Choosing trade show software: what to ask a vendor before you sign

When organisers start comparing event platforms, they often ask for the same pack first: a company profile, a deck, a price list and a few well-known references. All four are fair. But each of them is written by the vendor, about the vendor. None of them tells you whether the software will hold up on your floor, with your exhibitors, in your languages. For that, you need your own questions, and they fall into three groups: the vendor, the product and the deal.

About the vendor

Who builds it? Some vendors develop their platform; others resell or white-label someone else’s. Both can work, but only the first can fix a bug on the morning your doors open. Ask where the product team sits and how long they have been building for trade shows specifically, not events in general.

Who answers on show day? This is the question that separates a good vendor from a good brochure. Ask for a name, a phone number and a response time during your open days, including your time zone and your weekend. “Open a ticket” is not an answer.

About the product

Does it cover your whole cycle, or one job? Many organisers run a stack: a CRM for stand sales, a ticketing tool, the badge printer’s software, a separate matchmaking app, and spreadsheets in between. Ask the vendor to walk you from the first stand sold to the post-show report. Then ask the question that matters: when an exhibitor signs, are their file, staff and badges created in the same place, or does someone re-key them?

Does it work in your languages and currencies? For a show in the Middle East or North Africa, Arabic is not a translation layer. Ask to see the Arabic interface and the Arabic forms on screen, right to left, next to the English ones. Ask whether stands can be priced in your currency and in foreign currencies, and whether invitation letters for visas are tracked in the platform or by email on the side.

What happens to your data? Get three answers in writing. Can you export your lists and reports to Excel at any time, without asking? Is your data isolated from other organisers’ accounts? And where is it hosted, under which law, which matters as soon as you have European exhibitors or visitors?

About the deal

How is the price built? A single price list rarely tells you what you will pay. What moves a price is the number of exhibitors and visitors, the number of shows and editions a year, the modules your teams use, and options such as an app published under your own brand. Ask what is always included and what is an option, then ask for a written proposal for your exact scope. A price built for your show is worth more than a grid built for everyone.

Where has it already run? Logos are a start; go further. Ask how many editions the platform has run, in which sectors, at what scale, and in which countries. If one of those shows looks like yours, ask to speak to its organiser. References worth having are usually shared in a conversation, with the client’s agreement, not printed in a deck.

What happens between editions? Your exhibitor base is your most valuable asset. Ask whether companies, contacts and history stay in place for the next edition, or whether every year starts from an empty file.

Make the demo about your show

A demo answers more of these questions in thirty minutes than any deck, provided it is about your show and not a generic tour. Before it, send the vendor:

• how many shows you run a year;
• how many exhibitors and visitors each edition brings;
• the three problems that cost your team the most time last edition.

Then ask to see those three problems solved on screen, live. If you are also weighing when to change tools, read when to switch trade show software.

These questions apply to every vendor, us included. Put them to us in a 30-minute demo built around your show.