I Am Done With My Custom Exhibit House

Today we had a large prospect come in to meet with us in our showroom.  I have been calling on this account for a long time.   They have been working with a local custom exhibit house for many years.

I like to think of us as the Little Engine That Could or David of David and Goliath.

Today that prospect sat here in our showroom and said,

"I'm done with 'Custom Exhibit House ABC'."

We had another prospect in here yesterday that basically said the same thing.  They said they felt the industry was moving away from the true custom booth and wanting much more modular and lightweight options.

We are finding this in many cases to be true.  Of course there are still some true custom displays out there.  We saw a 10 x 20 at a show recently that actually required drills, nuts and bolts to set up.  It was all wood and had to weigh a ton!  I know we could have designed something that would have looked better, been lighter, easier to set up and still represent their brand really well.

A couple years ago we won a 10 x 30 deal where we were up against a custom house.  The custom house told our prospect, "Oh yeah, I know Total Displays.  They are just a pieces and parts company."  I guess they underestimated us and our product offerings.  We have MANY stories where we have beat out custom houses.

Our conversations with our prospect continued today.  They were renting some items from this custom house.  They said, by the time they added all the account management and other fees the rental was twice what it should be.  As they sat in our showroom and we looked at some of the items we had available they were very pleased.

What they came away with really astounded them.

1.  We don't charge a lot of extra fees in any of our jobs
2.  We have all the same custom capabilities through our partners that the custom houses do
3.  We are invested owners providing a high level of honesty and service
4.  They realized we did not have all the overhead that a custom house has
5.  They really liked what we offered and our honesty.


I am proud to be a pieces and parts company that can save companies money on storage, shipping, drayage and install and dismantle services.  A future post will be coming regarding storage and other services - watch for it!

If you really want custom, yup, we can do that too.

This week's score:

David 2   Goliath 0

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Lori Hanken has been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. She is passionate about service and providing value to her vendors, prospects and clients. Lori is currently co-owner of Total Displays with her husband David. They help people look great at events, trade shows, in retail, museums and develop long partnerships with customers and suppliers. If you would like to learn more, email her at lori@totaldisplays.com. She is an open networker, connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Read other Total Displays Blog posts at http://totaldisplays.blogspot.com/