A Fresh Approach to Recruiting Booth Staff

Allocating staff to participate in a corporate exhibit program is fraught with challenges such as.

•    Resentment from sales staff, who would rather not leave their territory to participate in a show where they are not closing deals,

•    A perception that working the booth in exotic location is a perk like a paid vacation, whereas in a less attractive location it is thought of as a punishment for a sub-standard performance,

•    A shortage of trained personnel, who can effectively achieve the corporate exhibit goals,

•    The misconception that older and more experienced staff will do a better job than younger staff who have not developed strong customer relationships.

•    The cost of training new staff is prohibitive.

While the validity of each of these reasons can be debated, what is crucial is to step back from your corporate perspective and look at what your customers want. When you compare your customer’s needs to what you are doing to satisfy them, you might see that you may be missing a great opportunity.

The following chart, which is taken from a recent study by the Centre for Exhibition Industry Research, highlights the problem.

Source: CEIR, The Role and Value of Face-to-Face, Exhibition Staff Practices, Report F04.12

In each category exhibitors are under delivering on attendee preferences. For example the top three categories that attendees prefer to meet at a trade show are sales/marketing, scientific/technical and research/development. Each of these categories was preferred by at least half of the respondents. Yet, the closest that exhibitors came to satisfying attendees desires is with sales/marketing at a mere 30%. The other two categories could have been completely ignored at 3% each.

If we agree that one of the primary rationale for face-to-face marketing is the ability to engage customers in the process of finding solutions, then we can also agree that we should be providing these attendees with access to the people they want to converse with. The solution then is to re-think the recruitment and training practices that may have served well in the past but may leave future performance expectations flat at best.

The following are the steps to a new and more dynamic human resources plan for your exhibit program:

1. Create specific profiles of the people you are hoping to meet at the events you participate in.

Profiles go beyond basic demographics and should include as much information about the people you are attempting to meet as possible. Remember that when you participate in a trade show you are selling to corporations but communicating with individuals.

2. Obtain senior management commitment to the importance of your exhibition program and your need for digging deeper into for people to represent your corporation at shows. When support comes top-down it not only provides motivation for staff to get involved it also makes it easier to obtain a commitment for the resources you need to implement your exhibit program.

3. Create a program that highlights the opportunity for staff to represent the corporation. Your staff is often motivated when they see how their help will benefit the organization as well as themselves. A new program allows you to tap into often forgotten human resources and convert them to company ambassadors. When launching this, you need to articulate each ambassador’s role.

4. Communicate your rationale for expanding your search for staff. One of the easiest tools to use is the chart in this article. If your staff knows that customers have expressed a desire to talk to them, you have created a value proposition that can’t be easily ignored.

5. Train staff on interpersonal skills, product knowledge and what it means to be in the public’s eye. The first step is to shed off the stereotypes of who is the best person to work at an exhibition. Successful booth staff do not have to be extroverts or “born” sales people. Rather the basic need is their passion for the products and services and corporation they represent and a desire to share what they have learned. Once that’s in place, the specialized skills they need to master can easily be integrated into their individual personalities.

6. Reward those who have successfully represented the company at a trade show. This goes back to having senior management support. Perhaps your CEO could sign a certificate to all your Ambassadors thanking them for their commitment. Maybe you can publish some of their success stories. Perhaps you can survey customers and determine how your staff has affected the relationship with the customer. There are a multitude of rewards that go beyond a monetary gift.

If you really want to positively impact your exhibit program think about introducing a program that lets you uncover some real talent in your organization that might be eager to take on this new challenge.

Top 5 Tips for Finding the Right Show to Exhibit At

Hello Class. Good to be back with yet another TradeShow Teacher lesson. Today, we'll be talking about "doing your homework" during your show selection process. When I say "homework", I am talking about the due-diligence process before you decide on a show, not the homework I'll be giving you at the end of this article! Finding the right show is a little bit like dating. You know there is a perfect match out there, but that match is often a little tedious to find. There are plenty seemingly attractive ones to choose from and usually you can tell pretty quickly if you like one or not. But once you do like one, you need to learn more before you can get serious and start writing to your parents – ah, I meant your boss, about it. In all seriousness, there are a couple of important details to check out and verify before you commit to any specific show.

