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FAQ — Flooring (Carpet and Padding)

September 20th, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS
Carpet and Padding

Carpet and Padding

Attractive flooring is essential to any successful trade show display. The first choice is often carpeting. The reasons are obvious. It’s available in many colors, it’s easy to transport and maintain, and paired with the right padding, it’s comfortable. To get you started in the right direction, here are some basic FAQ’s.

1. How do I calculate the amount of carpet I need?

Just follow these easy steps.

1.    Calculate your square footage – this is done by multiplying the length of the area by the width of the area: 10 x 20 booth space will be 200 sq ft.
2.    You will then need to calculate the carpet needed to cover the square footage.

  • If your carpet is 12’ wide, and your area is 10 x 20, you will have to purchase a 12 x 20 to cover the area = 240 sq ft.
  • If your carpet is 10’ wide, you will then order 200 sq ft.

3.    It is always safe to order an extra foot of carpet to insure you are totally covered in your area.

2. Is it better to rent or purchase exhibit/event carpet?

It depends on your short-term or long-term needs. It is more cost-effective to rent carpet if your schedule of exhibits is minimal. However, if you have several planned activities over a scope of time, you could experience significant cost-savings by purchasing.

3. How can I get versatile use of my carpet?

While carpeting is one of the most budget-friendly flooring options, inventive solutions such as dying carpet to custom PMS colors, binding, or incorporating custom inlays or logos will prove to be cost-effective while transforming the floor for other non-trade show projects.

4. How can I extend the longevity of my carpet use?

Taking care of your carpet during storage and transportation will extend the longevity of the carpet. Here are a few tips:

  • Store and ship in carpet bags
  • Store carpet on cores. This is very important – NEVER fold your carpet during storage or transportation
  • Store in a dry storage
  • Clean carpet before storing
  • Remove stains as soon as they happen
  • Repair all holes after each event

Next, FAQ — Visionary Designs Hybrid Exhibits.

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Word on the Street — October 19th thru October 23rd

October 22nd, 2009 Mel White COMMENTS
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Selling Value in A Price-Driven Market

This week, I’d like to share an online article. The article struck a chord with me because it addresses “Value.” In nearly every face-to-face meeting I’ve had over the past 12-18 months with distributors, suppliers, and co-workers, they have  asked me how I define and sell value in a market dominated by price.

When apples are being compared to apples, especially in a price-driven market, how do I, as a salesperson, differentiate myself from the competition?

Rather than copying the entire article, here is the link:  http://builderradio.com/blog/?p=743. Give it a read or a listen. 

Everyday, we face many of the same issues. For example, rentals exhibits are huge right now. For those who have rental divisions that’s a good thing. But as a salesperson selling new exhibits, how can you move a prospective renter into a new purchase? In the current economy, the cards are often stacked against you.

But let’s use Bill’s logic from the article and apply it to exhibits . . .

Why not make your “new” exhibit offering so different and include so many additional benefits that the buyer assigns a value that exceeds the cost differential?

So how do you do this? I am not pretending to have all the answers, but for me, it starts with realizing that “Value” is not a concrete thing. It’s a moving target that can mean a million and one different things to different people. It doesn’t always mean the lowest price, and it’s something that cannot always be seen or shown in renderings or on a quote sheet. More often than not, it’s NOT something on the Front Page, but on the inside pages.

In the exhibits we design and manufacturer, value starts on the inside pages:  What happens once the order is placed? Here are some valuable add-ons that I believe sets us (and you) apart from our competition and allows you to succeed in less obvious ways: 

  • Fast and reliable turnaround times. With customers holding on to their money until the last minute that’s often the difference between getting the order and not getting the order.
  • Detailed setup instructions with actual photos showing the more complex components.
  • Setup instructions that are available 24 hours a day for download off the web should they ever get lost, misplaced, or destroyed (just go the home page at Classic and enter your job number).
  • Detailed, level-by-level or slipsheet-by-slipsheet packaging instructions. These details make it much easier to repack the exhibit and extend the life of the exhibit. EVERYONE wants and DESERVES obvious and reusable packaging.
  • A complete preview of every exhibit prior to leaving the shop, including graphics if provided. This allows us to send photos to you either before the exhibit ships or the next morning so you see that the display looked and functioned as designed. It’s immediate peace of mind. 
  • People:  Based on the feedback we receive from distributors, we believe our people are better. Whether they’re in customer service, design, production, or administration, our employees do more, care more, and are more knowledgeable than our competitors.

Finally, when it comes to selling exhibits, don’t get me wrong . . . design sells!! It’s the sizzle! Our designers are expected to hit a  home run on a 30′ x 30′ island for example. There is tremendous value in that. But when it comes to deciding whether to sign that $100,000 check, there better be more on the table than just design.  

