Avoiding Used Car Dealer Syndrome: Finding a Balance Between Sales and Trade Show Display Information

All companies want to drive sales, but no company wants to alienate customers in the process. Finding the right balance can be difficult, especially if you’re working with a new venue for the first time or haven’t spent a lot of time designing trade show displays. Many companies have a drive toward a stronger marketing tone, and it’s often hard to beat that first urge to create a balanced message.

Why is balance important

Used car dealers have to push a certain number of cars per day to earn a decent living. At the center of their strategy, they’re desperate to make sales, desperate to do business, and desperate to get their units off the lot. Fortunately, you are not facing the same stress. You can offer consumers your product or service at low pressure.

An overly aggressive message doesn’t do your product justice. You threaten to turn people away and communicate that you, as the used car salesman, are desperate to move your inventory. Even if you are anxious, as many of us are in this economy, it should never appear that way to your visitors. That is why many companies choose to be more careful with their plans and err on the side of being more informative rather than aggressive.

Design your trade displays with care

The amount of solid promotion that is well suited to banner stands and at conventions varies widely. It will depend on the industry, your company’s product or service, and the actual event you are attending. Certain industries will tolerate and even expect a more open promotional tone. Others will expect almost pure information. You should always customize your trade show display to fit these expectations to the best of your ability, but don’t worry too much about matching them exactly. Some deviation is expected and may even be beneficial.

Matching your company sentiments and ethics is more important. Trade show displays that don’t align with your image are counterproductive and ineffective. Strike a balance between creating a message that is in keeping with your reputation and that also encourages visitors to come and learn more. Banner stands are the perfect tool to use to achieve this end.

Finally, the event itself is a major determining factor for your tone. You need to understand what people visiting this particular place expect to see and not see. If it’s more of an educational presentation as a whole, your trade show display is expected to enhance that overall atmosphere. If it’s a carnival with lots of flashing lights and bright colors, the educational displays will be lost in the confusion.

Train your staff

Your staff is just as important to achieving the right tone in a trade show display as the booth itself. They set the tone and the mood. If they are not on the same page as you, then your planning and design will not have as much impact and may even be rejected. Make sure your staff becomes an extension of your banner stands, promoting the same tone and offering the same sentiment. When you harmonize all of these different factors, you can achieve a carefully crafted design that incorporates just the right amount of promotion and information.