of graphics, photos, videos, PDFs and other digital data, you as the customer should always check the quality, correctness and completeness before handing them over for printing, as this check is not the responsibility of the stand builder.
7. error: fully cleared exhibition stand
Booth spaces like to be filled so extensively with exhibits and giveaways that you’d think you were at a fair. What is often behind it: an internal conflict between marketing and sales. So clarify in advance which exhibits you absolutely want to have physically on your stand, and which can be added virtually, for example. Full exhibition stands look unattractive, overloaded and also cause higher transport and cost expenditure.
Error 8: Incorrect behaviour of the stand personnel
Train your stand personnel! This creates a professional and warm impression from the very first “welcome”. A uniform, clean appearance and a friendly smile are already the first success at the trade fair stand. Also, the team should have a good sense of balance between “activity” and “restraint”. Both overactive and uninvolved staff can be a deterrent to trade show visitors. In addition, professionals at the booth should be accurate when taking contact information from potential customers. Keyword: Follow-Up.
Our job is to point out all these sources of error as early as the briefing phase and to communicate all the necessary information right from the start so that the entire trade fair stand planning process, from the first sketch to the finished stand, can proceed smoothly and in a relaxed manner. Contact our team of experts and get the best ideas for your next trade fair appearance.