1.) Getting Started

If you are new to my column or were naughty and didn't pay attention in previous lessons, let me remind you of the prerequisites before you can even start evaluating a show for its suitability:

- Know what your goal (or goals) is. Usually that is obtaining new sales leads, but sometimes a show can be about maintaining business relationships, creating industry exposure, public
relations or even, like one client I once had, about annoying your competitor.
- What are the verticals you are trying to reach?
- What type of event are you looking for? (regional, national, international event)
- Who are your key prospects in each industry? (CFO, VP, Purchasing Director, Managers, etc.)

2.) Show Prospectus

Make sure to get a show prospectus for every show you are considering. The quality and accuracy of data somewhat varies, but in most cases they contain facts and figures about attendee profiles, titles, purchasing roles, budgets, sales volume and geographic location.

A show prospectus may also include booth package information and a listing of marketing opportunities. Most of the time, you can easily download this information directly from the show website. Usually there is a link to an exhibitor information area of the website designated as "exhibitors", "exhibiting", or something similar. Always keep in mind, the show prospectus is a sales and marketing tool of the show producer, so expect to find only the positive data points in there.

3.) Show Audit

Always ask if a show audit of the previous year's show is available. The type of facts and figures provided is very similar to the show prospectus, but show audits are verified by a 3rd party, confirming attendee data accuracy by monitoring the show registration process and following up with attendees post-show.

Any audit is only as good as the auditor though, so it's always a good idea to research the audit company a little to make sure it's not the show producer's nephew and that company only audits that one show! The EEIAC, The Exhibition & Event Industry Audit Commission currently has three audit companies certified: BPA Worldwide, Exhibit Surveys, Inc. and VERIS Consulting, LLC.

4.) Personally Verifying Show Data

Something you should do in any case, but certainly if there is no 3rd party show audit available, is solicit information from exhibitors of the previous year's show. Look for last year's exhibitor list and select a few companies from your industry or who target similar prospects. Simply call and ask to speak with their show manager. Ask them about their exhibiting experience and whether it was worthwhile to exhibit there. Here are some sample questions to ask; add additional questions, specific to your needs.

- Did they feel the attendees fit the show's description?
- Was the show turnout good?
- Would they exhibit there again?

Another good source of information about the show is previous attendees. A reputable show will be willing to provide you with a small sample of previous attendees. Call several of them to ask about their impression of the show. Here are a couple of sample questions to ask, like before, customize questions to your business needs.

- What were their reasons for attending; did the show meet their attendance goals?
- Do they plan on attending again?
- What contributing factors make them want to attend again?

5.) Show Promotion Plan

Another item worth researching is the show producer's plan for the promotion of the show. This is something you typically don't find on the show web site. A professional show producer will have developed detailed plans to reach and attract a well-defined audience and be willing to share that plan with potential exhibitors. At minimum, any such plan should contain most or all of the following items:

- Defined target audience and how they will be reached.
- Outline of print advertisements, including the publications they will run in, with publication distribution numbers.
- Direct mail and e-mail campaigns: the number of campaigns planned and who they will be distributed to.
- Press releases: topics, distribution schedule, distribution outlets and other areas of placement. - Online advertising: list of websites, size of ads and advertisement schedule.
- Radio or TV coverage etc.

If the show is not willing to share their plans with you, consider that a red flag since it almost certainly means they have something to hide. It might simply be the fact that that they are behind on their planning which is a bad sign in itself, but it could also be a part of a greater problem, such as disorganization, lack of planning or funding and lack of preparation for the overall show.

Homework

Matching Your Research Results to Your Requirements

Now that you have collected all pertinent information about your prospective shows, it's time to see how they match up. At minimum, you should look at the following data points; ask yourself for each show:

- What initial goals does this show meet?
- What key prospects attend this show and what is their purchasing authority?
- Will you have the resources for effectively planning and exhibiting at the time of year the show is scheduled for?
- Do you have the budget for all related expenses?
- Can your sales team manage the show leads acquired at that time of year?
- Are there other conflicting company events?
- Are there high concentrations of competitors exhibiting?
- Are the competitors too large or to well positioned to compete against?

That's it for this lesson.