DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT FOCUS?
If you own your own business or if you are responsible for elements of it, do you, like me, tend to naturally default to reviewing and focusing on its costs? Do you regularly ask yourself if there are areas where you can cut costs, and what you can do to streamline it?
I read an article recently that made me step back and rethink this approach and I wanted to share these principals with you.
It came down to focusing on two main business angles:
1. Do it better and create a uniqueness
2. Look at, and focus on revenue
Do you have a Plan B?
Imagine your display material hasn’t turned up, your stand fittings don’t fit within the space or one of your staff has come down with a bad case of the flu.
These are just some of the scenarios you could be faced with at your next event. So have you thought about a contingency or PLAN B if something like this goes wrong?
While not wanting to be an alarmist, planning – as best you can for what could go wrong – is simply smart exhibiting. Next time you’re on a stand, try and put a detailed list together of what could go wrong and use it as a checklist for your Plan B.
1. Do it better and create a uniqueness
While we do this some of the time, in tough times we may find ourselves becoming distracted and focusing on ways to cut costs, services and marketing communications. As a result we stop looking at how we can enhance our market position or effectively convey our uniqueness.
From an exhibition perspective, placing emphasis on the experience and interaction is even more important, and all the latest research points to the need for authentic customer experiences and down to earth interaction.
2. Look at, and focus on revenue
When we need to look at new ways to increase revenue, we react by focusing on our costs instead. If I say to my team we need to increase revenue, we commonly default to looking at how we can attract thousands of dollars which, in most cases, is a tall order. So we changed the goal posts and asked, “what can we do to attract small amounts from $50 – $300″?
Are there things we take for granted or that are a great value-add that really should have a service charge? In my organisation, we’ve recently spent more time looking at new opportunities for exhibitors, with a cost point that gives them a return and a small one to us as well.
When you think about it, if we transfer the amount of time we spend looking at cost-cutting to reviewing how we can increase revenue, a different outcome is achievable.
So if you apply the above to your stand at your next event, not only will you have honed in on your unique selling proposition (USP), but you will have identified up-sells that will re-engage old and attract new customers. Remember that the measure of success isn’t just return on investment (ROI), there also needs to be a review and focus on return on objectives (ROO), which is why it’s important to have these documented from the outset.
As I have discovered, I am no Robinson Crusoe! We all have the same business issues to deal with and it’s a balancing act – but with a change of focus the results could be very different. Our focus is now more positive and we use the ‘glass half full’ mantra. I hope yours is too.
See you on the floor,
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