Exhibitions can be a great place for you to pick up useful contacts leading to business relationships. The reason is that the organisers have brought a large number of people together who have the same interests.

Most people see exhibitions as an opportunity to collect leads, meet prospects and maybe, just maybe, make a sale or two on the day. Many business owners overlook the fact that exhibitions can be a great place to meet other companies who are operating in the same marketplace, but are offering products and services that complement yours.

To make the most of an exhibition, you really do not need to go to the cost and time investment of booking and staffing a stand. It’s very easy to attend as a delegate and talk to the other exhibitors with a view to networking. In fact, many exhibitors meet for drinks after the event has closed for the evening and business relationships established over a beer or a glass of wine.

Before setting off for the exhibition, check the event’s website to see if there is an exhibitors list. Identify the companies that you would most like to speak to and seek them out. You could speak to them to find out more about how they work, the type of customers they deal with and whether there might be scope for you to work together.

A word of caution, the exhibitors are there to talk to prospective customers and clients, so they have to come first. If you attend at the beginning or end of the day when the stands are quieter, you will have more of an opportunity to speak at length than at the lunchtime rush.

Get their contact details and cards and do your best to follow up with them after the event.

Many exhibitions have seminars or workshops as part of the event programme. If you are a confident speaker with something interesting and relevant to say, get in touch with the organisers several months beforehand to offer your services as a speaker. You may be asked to exhibit at the event in order to be considered, so weight up the value of the exposure being an expert speaker will give you against the cost of the stand.

Finally, if you know someone else who’s thinking about exhibiting, but is working on a tight budget and unable to pay staff to join them, you could come to an arrangement where you help out on their stand in exchange for being able to promote your services.

© Copyright Hannah McNamara 2007