A Trade Fair Model as a Sales Tool: Is It Worth It?

A trade fair model can help explain a machine or plant during a conversation. Whether the investment pays off financially needs to be assessed in use. Scale, cutaway views and labels can be designed around a specific sales task. A model alone guarantees neither additional conversations nor orders.

Define what you need to explain

What question should a visitor be able to answer by looking at the model? For example: How are the assemblies arranged? Which route does the product take through the plant? How does the machine fit into an existing production line?

A model can be useful for spatial relationships. An animation may be more suitable for movement, sequences or changing operating conditions. Before designing the model, decide what it should show and how your stand team will use it in conversations.

A hypothetical worked example

The following figures are illustrative planning assumptions, not measured results from a Skalar client project. Suppose a machine model costs €2,500 net and is used at four trade fairs a year for three years, or twelve events in total:

• Purchase cost per event: €2,500 ÷ 12 = approximately €208.
• Assumed additional qualified conversations: five per fair × twelve events = 60 conversations.
• Purchase cost per assumed additional conversation: €2,500 ÷ 60 = approximately €42.

Five additional conversations is an assumption that needs to be tested. If no additional qualified conversations occur, that benefit cannot be counted. Even 60 conversations would not establish a financial return.

The €42 figure is not ROI. This calculation excludes packaging, transport, storage, repairs, updates and additional staff time. A conversation is also not an order. A financial assessment needs to consider additional profit or contribution margin from attributable orders, accounting for the relevant costs — not just their sales revenue. These assumptions therefore do not establish a payback period.

Assess the value on your stand

A simple evaluation is more useful than a general promise of success:

1. Set a goal in advance. Define a qualified conversation, for example a specific application discussed with a relevant contact and an agreed next step.
2. Record model use. Note whether the model was used in each conversation and what it helped explain. A brief question can help distinguish visitors attracted by the object from those who only used it during the discussion.
3. Use consistent follow-up. Track follow-up meetings, quotations and orders using the same criteria as for other fair contacts. Allow an evaluation period appropriate to your sales cycle.
4. Choose comparisons carefully. Compare similar events or deployment periods where possible. Visitor numbers, stand location, team and offer can also change the outcome. A before-and-after difference alone does not establish the model’s effect.
5. Include the relevant costs. Compare purchase and ongoing costs with conservatively attributed additional contribution margin. Also examine a scenario with fewer events or no additional sales.

Clearer product conversations can be useful in their own right. Record specific observations, such as questions that the model helped resolve. These observations are valuable, but they do not by themselves demonstrate additional profit.

Plan for repeated use

• Transport and handling: Match size, weight, packaging and delicate parts to setup and shipping requirements.
• Focused explanation: Cutaways, separate assemblies or colour accents should clarify the relevant function. More detail is not automatically more helpful.
• Updates: For products that change, a replaceable component may be more practical than rebuilding the whole model.
• Supporting media: A data sheet or animation can add detail that a static model cannot show. Assess these additions within the same deployment plan.

From the task to a quotation

Start with the intended use, deployment locations and technical message. These inform the model’s scale, construction and scope. Our machine and trade fair models are designed for such presentation tasks. The pricing overview provides starting prices; a binding project price follows a review of your materials. For the investment decision, add your own deployment costs and realistic sales assumptions.