IDSystems were back at ExCeL for their sixteenth appearance at Grand Designs Live and the new, revamped exhibition proved a huge success with a record number of visitors to the stand over the four day weekend. We caught up with IDSystems’ Technical Sales Manager Edward Stobart on the final day of the show.
How have you found the new look four day exhibition?
When the show organisers announced that it was dropping from nine days down to four and refocusing more on homes and gardens we were really encouraged. We were one of the first exhibitors to commit to the very first Grand Designs Live all the way back in 2005 and over the years we’ve seen the show change and adapt to consumer demand – and the changes that were put in place for this year were definitely positive.
How have visitors to the show found it?
Our team have talked to thousands of people who have visited out stand over the weekend and the feedback has been hugely encouraging, they all seemed to have been inspired by the products and things that they have seen and the way the exhibition hall at ExCeL was formatted really seemed to work. From an IDSystems’ perspective everyone we spoke to was serious about a project and we spent a lot of time not just talking about doors and windows, but also really understanding what they were trying to achieve with their build and how we could potentially help them.
What was the response to the IDSystems stand?
We made a number of changes to the stand from last year and we found a great location in the heart of the hall that was busy from first thing in the morning until it closed. In the past we’ve been closer to the entrance but we found the position worked far better for us where we were this year and we were surrounded by some really interesting stands and products that seemed to work really well with what we were demonstrating. In terms of numbers, Saturday was the busiest day we’ve ever had with that sized stand and Friday and Sunday weren’t far behind. Our team worked so hard across all four days and we really appreciated the patience that the visitors showed because there were quite a few times where we were just so busy that we had people waiting to speak to us.
Which products proved popular?
When we redesigned the stand we looked at what had proven popular over the years and really wanted to focus on the systems that are at the heart of so many of our projects. What has been encouraging over the years is that exhibitions are very much just a start of a conversation so we don’t necessarily need every single option on display because potential customers can get a feel for the quality of our range and know that the rest of our products are going to match that same attention to detail. All five of the door systems on display proved popular, I think the vistaline slide & turn door system will always turn heads because it is so unique and so different to anything people have seen before and theEDGE2.0 sliding doors and the SF75eco bifold door also had strong interest.
Was there anything that surprised you at the show?
I think how busy it was caught us a little bit by surpise but we tweaked our plans and the team coped with that fantastically well. What was really interesting was some of the questions we were being asked, the amount of research and knowledge that potential customers had about us and our products was incredible and we had so many people who had pretty much made up their mind that they knew they wanted our doors but just wanted to see how they worked and how they felt before committing to an order – so we are obviously doing something right. The knowledge about the risks of buying a bonded glass sliding door came up so many times in conversations so that was really interesting because consumers are far more aware now than they perhaps would have been a few years ago.
What happens next for IDSystems?
The next steps are to follow up on all of the enquires which will take a little bit of time, we’ve already got showroom visits booked in with a number of people we spoke to so we can spend a bit more time going into detail about their requirements and we’ve got some orders to finalise now those customers have had the chance to operate the systems. From an exhibition perspective we’ll be back at ExCeL for the London Homebuilding & Renovating Show in September and rebooking our stand for Grand Designs Live next May was an easy decision given how well the weekend went.