6 Tradeshow Executive • November/December 2000

Industry associations and labor unions join to developtop service through a true team effort.

Is anything more frustrating than lousy customer ser-vice? Many who make their living in the tradeshowindustry can recount horror stories experienced inrestaurants, in hotels and on airplanes. If you’ve had

the misfortune (like me) to fly United Airlines in recentmonths, you’ve had the privilege of experiencing customerservice at its worst—pilots who won’t fly overtime, flightsthat are delayed and canceled, and counter agents whomake up excuses or just run and hide.

And let’s not forget the phone company. Ifyou’ve ever called the 800 number to talk tosomeone about your service, you’re inevitablystuck in some ridiculous phone tree that onlywants to prompt you to learn your balance orarrange a payment. It’s as if they assume theircustomers don’t need service.

But what about the perception and thereality of customer service in our own indus-try? The biggest reason to turn it around wasbest summed up in comments made at themost recent meeting of the EACA’s ExhibitIndustry Task Force (formerly the NationalLabor Committee). One exhibitor’s repre-sentative said that exhibitors feel like they’recontinually being ripped off when they purchase serviceson show site. Another representative asked, “Why can I goonline on Christmas Eve and buy an $11 item from theLand’s End catalog without incident or problem, but I getput through bloody hell trying to spend $1 million in thetradeshow industry?”

Why Do They Feel That Way?Imagine for a moment that you’re an exhibitor, arriving

at the service desk to begin the process of setting up yourbooth. You represent a fairly good-sized company but werea late entry to the show. Not only did you not receive anexhibitor kit and have the ability to order services inadvance, you cannot find a service representative who has

a record of your company being in the show. For this exam-ple, let’s just say this interaction is handled well, and some-one from show management is quickly located andconfirms your right to access the hall and begin installingyour booth.

At this point you’re informed that you must hire unionlabor to erect your display. The only catch is that this is alarge show in a major convention city and there isn’t anylabor currently available. You’ll need to wait. “Fine,” yousay, “but just tell me where my computer rental companycan unload our computers so we can get started on thatpart.” You are told this won’t work either. This facility hasan exclusive service provider for computer rentals, and youmust obtain all computers through them. After two hours

of cooling your heels in your booth, your twodisplay installers show up. When you ask ifthey have tools, they shake their heads.When you ask if they’ve done this before,their heads keep shaking. It’s about now thatyou’re ready to scream. To make mattersworse, you don’t have the slightest clue whoto yell at. Does this sound familiar?

Exhibiting at tradeshows can be likedoing business in a third-world country. Therules change based on the city or facility. It’snot so much what you know but who youknow and who you can influence. It can be anightmare for the service providers too. Theyare constantly challenged with customerswho expect the worst, come loaded for bear,

and continually attempt end-runs around any systems thathave been established. I’ve even heard show managerslament that everything would be just fine if exhibitorsweren’t so stupid. Well, when you do business in a third-world country, everything looks idiotic.

Don’t you think it’s time we create a plan to turn third-world customer service into world-class customer service?First, let’s take a look at how simple good customer ser-vice can be.

This Month’s Lesson in Good ServiceMy wife uses one of those glass cruets with the plastic

tops for making salad dressing. The problem is that thesecruets’ plastic lids have a knack for landing on the bottom

EACA PERSPECTIVE BY JIM WURM

Exhibit Industry Task Force Tackles Customer Service

Shouldn’t Customer Service BeWorld-Class, Not Third-World?

“I’ve heard show managers lament that everything would be fine if

exhibitors weren’t so stupid. Well, when

you do business in a third-world

country, everything looks idiotic.”

of the dishwasher where they’re completely disfigured dur-ing the drying cycle. My wife’s response was to go online towww.kraftanswers.com to ask Kraft (the cruet’s manufac-turer) where she could buy replacement lids.

Within four days my wife got a written letter in the mailwith two replacement lids. The letter reads something like,“We’re happy you took time out of your busy schedule tocontact us.... Enclosed is the item you requested. Let usknow if there is anything else we can do for you in thefuture. [Then, my favorite line] ... remember, food brings ustogether, and together we can make something good.” Isthat poetry or what?

The incident deserves some ink because it’s a primeexample of world-class customer service. It’s not complicat-ed or even expensive; it’s just good service. World-class cus-tomer service is service the way you want to be served eachand every time. I know that our household won’t be buyingsalad dressing cruets from anyone but the people at Kraft.

The value of great customer service is that it creates greatcustomers. But as long as customer service in tradeshowsremains third-world, our customers will continue to meteout investments in a very controlled way. That’s what you dowhen you operate in fear of the next rip-off.

So is anyone doing anything to turn this fear around?Moreover, is anyone doing anything to build a world-classcustomer service capability in our industry? I’m happy toreport that the answer to both of these questions is aresounding yes.

The First Steps: Coming Together Through the Exhibitor Industry Task Force

About a year ago, at the board meeting of the ExhibitorAppointed Contractor Association, EACA Director KenViscovich proposed the formation of what was then calledthe National Labor Committee. Viscovich, who is Interna-tional Representative of the Carpenters Union, suggestedthat the committee should involve the highest levels oflabor organizations, tradeshow industry associations andindustry contractors to discuss high-level issues as theyrelate to labor and provision of exhibitor services at ourindustry’s shows. He recognized that there was great roomfor improvement in the way that exhibitors were servicedand that the unions should be included in the discussionsthat built the ultimate solution to this concern. Like manygood ideas, it was simple, powerful and very timely. TheEACA board (already dedicated to “raising the level ofservice excellence on the showfloor”) immediatelyapproved facilitating the committee’s formation.

