When it comes to who’s assigning individuals to work your booth, you can assign shifts to employees from your company or hire professional staff. You’re bound for success as long as you focus on two things: your messaging goal and how your team is representing your company! Start building the best group for the event by asking yourself the following:
What Qualifications Should I Look For?
You know your colleagues better than anyone else! Begin hand-picking those who you think would be the perfect candidates for your trade show. Choose team members most passionate about your company. They’re on the front end and you want to build lasting impressions! These employees can be those who have been with the company longest or those who work closest to the product you’re showcasing.
If your HR department has any personality assessments like DISC, for example, you’ll want to take employees with a high I. These people are most likely to thrive in the trade show environment. They’ll be more willing to engage with passers-by and will be energized by the crowds and excitement.
While your work colleagues have the best understanding of your company, don’t shy away from outside help. Their efforts can be seamlessly supplemented with a trade show staffing company.
With hired staff, keep in mind that the best event staff is able to adapt to the event type and the company hiring them. While looking through their skills, consider how they will fit into your booth and what role they’ll be playing for the day. They could take the role of a presenter or be the one to qualify leads!
How Do I Prepare Them for the Big Day?
You’ve selected the best candidates for your booth team and hired a few professionals. Now what? Start thinking about what you can do to train them for the event!
You want to make sure your booth staff is being efficient with their time and effective with their wording! Go over specific details like:
- Trade show etiquette
- How to approach attendees (Brainstorm ways of engaging passing strangers)
- Attendee demographics specific to this event
- The product or service you’re spotlighting
- The booth setup
- A list of team members
- Your Goals and Objectives for the show
To decide if they’re ready, host workshops and mock trade show booths. You can even ask them questions you think attendants might ask.
Which Team Members Can Convert Attendants to Leads?
As mentioned above, extroverted employees are good at engaging prospects, but there is room for introverts too! We usually suggest a mix of both types of staff, and you’ll see why after we explain how you should lay it out.
An extrovert can draw in a crowd and drive that interest as guests are walking by. These would be your trade show presenters. Then comes the introvert, a team member who’s perfect for holding a more focused conversation. They’re good at listening to what the attendee is looking for. Introverts are best for converting booth visitors into leads, whether you’re asking attendees for contact information, presenting a small demonstration to a few people, or just want to pass along a card.
The overall goal: create a natural flow for the audience you want to target. A staff line up like this will gather a crowd, effectively illustrate your company, product, service, and, in turn, grow trade show leads. Take note of each of the points mentioned above, and you’ll be able to achieve the goals and objectives set for your next event.