Springtime, and people are ready to hustle!
The weather’s better, summer plans are coming together, and outdoor sports are in full swing… Speaking of full swing, that includes my dad’s favourite sport; baseball. Love it. I mean, the man’s in his late 60s now, and can you believe he still plays slow-pitch baseball, both in the summer and down south in the winter? I see him and it’s like nothing has changed about him since I was a kid; he’s got the exact same energy. See, he used to coach me, and, although I wasn’t particularly gifted—in fact cursed with a wild arm—I did learn some important things from my dad that I still carry with me, to this very day.
One of the things I remember is that there are only two times you should walk in baseball: before the game when you walk to the ball diamond, and after the game when you walk off the ball diamond. Nobody exemplified that kind of attitude more than baseball legend Pete Rose. Starting right from his rookie year, Pete Rose made his impact felt by always trying his hardest, and it earned him the nickname “Charlie Hustle.”
What really got me thinking about my dad and Pete Rose was watching different companies exhibit at trade shows. Believe it or not, a trade show is a lot like a baseball game. We’re talking about “teams” trying to “win” something, and, I have to say, some companies that exhibit at trade shows could really learn a thing or two from my dad and Pete Rose.
There were these two large, and established, companies presenting near me. They both exhibited a real lack of hustle. What I mean is, the booth staff just sat around and talked amongst themselves, showed up late for booth duty, and seemed to have zero self awareness that their complete lack of effort was showing.
I thought, “This is how you represent your company? The folks who gave you the job in the first place?”
From my experience, the younger companies that are just out of the start-up phase have a lot more “booth” hustle. They are what we call lead-hungry, that is, hungry for sales leads, because they know their existence depends on their ability to market themselves and to drive sales.
Pretty important, wouldn’t you say? So, how do some companies arrive at this ‘less is more’ attitude?
It seems to me that somewhere along the line, as companies mature, they seem to forget why they are at the show. They think of themselves as veterans of trade show marketing, and they develop this sense of entitlement. But the thing is, trade show crowds are fickle. You have to earn their attention and respect. Every. Single. Time.
Sounds like a hassle? Hear me out. Do you know what happens to the old baseball veterans when they come to spring training when they’re overweight and out of shape? You know it—they get cut! So, if I were the “coach” of this particular trade show “team”, I’d try to put some fire into their bellies. That is, I would motivate the booth staff so that they go out there and perform to the best of their ability!
Easy to say, harder to do. So how can you create more hustle, or “hop-to-it-ness”, with your booth staff?
Have you ever tried holding a contest to see who gets the most lead scans?
Or try a contest to have a people’s choice award for the MVP of the show.
By making it interesting you’re turning the chore into a cheer!
How else can you reawaken their competitive spirit and get the results you desire? Sometimes it’s not about attitude, but aptitude. It never hurts to go back to the fundamentals. After all, every year major league baseball teams work on conditioning and return to the fundamentals of the game. When was the last time your company trained staff for a trade show? Like I said, your staff is your trade show team. It’s integral that you do what you can to bring them together, to rally them around the cause, and to instill a little hustle.
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