The Most Successful Show Organizers Know… An Educated Exhibitor is a Long Term Exhibitor!
Most Budget Items Are Just Costs. Here’s One That Actually Pays!
A survey of 2,530 association and for profit show organizers found that 67% feel exhibitor education is important to the success of their show. That’s one reason successful show organizers make room in their budget. Another is because exhibitor education – when done properly – doesn’t cost, it pays through increased retention, leading to net square footage and ancillary revenue growth.
So, where do you find the money and how do you cost-justify exhibitor education?
- Realize you’ve got a lot to gain and a lot to lose.
- GAIN: Increased exhibitor retention, net square footage growth, and ancillary exhibitor revenue growth can all be traced to our programs.
- LOSS: The cost of exhibitor attrition, the cost to replace lost exhibitors, plus the time spent dealing with dissatisfied exhibitors who blame your show for their lac of success, when in reality they just don’t know how to execute an effective exhibit!
- Consider the revenue you generate from ONE single booth space. Would it be worth investing the revenue from just a few booth spaces to help retain a lot more exhibitors?
- Divide the total exhibitor educational program investment by your paid Net Square Footage. It’s only a few pennies per square foot.
- Talk to your general service contractor, registration system, and lead retrieval providers about co-sponsoring your program. They too have a lot to gain from increased exhibitor retention.
- Measure retention, net square footage growth, and ancillary revenue generated from participating exhibiting companies. You’ll find our program is paying for itself, many times over.
The most successful shows budget for exhibitor educational programs. It’s one of the secrets to their success.