By the Exhibition Stall Design editorial team · Updated 1 October 2026 · 13 min read
Short answer
Ask a country pavilions vendor where the work is produced and who supervises it, which lines the quote excludes, what drawings you sign before cutting starts, who lodges the organiser paperwork and by when, what each payment milestone releases against, who is on the floor during show hours, and what happens to the stand after the show. Then grade the answers on specificity, because that is what predicts delivery.
Key takeaways
- Ask what the vendor would change about your brief. A supplier with no opinion is not reading it.
- Ask what happens after the show. Dismantle, clearing and storage are where unpriced costs hide.
- Ask who physically does the work. Every other answer depends on it.
- Grade answers on specificity: a name, a date, a document or a number beats any amount of reassurance.
- Ask what your area can physically hold — at 36 sq.m the honest answer is about 11 visitors and 4 staff.
- Put the same questions to three vendors and write the answers in three columns. The gaps do the work for you.
How this interview works
The hard part was never the questions. Any vendor will tell you the work is in-house, the price is all-inclusive and their team will be there. What you need is a way of hearing the difference between a sentence that commits to something and a sentence that merely sounds right.
Every question is therefore paired with its diagnosis. One test runs through all 15 of them — does the reply contain something verifiable? A strong country pavilions vendor produces a name, a date, a document or a figure. A weak one produces confidence, which is not the same thing and cannot be checked.
Work through the stages in order. Questions asked at the wrong moment get the wrong answers — pricing questions before the brief is understood produce a number the vendor has to defend rather than revise, and build-up questions asked after signing produce whatever is convenient rather than whatever was planned.
Before you shortlist: questions 1 to 4
Use this stage to cut a long list down to three. Everything here is about the company rather than your stand, which is exactly why it works early: before a brief exists, there is nothing for the answers to be shaped around.
Underneath, they all probe the same thing — whether the firm owns the work or brokers it. Written for large exhibitors, government bodies, export councils and multinationals who want a single accountable partner for the whole participation, this guide exists because that answer usually surfaces during build-up week, when it is far too late to act on.
01
1. What were the largest and the smallest stands you delivered last season?
A good answer is two areas and two shows, and it brackets your own stand somewhere in between. A bad answer is a range so wide it must be aspirational. Capability is size-specific: a firm that turns out neat small system booths may never have engineered a structure, and a pavilion specialist will price your small stand like a pavilion.
02
2. Can I visit the workshop or studio this week?
A good answer is a day and an address. A bad answer is any version of "later" — nearer the show, after the order, once the design is approved. The request is routine for anyone buying something fabricated, so reluctance to host it is itself the finding, and you get that finding before spending a rupee.
03
3. Who physically does this work — your own team, or a sub-contractor?
A good answer is honest about the split, because every firm buys something in: print, AV hire, furniture, freight. You want to hear which trades are owned and which are bought, followed by an address. A bad answer is either a vague "we have a partner network" or a flat claim that everything is in-house with no site you can visit — the second is usually the same as the first, with less candour.
04
4. Which parts of this scope do you buy in, and from whom?
A good answer names them without being pushed — nobody owns everything, and print, AV, furniture and freight are routinely bought. What you are listening for is whether the person knows their own supply chain. A bad answer treats the question as an accusation, which usually means more of the scope is bought in than they want to discuss.
At quoting stage: questions 5 to 8
At this point the brief is out and the quotes are coming back. Everything below exists to stop you comparing two different stands by their totals. None of it is hostile; the supplier who itemises properly is the supplier who will not be arguing with you in March.
Quoted per pavilion. The variables that move a country pavilions price are well known, and the list below is all of them. Ask a vendor which two matter most on your job: a confident, specific ranking means the quote was built, and a vague answer means it was guessed.
- Total area and number of co-exhibitors
- Scope (design, build, AV, furniture, logistics, manpower, hospitality)
- Number of cities or shows in the programme
- Approval layers with organisers, embassies or departments
01
5. Is GST included, and what is the pre-tax total?
A good answer gives both figures without being chased, because that is the only way two quotes can be compared on the same basis. A bad answer is ambiguity, or a total that quietly changes basis between the proposal and the invoice. Ask also which organiser or venue charges will be billed through the vendor rather than directly to you.
02
6. What is driving this price, and what would make it cheaper?
A good answer names the real drivers for your brief and then offers a trade: less custom joinery, a simpler finish, a reused frame, fewer graphic panels. A bad answer is a flat discount with no change to the scope. A number that drops on request without anything being removed means the first figure was padded, or the next one is thinner than it looks.
03
7. How many light fittings, and where exactly?
A good answer is a count and a set of positions — spots on the brand wall, track over the product, a backlit panel at the entrance. A bad answer is "lighting included". Hall lighting is designed for the aisles rather than for your stand, which makes the lighting count the line most responsible for whether the stand reads as funded or forgotten.
