Considering all the variables and moving parts of shipping and assembling an exhibit, it is inevitable that face-to-face marketers are going to encounter on-site snafus – despite our best intentions and careful planning. While we do our best to prevent these show-floor setbacks, at the end of the day we have little recourse but to think on our feet to come up with solutions for problems both material (e.g., a missing shipment) and those having to do with slow shows and incorrect invoices.

As someone with more than a decade of experience on trade show floors, I've had to face my fair share of last-minute headaches. So here are a few common on-site crises and ways you can mitigate the damage, from someone who's been there and survived that.

Some (or all) of your freight didn't make it to the show.
The first step, after taking a few deep breaths, is to determine if your freight is at least close to the venue and if there is any possibility of it getting delivered before or even during the show. Always remember that even if your shipment isn't in your booth space at the scheduled time, that doesn't necessarily mean you must lose all hope. Check in with the general service contractor and see if there's any indication that your driver is in the marshalling yard with your freight. If the truck is MIA, call the carrier and ask if it can provide the location of your shipment. It's possible that the driver is stuck in traffic 10 miles away, is right down the street, or is just lost and circling the venue – problems that can all be overcome.

If there is no chance of your shipment arriving, the GSC will likely offer some solutions, although they won't be the cheapest fixes. Most of the larger GSCs have the inventory to build a basic 10-by-10 or 10-by-20 on site. Although you may be hard pressed to replace all of your custom graphics, you should be able to whip up something presentable with your logo on it. At this point, it's best for you and your team to accept the situation, lean in, and make the best of it. EXHIBITOR's Plan B column is full of examples of exhibitors whose freight went missing but still managed to pull off a successful show with a little ingenuity and teamwork. After all, it's not just exhibitry that makes an exhibit great. It's the people inside it.

Your flooring arrived – and it's the wrong color.
At one of my very first trade shows, I got a call from my on-site contact on Super Bowl Sunday letting me know the vinyl flooring for my 50-by-70-foot booth arrived in black instead of white. While that should have been my sign to run away from this industry as fast as possible, I didn't. Luckily, the manufacturer wasn't too far away and was able to overnight the correct color. But that was pure luck. I've also received the wrong flooring at two other shows and had to put in a lot more creative legwork to make it right.

If the incorrect color is a dealbreaker and the provider can't get you a replacement in time for your setup schedule, you can instruct your installation team to build the exhibit on the concrete and later deal with the unfortunate process of having to lift or move it to lay the flooring. The logic here is that you don't want a labor crew twiddling their thumbs while each worker is on the clock for $100 an hour. While raising the exhibit will be a pain, at least you'll make some progress and be more comfortable knowing that no other pieces are missing. After your setup team gets rolling, contact the GSC and see what Plan B options they have. Most GSCs will have extra flooring on hand, and while their inventory will likely be stock colors, they might be better than what turned up in your booth.

If you've sourced your flooring from an exhibit house or supplier partner, it's essential that you connect with them right away to let them know what's happened, provide documentation, and determine what options you have moving forward. Even if they can't fix the problem immediately, you may be able to collect a credit that you can apply toward ordering new flooring from the GSC.

The in-floor electrical plan wasn't laid correctly.
A benefit to working with the larger GSCs is that they now sometimes offer a texting service for exhibitors, so if you have an issue with something like electricity, you don't have to walk all the way to the service desk to address it. If your electrical was laid incorrectly, this is the first step to getting everything resolved. You might still need to head to the exhibitor services desk, but by giving them a heads up you're at least preparing them for your questions. Granted, your text might go unacknowledged at a massive show, but you'll likely make significant headway at a smaller event.

The most important thing here is to focus on the solution and not on the problem. Yes, you'll want to determine who made the error so that the appropriate party can cover the cost of fixing the mistake, but your first concern should be righting the ship. Again, you don't want a setup crew sitting around with nothing to do while you point fingers at the GSC, your exhibit house rep, or the electrical lead. Take photos, make a game plan, and get things moving. Finger pointing can always come later.

