Autumn's almost here, and you know what that means. When the
leaves start changing color and the school buses start their
engines, it's time for back to school.
It's not just the kiddies who are headed back to class. It's
an ideal time of year to provide your booth staff with the
tools and trainings they'll need for the next trade show.
The summer lull is over, and industries of every type are
gearing up for what looks to be a very busy trade show season.
Training your employees doesn't have to be difficult. It's
just like school: You have to concentrate on the Three R's.
There is one small difference. Instead of concentrating on
reading, writing, and arthmetic, you'll be talking to your
booth staff about Reasons, Responses, and Routes.
Reasons: Ask your booth staff why your company exhibits
at any particular show, and their answers may surprise you.
Tradition and because the competition is exibiting at the
show are among the most often cited reasons booth staff give
when asked this question, yet these seldom appear in the company's
list of motivations. Explain to your staff the role trade
show participation plays in the company's marketing strategy,
including items like timed product launches or establishing
a competitive presence.
Once the staff understand the role of the trade show, outline
the goals you have for show participation in general, and
specific benchmarks for each particular show. This will allow
your staff time to think about how they can contribute to
the team's success.
Responses: Small talk is easy. Gathering valuable customer
information in a casual manner is difficult. Train your booth
staff to elicit the desired responses by asking engaging,
open ended questions. Using how, what, when, and why questions
encourages attendees to share their business concerns and
presents your staff with an opportunity to offer solutions.
Role playing exercises may feel awkward at first, but often
help staff develop the confidence needed to work the show
floor effectively. Actually practicing conversations also
gives the opportunity to discuss non-verbal communication
cues, including posture, physical space, gestures, and eye
contact.
Routes: What happens to all the leads your staff gathers after
the show? If you've recently finished a show season, ask your
staffers what happened to all those business leads. If they're
scratching their heads and looking puzzled, you know you've
got a problem.
Leads have an extremely short shelf life. The longer they
go unpursued, the more likely they are to either prove fruitless,
mediocre or they went to the competition.
Staff should be trained to gather all possible contact information,
and to make relevant, specific notes on the lead form. Having
a system in place to distribute and follow-up with leads immediately
after the show will capitalize on all the time, effort, and
resources you put into your trade show participation. There
is often a disconnect between trade show leads and the sales
staff. Stress to your sales staff that creating new business
relationships based upon trade show leads is a company priority.
Make them accountable for any leads that they were given to
avoid having the new leads getting lost in the shuffle.
There's one more R we didn't talk about, but it's a very important
part of forming a strong trade show team. That's Recess. Schedule
some fun training exercises, both to reinforce the educational
aspects of your day and for teambuilding purposes. Trade show
days are very long, and a team that not only works well together
but enjoys each other's company will have a tremendous edge
over the competition.
Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid,
NY, author: "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,"
working with companies to improve their meeting and event
success through coaching, consulting and training. For a free
copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week, e-mail: [email protected];
website: http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com