04
8. What would you change about this brief if it were your budget?
A good answer is an opinion: spend more on lighting, less on joinery, move the storage, drop the second message. A bad answer is "it's perfect as it is". A supplier with no view is either not reading the brief or not willing to risk the order by disagreeing, and neither of those helps you on the floor.
Third stage — turning a conversation into a contract (questions 9 to 12)
This is the stage that decides whether you have a contract or an understanding. Each gap left open here is one you will meet again in the hall, at a moment when you have no leverage and no time.
Design and price are already settled by now. What remains is authority and evidence — who may approve what, and what exists on paper when it matters. Unglamorous, and the reason most disputes never happen.
01
9. What are the payment milestones, and what does each one release against?
A good answer attaches every instalment to something inspectable: a signed scope, approved drawings, the submission acknowledgement, a workshop dry build, handover of a working stand. A bad answer is a schedule of bare dates, or most of the money up front. Keep a meaningful balance payable after handover — it is what keeps a crew on the stand on show morning.
02
10. Will you dry-build the stand in the workshop before dispatch, and can I see proof?
A good answer is yes, with photographs or a video, panels numbered and circuits tested. A bad answer treats it as unnecessary. Where the first assembly happens decides whether build-up is assembly or problem-solving, and problem-solving in a hall costs hours you have not got.
03
11. Who prepares and submits the organiser paperwork, and by what date?
A good answer lists the actual documents — stand drawings, electrical load, material certificates — names who lodges them, and states the organiser's deadline from memory. A bad answer is "the organiser will tell you what they need", which pushes a hard deadline onto the party least equipped to meet it. A rejected submission costs build-up days nobody has spare.
04
12. How are changes priced, and who is allowed to authorise one?
A good answer is a written variation, priced before it is executed, authorised by one named person on each side. A bad answer is "we'll adjust at the end". Verbal agreements made on the floor during build-up are the largest single source of post-show invoices nobody remembers approving, and one paragraph in the contract prevents all of them.
Before build-up: questions 13 to 15
Ask these once the stand is built and the risk has shifted from the workshop to the loading bay. Few vendors are braced for them, because most buyers stop asking questions after signing — which makes this the stage where the replies are least rehearsed.
The outcome you paid for is a participation plan where every touchpoint, from the pavilion entrance to the VIP lounge, is designed to move visitors toward a meeting — and it is won or lost in the last twenty-four hours before doors open. That is the window these questions are about.
01
13. What is the backup if something fails during show hours?
A good answer is concrete: spares carried to site, a technician reachable within minutes, a named person on the floor through show hours, and a replacement path for anything that would stop the stand working. A bad answer is "nothing has ever failed". Lamps fail, laminate chips, screens drop signal and power trips — the only question is whether somebody planned for it.
02
14. When will the stand be finished, as distinct from when build-up ends?
A good answer is an hour, comfortably ahead of doors opening, with cleaning scheduled after it. A bad answer uses the organiser's deadline as the plan. Finishing at the deadline leaves nothing for the snag list, and every stand has a snag list.
03
15. What do you need from me, and by when?
A good answer is a dated list: artwork at final size, product dimensions, staff numbers, any samples to be displayed. A bad answer is "nothing, we'll handle it". Most build-up delays trace back to an input that arrived late, and a supplier who has not asked for yours has not planned backwards from the date.
Exhibiting soon? Let's build your stall.
Question, good answer, warning sign
The table below compresses the questions where the answer most often misleads. Each row is the same test: does the reply contain a verifiable specific, or does it contain comfort? Keep it open on the call rather than reading it afterwards.
| What you ask | A good answer sounds like | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Can I see finished work | Photographs from a named show, with the stall area and the year | Renders only, or images with nothing attached to them |
| What is excluded | A written exclusion page attached to the quote | The phrase all-inclusive, with no list behind it |
| What are the payment milestones | Each instalment tied to something you can inspect | A schedule of dates, with most of it up front |
| What will I approve before cutting | Dimensioned plans and elevations, by a stated date | The render you have already been shown |
| Who is on site at build-up | A name, a crew size and the shift hours | Our team will be there |
| Who does the work | An address, a supervisor's name and a date you can visit | A partner network, or a visit that is always better scheduled later |
| What if something fails mid-show | Spares on site and a named person in the building | Nothing has ever failed |
The good column is almost always the shorter one. That is the quickest heuristic in this guide — specifics are compact, and reassurance needs room.
The capacity question worth adding
A final question, and the most revealing of the lot: what will my area actually hold? It takes a country pavilions vendor about ten seconds to work out, which means an evasive answer is not a limitation of the question.
