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Written by Wulff Entre

Wulff Entre Ltd. provides a completely stress-free solution for all local or international trade show needs. We are trade show specialists providing expertise, stand design, and project management services to help our customers save time and effortlessly reach their goals.

Ever been in a situation where you asked a friend for restaurant recommendations, and decided to skip a promising restaurant after hearing that food was more than perfect, but the service was bad and the personnel rude?
Personnel are a company’s face to the world. In my own job as an office assistant, I am often the first person that a customer meets when they enter our office, and my job is to make sure everything goes smoothly from the beginning. This involves, naturally, greeting the visitor, asking whom they came to see, and guiding them to the meeting room – which I have, of course, prepared for the meeting beforehand.
If the food in a top-class restaurant is beyond perfection, but the service and other things around it don’t work and the customer gets a bad first impression, that impression is very difficult to fix later.
Likewise, the first impression a visitor gets of Entre could well be different from the one described above. But as professionals of the exhibition business, we understand the importance of first impressions and have therefore made conscious efforts to ensure it is good.
In short, first impressions have a huge significance even in an everyday office environment, so it is only natural that the same thing applies at exhibitions. A trade fair stands acts as your company’s temporary office and showroom. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and that impression is formed in a matter of seconds. Therefore it is not a good idea to hide behind your new iPhone 6, however nicely its large frame seems to be designed for that very purpose.
ritu 2

Which one of these faces would you like to welcome you to our office?


Ten foolproof ways to ruin your first impression at any trade fair:

1. Stand behind the desk hunched over your laptop – that’s sure to be more interesting than whatever is happening around you. Look, your friend just posted a picture of her breakfast, porridge with snails! #Awesome
2. Don’t make eye contact. Really, whyever would you look into anyone’s eyes? But if you already made that mistake, then at least be sure to refrain from greeting. Think of what that could lead into! A conversation? Sales?
3. A client comes to talk to you because they are interested in your product. Now is the right time to be arrogant! Remember to keep glancing at your phone. And maybe laugh a bit to the funny cat video your friend just posted.
4. Remember that there is no reason to be friendly. Friendliness equals weakness, it’s only good for currying favour.
5. A good posture is overrated. It’s much better to lean on the desk. And don’t hesitate to keep your eyes fixed on your cuticles.
6. Dirty is the new black! Everyone is interested in knowing the wine list of the place you dined at last night, and what better way to communicate it than to wear it on your shirt.
7. Be indifferent. Customers with real potential will make the effort to get your attention. You sure have better things to do than to go out fishing for potential customers and increasing sales.
8. Your product is the best in the world! And you didn’t come here to answer stupid questions. A customer is clearly not worthy of your product if they haven’t even familiarised themselves with it beforehand.
9. Don’t let the stand get too tidy and remember to gossip with your colleagues. *chuckle*
10. And don’t forget the finishing touch: make your stand an economical DIY version! Decorate it with a few worn-out roll-ups, a screen that turns out to be incompatible with the electrical system, and a messy pile of cables. This crowns your efforts to create your Great First Impression.
teinitejasäästin

This post has been originally posted in Finnish 6.5.2015. Translation by Annemari Kettunen.


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