Why your stand isn't producing leads, and what to do
Most of an exhibition budget goes on space and build, but the return comes from the number of conversations that happen on the stand. Everything hinges on that, and it's the cheapest line item.
The typical failure
The familiar sight at trade fairs: an expensive stand, good materials, and two people behind the counter looking at their phones. Visitors walk past because nothing engages them. That isn't the staff's fault; nobody told them what the job actually was.
The counter is a physical barrier too: if staff stand behind it, the visitor has to step into the space, which requires a decision. Facing the aisle lowers that threshold dramatically.
What to do differently
None of this needs a bigger budget, only a different brief.
- Give staff a specific opening line, not the instruction to 'approach people'
- Give them one qualifying question: what they do, what problem they have
- Capture leads with a note, not just a business card
- Put someone in front of the counter, not behind it
- Close each day: what worked, what didn't, start tomorrow with that
How to measure it
Footfall is not a metric. The number that matters is qualified conversations and annotated leads captured per day. Without that, next year's decision is made on feeling again.
On a 20 m² stand, 25-40 substantive conversations a day is realistic with two people working the aisle.
The takeaway
Stand ROI is decided by conversation count. Supply an opening line, a qualifying question and a note template, and measure daily.
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