How do you add value to the exhibits you sell?

Have a safe and restful weekend.

Be Well!

–Kevin Carty

http://twitter.com/kevin_carty
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-carty/3/800/32a

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What You Should Know as a First-Time Exhibit Buyer

September 20th, 2009 Mel White COMMENTS
Visionary Design VK-1073 Hybrid Exhibit

Visionary Design VK-1073 Hybrid Exhibit

  • Don’t let the trade show exhibit buying experience intimidate you
  • Your marketing objectives and strategy should dictate your exhibit marketing needs
  • Be prepared for sticker shock. Exhibits can be expensive
  • Where to buy depends on your goals. Do you need a large custom exhibit? Or do you need a portable, modular, or hybrid exhibit?
  • Plan ahead. You’ll save money and make smarter decisions

How to Get Started

For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that exhibit marketing is a new experience. Exhibit marketing is certainly not rocket science. You don’t need a marketing degree to be successful at exhibit marketing. However, it helps to get advice so you make the right decisions.

Buying your first exhibit can, at first, raise more questions than answers. There are different types of exhibits and different types of exhibiting. The best fit will depend on how you plan to use the exhibit, the image you want to project, and the budget you have to work with.

Chances are you’ll purchase your exhibit from a local exhibit company. Exhibit companies have been around for decades and understand exhibits and trade shows. Originally, exhibits were custom-crafted. Then exhibit systems evolved as an alternative to the high cost of custom craftsmanship. Now, there are multiple exhibit categories. Exhibit systems, which includes portable, modular, and hybrid exhibits, are evolving towards custom-crafted exhibits, and custom-crafted exhibits are evolving towards exhibit systems. Both have distinct advantages and exhibit companies work hard to carve out distinct niches along the custom to portable spectrum. The exhibit (or exhibits) that best fits your company’s exhibit marketing strategy will slot in somewhere along this spectrum. This is where an exhibit consultant can be very useful. Ultimately, an exhibit consultant wants to help you maximize your exhibit marketing potential.
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Word on the Street — June 22nd thru June 26th

June 26th, 2009 Mel White 1 COMMENT
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

What’s Your Value Proposition?

This was a frequent topic of conversation this week as I traveled. Both in my meetings and in a conversation with the person sitting next to me on my flight back to Portland.

Wikipedia defines Value Proposition as: “A Value Proposition consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises that a customer will receive in return for the customer’s associated payment (or other value-transfer).”

Whether you are a manufacturer trying to secure a new distributor relationship or a distributor trying to sell a new exhibit, your Value Proposition is often one of the most important deciding factors whether a customer decides to do business with you.

It does not have to be one product, one service, or one quality. As a matter of fact, it should consist of several attributes and qualities. At Classic, we try to live by several that make up what I believe is the Classic Value Proposition.

Here are two examples:

1. The first is simple and many of you have heard me say it many times, “We do what others are unwilling or unable to do.” A great example of this is how we approach our CNC metal bending process. Our competitors generally shy away from bending aluminum extrusions along the “hard edge.” A good example can be seen in the VK-1043 Magellan Hybrid Display. Often, kits like this are born from projects that came to us because an existing provider could not or would not produce the unit the way the client wanted. I am proud to say this is how we have attracted so many new Classic Distributors.

2. The second is equally important, Our Customer Service Philosophy. At just 15, I started working for Nordstorms as a stock boy. You may not all be familiar with Nordstroms. It’s a department store chain, based in Seattle, that has locations in many major U.S. cities. The renowned Nordstoms’ Customer Service Philosophy was impressed on me at a very early age. The Nordstroms Way, a book by Robert Spector and Patrick McCarthy, quotes James Nordstroms, prior to his death in 1996, telling his eventual successors, “Continue to think long-term. If we give a better value today, five years from today we will be a better company.” It sounds easy enough, and it is, if you view service “as an act of faith!” I encourage you to read the book and discover what I learned by working at this remarkable company.

These are just two of the Value Propositions at Classic. I plan to explore others in in the weeks ahead. Are these two set in stone? Yes . . . but others are not. As a company and as a team, we need to be flexible to meet the needs of our customers.

How about you? What are the core attributes that create your Value Proposition? Excluding things like your stunning good looks, great sense of humor, and expense account, why do customers do business with you? I look forward to hearing from you.

Be Well!

–Kevin Carty
http://twitter.com/kevin_carty
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-carty/3/800/32a

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Posted in Kevin Carty, Uncategorized, Word on the Street | 1 Comment »

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