Held every November, the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC) is the biggest Oil and Gas exhibition in the Middle East. After recently securing new clients in Dubai such as Proserv, Fortune Energy, Versatech and Petronash, we took the decision to build on our successes in the area by exhibiting at ADIPEC. Not only was it our first time at the event, it was also our first time exhibiting outside of Europe and so it represented a significant investment for us.
The Stewart-Buchanan Gauges stand was in the UK Pavilion in a great location in the main hall. Promoting our full range of valve, manifold, pressure and temperature gauge products, our team was kept very busy over the entire four days of the exhibition. With attendance high, the event organisers even extended the opening hours on the last day to give delegates a final opportunity to visit all of the exhibitors they were interested in. We generated over 250 enquiries, a high percentage of which were good quality leads from the Middle East region, plus strong interest from other parts of the world.
Many customers we spoke to already knew of the Stewart-Buchanan Gauges brand and our reputation as a high-quality manufacturer with excellent customer service. They appreciated that the company is owned by the employees, leading to greater involvement and commitment from the workforce.
Our reliable, short delivery times were also a big selling point. We heard many tales of other suppliers quoting long lead times or deliveries arriving weeks late. With 98% of our products manufactured in-house, the fact that we can reliably deliver standard orders within four weeks helped set us apart from our competitors.
The key selling points that helped to make the exhibition so successful for us were:
- Our short and reliable lead times
- In-house manufacturing enabling full control of quality and delivery times
- Our status as an employee-owned company with shareholders in every department
- Our wealth of experience due to the longevity of service in all departments
- Being recognised as a consistent supplier of high-quality products
- Being easy to deal with, with fast quotation and information turnaround
- Excellent customer service, especially when issues do arise
Obviously, the true success of the event will be determined by the level of business generated during 2019. With so many new contacts and plenty of interest in our products, we’re now working to convert all the many positives from the event into real orders. Watch this space!