Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose - Who Really Loses?

 It happens to everyone. Everyone loses a client from time to time.  When we lose a client it is typically because they think they can get something cheaper from someone else.  We will NEVER be the cheapest option for trade show exhibits. There are a lot of reasons for that but here are a couple important reasons.

1. You can read a previous blog post. Your exhibit is part of your BRAND.  Do you want your brand to look cheap?  Read Here!
2. We primarily represent quality products that have warranties and will last. I can get you CHEAP, but that isn't always the best solution.
3. A good trade show partner will make sure you have a cohesive look even if you add components to your exhibit.

We had a client that purchased a custom 10 x 20 from us a number of years ago. It was a great looking exhibit. At some point they reached out and wanted some replacement graphics. We quoted them. Good quality graphics are incredibly important to how your exhibit looks on the trade show floor. A couple of things to consider.

1. Weight or thickness of the fabric
2. Opacity of the fabric
3. Fit of the graphic/fabric
4. Finishing of the fabric
5. Color saturation of the fabric
6. Dye sub vs. direct print
7. PMS color matching

If your trade show exhibit partner is not talking to you about the graphic options above, you will get what you get. Have you ever seen someone walking around with seams on their clothes that are ripping out?  Wrinkled fabric, clothes that are too large? Or clothes where the fabric is so thin there is not much left to the imagination? Those same things can happen with fabric graphics if they are not QUALITY graphics. 

So back to the client where we quoted the graphics. We had an opportunity to see their exhibit this week at a show. They had expanded to an island exhibit. they added a tower/overhead thing that did not match the original exhibit at all. The branding and colors didn't match, nothing tied it all together. It looked cheap. They had done some modifications to the 10 x 20. They added a lightweight aluminum pole with a pole pocket graphic to go up to 16'. It looked added, it didn't match, the graphic hung loose from the frame.  Sorry for the bad quality photo, I simply don't want to share their brand or the actual photo of their exhibit.

I will share one photo of the top of the obviously added aluminum frame.  

So this client went from a nice, professional 10 x 20 to a cobbled together island exhibit that had no plan, no coherence, and really didn't represent their brand well at all.

Some may say, well, you didn't sell it (the replacement graphics). After sending the quote they would not return my phone calls or emails, ever. I can only assume that our quality product was too expensive for them. We could have had that conversation and come up with an alternative but we can't do that if they won't talk to us.

I am sure some will think I am a sore loser. I do have to say I don't like to lose, but that really is not the issue here. The issue is everyone here at Total Displays has been conditioned to care about our client's brand. We care about how successful you are at trade shows. We care about how your exhibit represents your company and your products on the show floor.