Invitations were quickly circulated, and the responsewas just as quick. The Carpenters, Decorators, Teamsters,

November/December 2000 • Tradeshow Executive 7

Stagehands and ElectriciansUnions confirmed participa-tion. RSVPs came frommany industry associations,including HCEA, TSEA,IAEM, ED&PA, SISO,IAAM and ESCA. The nextstep was to get everyonetogether, communicate theidea of developing world-class customer service andgenerate momentum.

The committee’s firstmeeting took place in Febru-ary 2000 at the Las VegasConvention Center. Morethan 75 people attended in

addition to the invited delegates. While there was unani-mous consensus that the idea of coming together was animportant one, some suggested that the name “NationalLabor Committee” could be a misnomer. The issues infront of us weren’t about labor exclusively—they wereabout our industry’s customers, the exhibitors. It was decid-ed that the next step would be to establish a name and a setof directives for this body.

Fittingly, the second meeting was held in conjunctionwith TS2 (the Trade Show Exhibitor Association’s AnnualMeeting) in Washington, D.C. in July. In the interim, thedelegates from the first meeting submitted their ideas forthe committee’s name, its mission and its set of directives.

“Let’s Do” DirectivesThe committee has now been renamed the Exhibit

Industry Task Force. Its mission is to “increase, improveand invest in customer participation.” And while there aremany ideas yet to come, the task force has identified someinitial objectives, including the following:

● Let’s make this a real team effort. Specifically, let’s be surethat we support all members of the team, particularly labor.For too long they’ve been the convenient whipping post forall our failures. While labor shares the responsibility forimproving customer service, they are by no means the onlyones with work to do.

● Let’s standardize the language of service in our industry. Forinstance, can’t we settle on the term forklift, instead of towmotor or any number of other references?

● Let’s train our workforce, and increase their numbers.Exhibitors don’t mind spending money for value received.They do, however, have a problem paying exorbitantamounts of money for little or no value.

“As long as customer service …remains third-world,

our customers will continue to mete

out investments in a very controlledway. That’s what youdo when you operate

in fear of the next rip-off.”

8 Tradeshow Executive • November/December 2000

● Let’s develop standards for the healthand safety of those workers. And let’sinclude them as part of the team.We’re still building facilities thataccommodate everything and every-one except the temporary workforcethat moves shows in and out.

● Let’s create service teams to resolvecustomer service issues. Many timesservice problems cross over betweenorganizer, facility, contractor andlabor source. Service teams will solveproblems faster.

● Let’s put together a PR campaign tocommunicate the benefits of these under-takings, and repair our industry’s imageas a place where you get ripped off.

● Let’s educate the exhibitors to thefact that 17 percent of their tradeshow dol-lar is spent on show services. This per-centage has held steady for more than20 years.

The Job: Making Something Good The Exhibit Industry Task Force

realizes that a big job lays ahead of it.The tradeshow industry is growingquickly in terms of numbers of showsand exhibitors and sizes of conventionfacilities. It’s important for our indus-try also to focus on the necessaryresources to service this growth.

While the task force’s efforts are awork-in-progress, something impor-tant has begun. I’d like to think thatthe tradeshow industry can be less likea third-world country and more likethe Kraft’s of the world. After all,tradeshows bring people together. Solet’s bring them together and makesomething good. TSE

Jim Wurm(jimwurm@eaca.com)is Executive Director of the ExhibitorAppointed ContractorAssociation, (514)317-8768.

SISO CEO Forum: IndustryMoves and Shakes in Bermuda

The recent SISO CEO Forum theme “See the Stars of the Exhi-bition Industry” should have been titled “See the Superstars.”Nearly 100 of the most powerful and influential independentshow organizers in the world gathered in Bermuda this pastAugust to network, listen and share best practices during thesessions, form strategic alliances with each other—and pur-

chase each other’s shows.The energy was palpable, even if the atmosphere was relaxed. Tanned

people showed up early for breakfast and sessions, learned through lunch,networked on the golf course in the afternoon, and spent evenings convers-ing at receptions and dinners in lovely settings. Each evening ended with anAfterglow—and both men and women enjoyed Cuban cigars, legal inBermuda. Highlights included:

� Sheldon Adelson, founder of Comdex and developer of the Sands Con-vention Center and the Venetian Hotel, was the keynote speaker. Ses-sions covered a variety of highly relevant topics, including employmentissues, CRM, Online/E-Commerce Strategies, CEO Success Stories andthe role of a CEO as a change agent.

� Sponsorship was strong for the event, with 22 companies and CVBs con-tributing to the success of the event in exchange for the opportunity tomeet face to face with the SISO member Presidents, CEOs, and CFOs.

� Tradeshow Executive sponsored the session presented by attorney HenrySchaffer, entitled “The Internet, Intellectual Properties, and the TradeShow Industry: What You Should Know.” (The September/October 2000Tradeshow Executive was distributed as handouts for the session.)

Save the Date for the 2001 CEO ForumThe 2001 SISO CEO Forum is scheduled for Sunday, August 26, 2001

(opening reception and dinner), to Wednesday, August 29, 2001 (departureday). The Forum will be held at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara.More information, including eligibility requirements for attendance, will beavailable on the SISO Web site after January 1, 2001.

Learn More About SISOAre you an independent trade show organizer? If you are interested in

SISO membership, contact SISO at (877)YES-SISO or (708) 361-0900, orvisit www.siso.org for membership information.

EACA Perspective