Trade Show Checklist for Manufacturers and Their Reps

At 7:40 on the morning a fluid-handling expo opened, Dana walked into her principal's booth and found an empty plinth where the demo pump should have been. Dana runs a three-person rep agency. The manufacturer had shipped the pump direct to the hall instead of to the advance warehouse, and it was sitting in a marshaling yard. Dana had booked nine meetings around that pump. (Dana is a composite, built from situations reps describe, not a real person.)

Nobody forgot anything. The principal thought the agency was tracking freight. The agency thought the principal was. That gap, not a missing banner, is what usually goes wrong at an industrial show.

This trade show checklist is built for that setup: a manufacturer that owns the booth and the independent reps who sell its line. It covers pre-show work only, week by week, ending with a printable day-before list. For the booth itself and after, see how to collect and qualify leads at the booth and our trade show follow-up emails.

The trade show checklist at a glance

1. 12 weeks out: set one goal, a budget and a lead definition. Read the show manual and list every deadline.
2. 10 weeks out: agree who does what between the manufacturer and each rep agency.
3. 8 weeks out: confirm the booth plan, the demo equipment, power and air, and how everything ships.
4. 6 weeks out: pick the booth team, write the schedule and sign off the lead-ownership agreement.
5. 4 weeks out: reps invite their top accounts and book meetings at the booth.
6. 2 weeks out: print and pack materials, samples and the booth kit. Ship to the advance warehouse.
7. The day before: set up, test everything, brief the team, and confirm every meeting.

Who does what: manufacturer vs rep agency

Most pre-show mix-ups come from tasks each side assumes the other owns. Settle it in one call around 10 weeks out. If you're new to how the manufacturers' rep model splits work, this table is a reasonable default.

Two lines matter most. Invitations belong to the reps, because buyers answer the person they know. Lead routing belongs to the manufacturer, because only the principal sees every territory at once.

12 weeks out: goals, budget and the show manual

Freeman, one of the large show contractors, tells first-time exhibitors to begin planning three to six months ahead in its first-time exhibitor checklist. For a booth with machinery, take the longer end.

• Write one goal. "Book 25 qualified meetings and run 15 demos" beats "raise awareness."
• Define a qualified lead in one sentence. Agree it with every rep agency now, not on the floor.
• Set the budget. Space, booth build or rental, drayage and material handling, electrical, rigging, travel, lead retrieval, printing, samples.
• Read the show manual end to end. The exhibitor manual (some shows call it the service kit) lists deadlines and order forms. Put every date in one shared calendar: early-bird pricing on electrical and furniture, the advance warehouse window, booth graphics approval, badge registration.
• Find the official contractors. The manual names who handles rigging, labor, furniture and electrical.

8 weeks out: booth, demo equipment and shipping

An industrial booth lives or dies on the demo. Plan it like a small installation job.

Demo equipment checklist

• Which unit ships, its serial number and its crate dimensions and weight
• Power: voltage, phase and amperage, ordered through the show's electrical contractor
• Compressed air, water or drains if the unit needs them, and whether the hall provides them
• Floor load, if the machine is heavy
• Who sets it up, runs it and can fix it on day one, plus spare parts and consumables
• Safety guarding and signage the show requires for moving equipment
• A short demo script, so every staffer shows the same three things (the product demonstration guide covers how to build one)

Shipping: advance warehouse or direct to show

Ship to the advance warehouse, where the contractor holds freight and delivers it to your space before setup, or direct to show on a set arrival day. Freeman notes that shipping to the advance warehouse up to 30 days before exhibitor move-in can save costs, and it also takes the risk out of a tight arrival window.

Before anything leaves your dock:

• Get certified weight tickets for inbound freight.
• Label every crate with your company name, booth number and the show name, using the show's labels.
• Choose an outbound carrier with trade show experience, and book the return pickup now.
• Plan to fill in the Material Handling Agreement for outbound freight at the show. Freeman's checklist says each destination needs its own.

Write down one name next to "freight." In the story above, the pump would have made it if one person had owned the tracking number.

6 weeks out: staffing and the lead plan

Pick the booth team

Mix someone who can answer the hard technical question with people who know the buyers: usually a factory applications or sales engineer plus the reps whose territories the show draws from.

• Two or more people in the booth at all times, in shifts of three to four hours
• A booth captain who owns the schedule and the meeting calendar
• Badges registered by the show's deadline

Sign off the lead-ownership agreement

Skip this and you'll argue about leads for months. Settle five questions in writing:

1. Territory rule. Leads go to the rep whose territory covers the visitor's plant or ship-to location, not their headquarters.
2. House accounts. Which accounts the manufacturer handles directly, listed by name.
3. Unclaimed leads. Who gets visitors from territories with no rep.
4. Timing. Leads go out within 24 hours of each show day, not a week later.
5. Format. What every lead record must include: the badge scan plus the conversation notes. The booth lead card in our leads guide is a ready-made format.

Record the kickoff call so the agreement doesn't drift. Ask everyone's consent first (our one-party consent states guide explains why), then let ParrotNotes turn the call into a transcript, a summary and action items with names attached.

4 weeks out: pre-show outreach

The best booth meetings are booked before the show. Reps own this step.

• List 20 to 40 accounts in your territory likely to attend: customers, open quotes, stalled deals.
• Invite each by phone or a short personal email, then send a calendar invite with the booth number.
• Offer something specific: a demo slot, a new model, time with the factory engineer.

Pre-show appointment script for reps

"Hi Maria, it's Dana from Coastal Rep Group. You mentioned last spring the line two pumps were due for replacement. Our factory is bringing the new model to the expo in Houston, running live, and their applications engineer will be in the booth. Could I hold 20 minutes for you on Tuesday or Wednesday? I'll send an invite with the booth number."

Keep a short prep note for each booked meeting: what the account bought, what's open, and what you want them to see. The sales call planning guide has a one-page format that works for booth meetings too.

2 weeks out: materials and the booth kit

Literature and samples

• Line card for each rep agency, current and printed
• Spec sheets and data sheets for every product in the booth
• Samples or cut sections, labeled by part number
• A QR code to the digital spec sheets, so visitors don't carry paper

The booth kit (one box, labeled "open first")

• Extension cords, power strips, gaffer tape, zip ties, box cutter, cleaning cloths
• Phone chargers, business cards, pens
• Tools for the demo unit
• Printed schedule, meeting list, service orders and freight paperwork

Pack your notes tool too. Booth conversations run back to back, and nobody types a full note between visitors. A 30-second voice note after each conversation, said into your phone, is enough: ParrotNotes turns it into a transcript and a summary you can scan in the hotel that night. The free plan includes 100 minutes of recording a month, which covers a lot of short debriefs. Download ParrotNotes free and test it on your next customer visit before the show.

The day before: setup checklist

Print this and give it to the booth captain.

Don't skip the briefing. Fifteen minutes covers the goal, the lead definition, territories and the demo script.

Dana's next show went differently: one named freight owner, the pump in the advance warehouse two weeks early, and nine meetings confirmed the night before.

After the doors close

Two things carry over: route leads on the timing you agreed, and follow up while conversations are fresh. Freeman's checklist says no later than a week after the event; for your best leads, the same day. The trade show follow-up email guide has the templates.

Plan the show before the show

A trade show is won in the 12 weeks before it opens. Set one goal and a lead definition, split the work between manufacturer and reps in writing, ship the demo unit early, and have reps fill the calendar before anyone packs a banner.

Then make sure what happens at the booth gets written down. Try ParrotNotes free: record a quick voice note after each conversation and leave the show with transcripts and summaries, not a stack of scanned badges.