There are some real do's and don'ts and they are all classic and we all know them and what's interesting about the do's and don'ts of exhibition stands, despite the fact if you ask any exhibitor what they were, you would still find people doing them - but they are fairly obvious. Don't bring your work with you. Don't sit at the back of the stand doing your work. You are not there to catch up on the hours you have missed in the office. You are there to engage with the community. Don't smoke. Don't drink. Don't turn up on the stand hung over. Don't talk to one another on the stand. Don't stay with your current customers too long and ignore new business. Don't eat. Don't read the newspaper. Don't use your mobile phone and one of my favourites is, don't handle complaints on the stand. If you have got a customer who wants to talk to you about something which hasn't worked, something which has gone wrong, take them away from the stand. Take them to a coffee bar. Deal with the problem there. Your stand should be a welcoming front room to the home of your business and it is a place where you should behave as if everyone in that show is a guest of yours. A classic piece of business advice I give to everybody is, what would your Mum want you to do and think about your exhibition stand as if it were your home and how would your mother want you to behave with guests and then you will be on the right lines.
