Salli participated in COPA, London - The biggest rehabilitation expo in Europe

Salli attended COPA exhibition in London at the beginning of June. COPA is Europe's largest expo in the field of rehabilitation, where chiropractors, physiotherapists, osteopaths, prostheses manufacturers and other professionals present their products and services. Elite Sports and Neuro Convention events were held at the Excel exhibition center at the same time, which helped to attract visitors. Visitors are health professionals in various fields, as well as members of associations or owners of their own clinics – and not just from Great Britain but around the world.

Salli was present for the third time, and the team consisted of Expo Manager Tarja Laitinen, Export Manager Sari Hintikka-Varis, and Salli’s Vice CEO Marie Jalkanen. Both Tarja and Marie are physiotherapists, and Tarja also has M.Sc. in Sports Medicine, so there was again really solid knowledge present at the stand.

Marie held a lecture on “Sit to be healthy” on both days of the expo, in which she presented the essential points of the Salli concept. A good sitting position has a great effect not only on the health of the back but also on digestion, circulation, energy level, breathing and the health of the pelvic area.

Salli conqueres Europe

Sari-Hintikka Varis, who attends a lot of Salli’s expos, says that Salli has been very well and positively received in Europe. For many the chair is already familiar and the expo staff often hears how nice it is to see Salli again.

– Although, this spring we were in Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Italy for the first time, it is a big furniture fair. In that target group Salli is not that well-known yet, and all the visitors didn’t even realize at first that it's a chair, Sari says.

The poster wall that is often seen at Salli’s stands, with the bare backs of the sitters, raises wonder in the Catholic countries. However, on the other hand, French people in particular stop to take pictures of it; after all it is an aesthetically beautiful picture. Also many people think that when sitting on a chair it should be possible to lean on the backrest and put your feet up, and that is not possible on Salli. However, this is a good starting point for explaining Salli's ideology and human physiology, and usually the message goes through well.

Salli Saddle Chairs are being exported to over 60 countries. The newest export country is Serbia, where a dental dealer just started selling Sallis. Dentists are usually the first target group in a new export country because they face many problems in their work due to the challenging work positions.

Always on the lookout for new dealers

Tarja Laitinen has been the Expo Manager at Salli for more than a year and a half now. Her responsibility is to find potential expos and arrange the construction of the stand, transportation, travel, accommodation, bureaucracy, and budgeting. Tarja is also responsible for assembling and disassembling the products, as well as for all the practical arrangements.

A year ago, Salli started using a Catcher device to collect the visitor information and send visitors a post-marketing letter within 24 hours of filling in their data. This is a great way to enhance the first contact and stay in the visitor's mind.

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Tarja was now the second time at COPA, and she praises English for their friendliness. There are lots of differences in expo culture in different countries, for example, the furniture expo in Milan last spring proved unexpectedly to be the most bureaucratic so far, as far as paperwork is concerned.
– And in Scandinavia things happen at time and as planned, but the South-European mentality is a bit different, Tarja laughs.

Tarja says that expos are the most important marketing opportunities for Salli: the product and the whole Salli concept is made known, and visibility increases.

Sari agrees on this.
– At expos I’m always looking for new dealers, and contacts are often made on the spot, so as an Export Manager I find them important events for me. Iran would be an interesting export country! There is a lot of challenge and potential.

Nudeback is an eye-catcher

In COPA, the chairs and Salli’s sitting health concept were still somewhat unfamiliar to most of the visitors; Salli was the only saddle chair manufacturer there. The Nudeback poster wall was once again a real eye-catcher that gave an easy way to open the conversation about the correct sitting position.

– Visitors at COPA are health professionals who understand human anatomy and physiology, so the concept was easy to explain, but even to them the chair looked "interesting". However, many had heard of the chair and were happy to try it. The first comments after sitting down were almost without exception "This is really comfortable!", says Tarja.

Tarja emphasizes the fact that expos are the perfect place to tell about all the good effects of Salli. The chair is just a good start, combining a wide range of health effects. When you meet people face to face, it is easy to tell about the chair and its effects and to show the right sitting position.

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