When you are exhibiting at a trade show, you need to make sure that everything is designed to allow you the maximum impact on your target audience. Whether you want to woo customers and impress attendees into considering purchasing your newest product, or you want to get the attention of other companies in your industry in order to forge relationships and bolster your professional network and reputation it is important to make sure that everything is just so.
To this end, your exhibit stand and the design of your display can only take you so far. Although it is certainly crucial and helps you make the impression that you want as well as to dictate your presence at the show, another very important aspect of successful exhibiting is making sure that the employees, staffers and representatives who will be at your exhibit stand are trained to provide the best impression of your company. From exhibit set up to tear down you want your staff to be as personable and professional as possible.
So, what exactly does that mean? Well, for starters your staff should be intimately familiar with your company and its operations. They should be especially well-versed in the details of any new product launch, venture or announcement that you expect to make at the show (or have made recently). If you are going to announce a new product for example, it is crucial that your staff are familiar with all of the details because there will surely be questions about it from attendees and there isn’t much worse than having a staff which can’t answer those questions. It makes your company look ill-prepared for the expo.
Another important part of providing a good impression, is making sure that exhibit staff are personable and approachable. You should make sure that staff are well-rested and, just as crucially, that they actually want to be there. This shouldn’t be too hard, just find the smartest most passionate employees in your company and ask if they would like to attend the show. This should be seen as a privilege. Not only will they get a free trip, lodging, food and the rest but they are selected to represent your brand because of their performance and passion.
To some extent, this kind of thing can be trained but it is often largely a personality thing that you either have or you don’t. You want friendly faces and people who can make others laugh while also being able to convey information accurately and professionally. Have your staffers take turns role-playing during exhibit set up. One person can be the representative and the other a curious attendee. Have them challenge each other and have fun, but make sure that they know it’s serious once the show starts.