Your first thought about your trade show staff might be: I’ll just put my top sales guys at the display booths. But, this line of thinking might not be the best. There could be other people in your company that would do a much better job at selling what you want to display at the show.
CC Image courtesy of Neff Conner via FlickrMixing it Up
Your sales and marketing team might be able to sell better than anyone else, but who knows a product as well as a product developer? Further, how many other opportunities will someone like a development expert have to really introduce a product? Not many, right? While you may not want to crowd your booth with engineers (or other people) that have no selling experience, you’d be surprised at just how approachable people that aren’t polished sales people can seem to exhibit attendees.
Other people in your company that may do a better job at selling your products are customer representatives. These folks deal with people all day long, and they are great at solving problems. Plus, once again, your customer service people probably spend all day indoors at the same spot, and letting them out to actually interact with people is a great way to boost spirits. Should you arm your booth with solely those people that never leave the office? Maybe not; but it’s not a bad idea to mix up your staff a bit.
How to Choose
The really important thing about choosing your staff is to make sure that the people attending the show actually want to be there. There’s nothing worse than walking around to view products and services and facing a team of people that simply don’t want anything to do with the show they are attending. In addition, make certain that everyone attending the show has a really good understanding of what your objective and goals are, what the product is, and how to handle what comes your way. Those are really the most important things – not hiring the best sales people you know.
Getting the Design Right
Of course, you can line your booth with the best mix of personalities in the universe, but none of that will matter if your exhibit design is lacking. So, make sure that you have display booths that simply stands out by working with our team at Blazer Exhibits. We will set you up with a design team, take everything you’re working towards into account, and make sure that your tradeshow booth attracts the market you’re going for.
We also want to point out that it’s up to you to train your team the right way. Things like schedules and scheduled bathroom breaks aren’t the only part of training a trade show team. You have to make sure that everyone working for you is on the same page, that everyone is enthusiastic about the show, and that you are all working towards the same goal. Above all, though, don’t assume that your sales people are the best people for the job.
Look around your company, find those people that might bring something new to the table, and bring some people out that may not be your first choice – you never know what someone new might have in store. Plus, a mix of personalities means that clients approaching your bench may reach out to one person but not another – and that’s always a good thing.
Need some help? Have questions about your tradeshow booth or team? Leave us some questions on this blog, and we’ll get back to you with the answers. In the meantime, call us today to set up a meeting with our design team, so that your display booths can really shine.