Looking back to last year's blogs on briefing a new stand designer I thought we should look how you choose between them and pick your new partner.

Hopefully by now you’ve had in at least three different stand designs from different companies.  They all look great but how do you judge them and decide who to go with?  Here’s a few thoughts on the way I’d make a decision:

Stand / Brand Interpretation

It’s very easy to look at a stand design and rule it out because your logo has been placed in a way you don’t like.  I agree that it’d be great if any designer could view your website and any branding guidelines you have and be able to interpret them correctly.  However,  designers are designers because they’re good at extrapolating ideas and taking them further than you could.  Hence, I say don’t look at the design as fixed, look at it as a complex set of elements that can showcase what you want and be changed to fit your ideals better.  So look at the designs with an open mind.  View the overall impression, the way the tall elements bring attention to your brand from afar, the way the demonstration requirements have been designed and the way the look and feel of the quality fits your brand.

It’s easy to score points for design but make sure that you’ve given them the right information to start with.

Experience

What experience have you had whilst dealing with the designers?  Were they open to ideas?  Did you speak to the designer directly or were your briefs/opinions interpreted and past on by a sales (sorry, Business Development) Manager? Did their values sync with yours?  If you were able to visit their offices/view their website etc - how does that make you feel?  Do those feelings suit you and your brand?  ie don’t expect a basic pre-packed grated cheese if you are a cheese aficionado and hunt out specialist cheeses.

Response Time

Be honest now - are you a demanding customer?  Do you expect answers immediately and to speak to the manager whenever you want?  We all should expect that level of service so think back to how quickly and in detail you got responses to your questions?  If they can’t be bothered to respond quickly when they’re trying to win your business, how are they going to be when it’s contracted?

Price

Last but not least - price.  Do check the quote in details - what does it include and what is excluded?  How many graphics are shown?  What lighting is included?  Is it sufficient for your needs?  Be very careful here - you may change your mind and need more items afterwards and these could come in very expensive so let’s hope you know what you’re comparing.Can you re-use the stand for less cost next time?  What is the cost of storage?  How easy will it be to change for the next show?

On the last blog we discussed why you’d want to change a stand designer when you’ve already got one.  Now we’ll expand the conversation to look at how you find someone to meet your needs.  You may want to use someone with experience of the suppliers but equally you may want to manage this yourself.  As ever with marketing, I recommend you start with some questions to make sure that you know what you want out of the designer.

Where are you based?  Do you want a stand designer that you can meet regularly?  Do you want a stand designer in the country that you’re exhibiting in?

Where is the exhibition?  Check the exchange rates to see if it’s advantageous to use local or foreign designers - obviously this changes day by day but it’s worth consideration. I’ve found it can be worthwhile taking a large simple stand over to the US to install there but it’s not often cost effective to bring a US stand over to Europe.

If the exhibition is in the US don’t forget that you need to use local labour and pay drayage (movement of the goods from your vehicle to the stand) both of these can add considerably to your costs.

How much are you willing to pay?  Think about your brand and the quality level you want.  As with any supplier you can pay a lot for a highly spec’d, top quality build but are you just paying for the stand designer’s brand and reputation?  You can also pay the bare minimum but end up with rough painted wood which doesn’t reflect the clean lines and profile of your brand.

Who do you know?  Can any of your partners or suppliers recommend any stand designers? Are you still in contact with old colleagues or companies within your industry - ask them who they use.  I do find that it’s good to use designers who have experience of the industry I’m working in.  It’s much more challenging to use a designer who builds fantastically creative backdrops when you need a high tech ergonomic design.

Are you connected on LinkedIn?  Join some exhibition based groups and ask them for recommendations. 

Even with all my contacts and industry knowledge I’m always interested in meeting new suppliers and building relationships.  As such I did all of this recently and found some new suppliers in the US and across Europe, all of whom came recommended and were worth starting a conversation with. 

I’ve recently been exploring options for a client who wanted to put his stand design to tender.  This is always a fascinating experience as I usually start from scratch.  I may know a great bunch of stand designers who can quote but are they the right people for this job.  Are they going to provide the right level of service at the right price?  Do I need to look further afield and bring in a fresh pool of talent?

This blog series is going to explain the processes to go through and outline some thoughts on how best to brief the stand designer to get the quote and stand you want.

In my role as freelance event manager I sit in an interesting position.  My priority is the clients needs, but I also maintain relationships with the suppliers so they feel motivated and part of the team.  I manage politics and different cultures - would a European stand builder understand the constraints and issues of an America corporate? Would an American corporate appreciate the creativity of a European stand builder?

My preference is always to pay for quality - of products and of service.   Some clients don’t want this and cost is the number one priority.  I’ve let clients skimp on costs previously and it never works out well in the end.  The direct contact may feel good that they’ve got their budget down but then their bosses come along and are not happy about the way the brand is displayed.  Even in these times where everyone is fighting for new business, you have to pay for quality.

So why would you change designers if you’ve been working with someone for a couple of years?  After all you’ve built up a good relationship with them, you know how to get the best out of the staff on site, they know what the client needs and how they react to new ideas.  Change isn’t always easy but it is usually refreshing and opens up new avenues.

For most clients we put the design out to tender every couple of years, not to annoy the stand designers but to make sure that we’re getting value for money and that we’re not in a design rut. I’m always open and honest with the companies making them aware of the situation so that they know that  it’s not quite an even playing field but that there is still a fair chance that the business can be won.  I then leave it up to the designer to opt into the process. Once they opt in, they’re briefed and their every move is mentally noted to make sure that we’re getting the right level of service from the beginning.

As a small business in tough times I’m looking at every opportunity to grow my business and find new avenues.  In the process I’ve spent some time getting trained up on government procurement processes, entering my details on their websites and looking at tenders.  It all looks very interesting and quite promising but is it worth the effort?

I have to confess that I hit a brick wall as I downloaded and started to complete a tender offer.  The level of information required and the time commitment I’d have to put in did seem excessive for the possibility of being included in a short list. It also goes against my core beliefs and ignores my strengths. Simply put, how can I get the quality of my service across in paper?  I can dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’.  I can make sure there are no errors and that my text is compelling but I truly don’t believe that I can sell my service without being in front of someone and explaining my way of doing business and show my passion and commitment.

The strange thing is - I’m a systems person - I love creating and managing systems and so I should love the objective simplicity of a form or two.  But there is something about the lack of personality, the dryness of it all that just made me give up and not take it any further.  

Personally I think you need to be committed to that way of working - it’s not something you can dabble at or do alongside another way of working.  Or of course, you could have extra staff and so allocate one person to tenders - getting them trained up on the processes and minutiae of the forms, so they know how to make you stand out.  As a one-woman company I simply don’t have the time to dedicate to it.  Having said that, if you complete these forms regularly then I’m sure they will become much easier and so the time taken up to complete them reduces.

Maybe it’s the mountain that is in front of me that puts me off - I certainly recognise the need to give equal objective opportunities to every supplier and maybe these forms do that. However, I’m not convinced when I see small businesses ruled out on the basis that their turnover is not high enough, even if they are planning to join together with associates to fulfil the project and have proven in the past that they are more than capable of managing the size of project.

No, all in all I think I’ll look for business elsewhere - after all, I want to do business with people, not with paperwork so I’m going to look for people who want to talk to me.