Storage takes 10% of the area up to 18 sq.m and 15% above it. A meeting corner takes 5% by default, or 20% when booking meetings is the actual purpose of the show. Display is whatever remains. Divide display area by 2.5 and you have how many visitors fit at once; divide total area by 9 for how many staff the stand needs on duty.
The reason to ask is that nobody else will. Marketing sets a footfall target, procurement books the area, and the two numbers are rarely held up against each other until the aisle is blocked. Finding the mismatch while the brief is open costs nothing.
| Stall area | Display | Storage | Staff on duty | Visitors at once | Build weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 sq.m | 7.6 sq.m | 0.9 sq.m | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 24 sq.m | 19.2 sq.m | 3.6 sq.m | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| 36 sq.m | 28.8 sq.m | 5.4 sq.m | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| 54 sq.m | 43.2 sq.m | 8.1 sq.m | 6 | 17 | 5 |
| 100 sq.m | 80 sq.m | 15 sq.m | 12 | 32 | 5 |
Same arithmetic as the stall planner: staffing is area ÷ 9 with a floor of 2, and the lead time runs 3 weeks base, +1 from 24 sq.m, +2 from 54 sq.m, +2 for premium finishes and +2 for a second storey.
When the answer is the decision
Some replies are not warning signs to weigh up — they are conclusions. The first group below are the failure modes specific to country pavilions; if a vendor's answers point at any of them, you have learned what you needed to learn and the next call is to the second name on your list.
- Too many vendors with no single point of accountability
- Inconsistent branding across co-exhibitor booths
- Budget overruns from scope that was never itemised
- Delayed approvals that compress build-up time
- An advance requested before any scope document exists
- Every question fielded by the salesperson and none by anyone who builds
- No one able to say who will be standing on your stand on build-up morning
- A discount offered the moment you hesitate, with nothing removed from the scope
- Reference images that cannot be tied to a show, a size or a year
- A refusal to name the workshop or studio, or a visit that is always possible next month
- No answer at all on dismantle, clearing or storage
Every vendor sounds the same until you ask who is in the hall on build-up morning.
After the interview
Record as you go, in a fixed order, one column per vendor. This is the whole method: in conversation a non-answer passes for an answer, and in a table it does not.
Finally, judge the whole set rather than the individual replies. The stand is a means to a result, and a supplier who is flawless on logistics but blank on what the show is for will build exactly what you specify — including your mistakes.
- The dismantle plan, and where reusable elements are stored
- The payment milestones and the deliverable behind each one
- The project manager's name and mobile number
- Who does the work, and the address where it happens
- Who submits the organiser paperwork, and the deadline
- The show-day backup plan and who is on the floor
- The build-up arrival slot, crew size and shift hours
Ask all three at once
One email, three recipients, same day — brief plus questions. Include the show, the city, the dates, the area, the open sides, your budget band and two or three images with a note on each. What comes back tells you as much about the firm as about the stand.
We are happy to be interviewed this way — written answers, every question. Design free with a confirmed fabrication order, production in our own workshops, organiser submissions handled, and one named project manager accountable from brief through dismantle.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask about the venue's rules?+
Ask for the height limit, whether rigging is permitted, the fire certification the organiser requires, and the date drawings must be submitted. Specific knowledge of one hall beats a claim to work in every city.
How many vendors should I put these questions to?+
Three, with the same brief. Two gives you nothing to calibrate an outlier answer against, and five is more work than the comparison repays.
What should I ask about dismantle?+
Who does it, whether it happens inside the organiser's window, what is cleared, and where the reusable frames and graphics are stored afterwards. Unpriced dismantle is where deposits and penalties surface.
Should I ask about things that could go wrong?+
Yes, and the quality of the answer matters more than the content. A vendor who describes the slack in their schedule, the spares they carry and who they would call has thought about failure. One who says nothing has ever gone wrong has not.
What if a vendor refuses to itemise the quote?+
Treat the refusal as the answer. Without line items you cannot compare two quotes, remove scope you do not need, or tell the difference between a cheaper vendor and a smaller scope.
What should I ask a country pavilions vendor about pricing?+
Quoted per pavilion. Beyond the figure, ask what drives it, what would make it cheaper, which lines are excluded, and what the pre-tax total is. A vendor who can rank the drivers for your brief has priced the job rather than guessed at it.
Is it reasonable to ask to visit the workshop?+
Entirely. It is a routine request for anyone buying a fabricated product, and the reaction to the question is informative even before the visit happens.
What is the best question to catch a sub-contracted build?+
"Can I visit the workshop this week?" A firm that owns production answers with an address and a day. Anything that defers the visit — after the order, nearer the show, once design is approved — is the answer by another route.
Country Pavilions near you
Our crews deliver country pavilions in every major Indian city.