There's a visible tear in your silicone-edge graphic.
Before we address this, keep in mind that even the worst graphic "injury" looks worse to you than it will to the average attendee. If we're talking about a small mark on a graphic or a tiny slice in your SEG fabric caused by an errant box cutter, there's a good chance that no one will notice, as people walking the show floor are inundated with visual stimuli. That's not to say that clean and damage-free graphics aren't important, but it might not be as bad as you think.

Pretty much every article about preparing gang boxes mentions packing a sewing kit, and that's because of occasions such as these. SEGs are typically handsewn by seamstresses at exhibit houses and graphics printers. If the fabric has separated from the silicone strip, the chances are slim that you'll be able to match this stitch exactly, but do your best. Note that it's important to be mindful of the tension of the fabric while sewing. You don't want to pull it too taut or keep it too loose, otherwise the seam of the stretched panel could become puckered.

If the graphic has a prominent tear smack dab in the middle, the quickest and easiest solution is to use double-sided carpet tape to cover the rip on back of the fabric, provided that the graphic is not backlit. A lightbox will undoubtedly showcase your patch job, so repairing a backlit graphic requires your trusty sewing kit once again. You'll be left with a bit of a seam, but that's better than a tear. If your sewing skills aren't up to par or you simply don't have the time, consider swapping the SEG with Sintra. You'll obviously lose the backlighting, but Sintra is easy to cut and readily accepts stickers and vinyl decals. That's why I always bring a few extra sheets with me to every trade show floor.

A competitor two booths over is launching a product that's nearly identical to yours.
My gut reaction in these situations is to say "Who cares?," but I realize that's not a very popular response. Remember the simple fact that your customers always have options, even when an option isn't literally a few steps away. There's more than one brand of tomato sauce on the same shelf at the grocery store, so product managers should differentiate them based on competitive advantages.

Consider this a great opportunity to brainstorm with your team exactly why your product is better so you can answer that question when attendees ask it. Is your offering produced with sustainable materials? Does it operate using 50-percent less energy? Knowing your information and tweaking messaging on the fly is key when the competition is heavy.

The show is a bona fide bust with no qualified leads.
Well, there's no such thing as a show with zero qualified leads. While there may not be many leads, there is a good chance that you can find the needles in the haystack. Remember that it only takes one good lead to make a sale, so while the majority of the attendees might not be the right fit, there's a strong possibility that the right fit is out there. Also keep in mind that even if someone isn't a lead now, it's important to engage with them in case they become a customer later. It's easy for staffers to get discouraged on day three of a slow show, so do you best to keep morale up and encourage them to make the most of every single attendee interaction.

One of my favorite activities to do in the exhibit hall when the booth is quiet is to explore what others are doing and get some new ideas on areas for improvement, new exhibit trends, and new technology. While I don't advocate for ever leaving your booth unattended, this is an opportunity for you and perhaps a colleague or two to walk around and check out the show floor. It's one thing to work on ideas with your exhibit partner at home, but it's another to put your eyeballs on different exhibits and see what's what in real life. We can all attest to the fact that seeing exhibits live and in-person after being locked up for almost two years can serve as both education and inspiration.

An invoice is way off the mark.
Resolving invoice issues on site will likely save you from a headache after the show, so pay a visit to the GSC desk. A rep should have physical or electronic files of all the orders associated with your booth and be able to review them with you face-to-face. Here's where any photos you (hopefully) took during setup and/or the run of show come into play. For example, did you only get one 6-foot table instead of two, and then decide you didn't need the second table after all? Or did you order carpet padding, not get it, and decide you'd go without? Show your proof. Reps might not be able to credit an overpayment in person, but they'll likely be able to add it to your account to post after the show closes. Finally, don't forget to leave with hardcopy or email confirmation of whatever steps were taken.

According to Marilyn Monroe, "Within crisis are the seeds of opportunity." While I'm not wishing a catastrophe on anyone, I do believe that these challenges lead us to industry wisdom so the same problem doesn't happen again. Granted, there will indeed be new crises, but our goal as exhibit managers should be to never have to struggle through the same quagmire twice. E