Booth Staff Training

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Booth Staffing

Pre-Show Training
During the Show Training
Post-Show Debriefing

Seasoned exhibitors know that one of the more important elements in making your trade show investment a success is proper training of the booth staff. In order to project a concise and consistent message at the show, everyone working the show needs to be able to "walk the talk". It's a good idea to have several short sessions with your booth staff before, during and after the show.

Pre-show Training

No trade show exhibitor should hit the show floor without having done proper booth staff training. Improperly trained booth staff can reflect poorly on your company, and cut down dramatically on the leads you receive at a show. On the other hand, properly trained staff will draw people to your booth, give them information about your organization that is relevant to their needs, and leave the conversation with some type of follow-up or appointment.

Top 5 Areas of Pre-Show Booth Training

In addition to complete knowledge of your products and services (that's a given), your booth training should include the top 5 areas that are imperative to cover prior to show opening:

Rules of Engagement – It is a good idea to come up with a list of do's and don'ts for the show and review those with your booth staff. Items to include may be the minimum and maximum number of booth staff at one time (see Booth Staffing), rules about eating and drinking inside your booth, taking breaks, walking the show floor or moving outside of your booth for impromptu meetings, and so on.
Professional Appearance – Your staff should be dressed appropriately for the show (e.g. business or business casual attire) OR in some type of consistent show "uniform" that supports your brand, product, or show theme.
Don't Be Shy! – Timid booth staffers are not likely to obtain many leads at a trade show. Your staff should be training to greet booth visitors and passers by in a friendly and out-going manner. Your staff should not be too aggressive, but they should not be shy either. Have them engage anyone who seems at all interested in your booth in a conversation, or offer them a give-away item, piece of literature, or demo of your product.
Walk the Talk – Everyone working your booth should have your 30-second "elevator statement" memorized. The most common question from a booth visitor is inevitably, "So what do you do?" The inability to answer that question concisely will result in lost interest. In fact, depending on the type of show and your company's products and services, sometimes the best answer to that question is, "We do a variety of things – what is it that you're looking for from this show?" Chances are, they'll reveal a need or "pain" that you can help them with.
Set an Action – Even if a booth visitor doesn't have enough time to speak with you at length, have your staff ask for a follow-up meeting. Follow-ups can include sending e-mail info, literature, or speaking by phone or in person. Some professionals will even tell you to limit the amount of time you spend with booth visitors – engage them in a brief conversation, but end that conversation by acknowledging that they are busy and have a lot of show floor to cover, and ask for a follow-up meeting to go into things in more detail.

During the Show Training

The organizer and leader of the show should conduct training during the show. This forces you to be observant of the behavior of booth visitors and show staffers, and to adjust your show strategy if necessary during the show for better results. Some key items to have your eyes and ears open for include:

Attendance – is the show as well attended as show promoters promised? Are the attendees within your target audience (e.g. decision makers)?

Common Questions/Needs – is there a commonly asked question when visitors come to your booth? Is there a common need that you're hearing from visitors that your company can address?

Good and Bad Booth Staff Behavior – make sure that your booth staff is following your "rules of engagement", that they are accurately answering questions, and that they are setting follow-up actions. Do real-time coaching for staff that is off the mark or breaking the rules.

Lead Generation – be sure that all of the leads that are being gathered at the show are being logged in some type of electronic format for use after the show. One of the biggest and most common mistakes that exhibitors make is taking business cards and writing on the back of them, then tucking them away in a probably never to be seen again pocket or box under the show table. Invest up front in an electronic lead retrieval system – it is worth its weight in lead gold!

Post-Show Debrief

Another very common (and costly) mistake that exhibitors make is not holding a post-show debrief – at the show AND back at the office – to discuss how the show went, what the overall messages and take-aways were, and the leads and lead follow-up. All too often the show ends, we return to our office (already behind because we've been out for several days), and we're right back in the grind all but forgetting the people we met and things we promised at the show.

At the Show - After the last day of exhibiting, whenever possible, debrief the show with your staff together as a group. It can be at a post-show dinner or quickly as a group just prior to booth tear-down. This is the best time to get a feel for overall messages that came out of the show, evaluate how your company compared to others, and to set some follow-up goals for when you return to the office.

Back at the Office - Before you all get back into the grind – returning all of the calls and e-mails you missed while at the show – try and get your booth staff together for a meeting or a conference call to discuss post-show follow up. If you had a lead retrieval system, review which leads were assigned to whom, and what the company expects as far as follow up. Set another post-show meeting 2-4 weeks after this initial meeting to further review leads if necessary, and be sure to incorporate the leads that you obtained into your central database for future communication.