You’re off to seal the deal on that big contract at a networking event or attend one of the biggest tradeshows for your industry, so logistics for your company’s attendance and how you represent yourself will always come into play and need to be carefully considered.

Professionalism is of the essence, so the basics of becoming the face of your company whilst out of the office is of optimum importance. Smart clothing, emphasis on displaying your company logo, printing and taking along business cards are the basics when it comes to the logistics of attending an event.

Transport

If you have a stand at a trade event you must consider everything from lighting to carpets, to ways to display your products or services in an attractive way. Most show organisers can help you with this but you will still need to transport your products and displays to the event. Use a courier service to save yourself time, as they can usually deliver straight to the venue for ease and some can even pick up and deliver an item to you on the same day; courierexpert.co.uk is a good place to begin your search.

You also need to consider how you are going to get to the event, as well as your staff. If it is taking place in London does it make more sense to hop on a train or drive and try to find a parking space? Will you need to book an overnight stay in a hotel, plan ahead and take into consideration every possible option?

Navigating the event

Consider the reason you are attending an event. Is it to network with new clients? If so you need to take along business cards, perhaps some information or example of your company’s work, as well as brush up on your small talk and do some research on who is attending and current trends in your industry. Knowing your stuff is a basic requirement when it comes to attending a business event and using your time effectively.

Think of a business event like a production line. You have you as your product, not yet assembled and ready but once your suit is on, business cards are in your pocket and you’re clutching a notepad you’re ready for the next step: testing.

This is where you interact and work alongside other people (products) and is also where the small talk and important research beforehand comes in to play, as mentioned above.

Now that you are fully assembled and tested and you have managed these basic logistics you can leave the venue (production line) ready and prepared for new business or safe with the knowledge that you’ve just made that big deal.

Setting up a trade show stand

Back to putting together a physical stand and presence at the show, a major mistake some businesses make is to arrange for a stand that is too big for what they have to offer. If your product is big, or you need lots of seating areas for clients and staff then by all means supersize your event space. If however, you are just starting out, or offer just the one service a simple stand might work best and use those people skills to bring people in who are walking between the rows.

Consider every scenario

Think of every possible problem and come up with a solution, take extra pens/chairs/notepads/bottles of water/memory sticks for the event so you never run short and always leave plenty of time for when you actually travel to the venue, so you can set up before visitors arrive. The same goes if you simply have a meeting at an event, always leave plenty of time to relax and prepare before meeting with the client in question.

Logistics doesn’t have to be a scary word, after all you work through them every day in your working life so simply apply your organisation skills and ability to prep when you attend a business event and it should go smoothly.