When exhibiting at a trade show, the staff that you have manning your stand are a vital part of making your show a success! These are the people who represent your business in conversations with potential customers and business partners, so they must be well-trained and fully prepared.

You never really know who will visit your stand during a trade show, so staff must be prepared for anything. Businesses frequently fail to recognise that, when exhibiting, they are taking a risk if their staff are not properly prepared and educated. Without proper preparation, there’s a real risk of visitors being left unimpressed with your business and opting to instead work with a rival company, who will likely also be exhibiting at your event.

A well-trained, cohesive exhibition team (whether your own or agency staff) can significantly boost the ROI of your event, generating more leads and leaving a great impression on your visitors. This is why it’s so crucial to choose the most competent employees and ensure that they are fully trained and prepared to exhibit.

Exhibition Staff Training

Your first impression is usually what sticks with visitors and well-trained, well-prepared staff can ensure that your first impression is a good one!

Training for an exhibition takes many forms and will typically include topics like how to attract visitors to your stand, how to engage visitors, how to get accurate information from visitors, how to sell effectively or how to qualify leads and avoid timewasting.

The level of guidance that your team need will be somewhat dependent on their day-to-day role and expertise. If, for example, they come from a sales background they may need to modify their approach to become more conversational and less salesy, while staff with a good level of technical knowledge might need more guidance in focussing their knowledge for each visitor’s specific needs.

Training should always be a two-way street, with staff able to ask questions and voice their individual needs. This is how you get the best out of each individual at the show.

Four-Step Networking Plan

Part of exhibiting successfully is about being comfortable and natural when engaging with show visitors. With the right guidance and preparation, anyone can be good at exhibiting, but having an easy-to-follow plan will set your staff up for success from the get-go.

A calm and composed demeanour gives off an air of confidence and competence that will strengthen visitors’ view of your business. Making your staff feel comfortable could be as simple as having a clear plan, a great exhibition stand and an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide for each networking opportunity they have. This guide could look something like this

• A well-rehearsed introduction – First impressions matter and a good introduction will set the tone for each discussion and allow you to maintain control over the flow of conversation.
• Two minutes to qualify – Assess whether the prospect is worth presenting to and decide what to show them. Hot leads will need nurturing, while cold leads can be given some informational material before moving on.
• A solid 5-to 8-minute pitch – Present the business’ offering clearly and concisely. Focus on the specific needs of the prospect and have answers prepared for the typical queries and objections.
• Thirty seconds to close – end the conversation politely and effectively, ensuring that prospects have all of the information they need before moving on to the next!

Follow-up strategies post-show

After your team has made a brilliant first impression on all of your show visitors it’s important to capitalise on that with your follow-up strategy. It’s amazing how many businesses fail to effectively follow up with the leads gathered during an exhibition and this failure constitutes a massive waste of time, effort and money!

After your exhibition is over be sure to follow up with each lead promptly to ensure the buzz of the show hasn’t fizzled out by the time they hear from you again. Try to remember a unique personal detail about them (it helps if you are consciously looking for these during the show). Maybe a personal preference, a recent life event or a unique interest. Remembering these details shows that you value your lead as a person and helps to establish a more trusted personal bond.

Conclusion

Many companies do all the right things when it comes to their exhibition stand but give little thought to the people manning it. Even if you’ve managed to get all of the aspects of your stand right, if the people representing your business aren’t trained properly, then you’ll be extremely limited.

A lot of people say that training is too expensive and it’s usually the first budget to get cut when things are tight, but if you’re going to spend thousands of your hard-earned money exhibiting, you need to be sure that the people who are representing your business are fully trained in how to do so effectively.

Properly preparing your staff for exhibiting should be viewed as more of an investment than a cost because, with proper preparation and planning, you’ll generate more leads, attract more business prospects and be more likely to leave visitors with a great impression of your business.

About the Author

Carl Garner-Watts is the lead Marketing Content Creator at exhibition stand design and build contractor Quadrant2Design. He has over a decade of experience in business and digital marketing, spanning industries including trade shows, facilities management, finance, property investment and venue marketing.