Nutmeg Exhibit

Staffing

Selection Guidelines

Booth staff selection should be treated like your normal hiring process. You must understand the key competencies required of the job and select accordingly. Show attendees draw conclusions about your company and products based upon their conversations with booth staffers. Choose carefully - your staff should be knowledgeable, approachable and enthusiastic about your company, its products and the opportunity to participate in the show.

The following considerations are helpful in making good selections:

  1. Consider your show objectives - do you want to generate leads, educate attendees about a new product or service? This will identify the technical competencies required. Company and product knowledge is mandatory.
  2. Consider your target audience. If for example, your target audience were engineers you would want a mix of both salespeople and product managers.
  3. Consider personality - show attendees are looking for answers to their questions. Your booth staff should be personable and effective listeners able to discern customer needs. They also should be assertive, and able to deliver your key messages crisply.
  4. Consider image - booth staff should present a consistent and accurate image of your company and products. Their image should also be consistent with the expectations of your target audience. You should consider establishing a dress code and using name badges. Complete familiarity with your show objectives and key messages is mandatory. Open responses, smiling, and sincere warmth are musts. Non-verbal communication is 55-60 percent of your staff's communication.

Attendees are demanding. Using less experienced staff should be done carefully. Following are some suggestions.

  1. Train less experienced staff to qualify booth visitors. Lead the best prospects to experienced staff members.
  2. Product experts not skilled in selling can be used as support to answer technical questions and give demonstrations.
  3. Train your team one-week before the event. Rehearse before the event begins.
  4. Familiarize the team thoroughly with the exhibit, location of samples and literature, supplies, demonstration schedules, etc. before the event begins.

Scheduling Guidelines

  1. It is dramatically more productive to use one team for the duration of the show. It takes time to become effective in the exhibit environment and research has shown that frequently changed teams can reduce sales effectiveness by as much as 50%.
  2. Booth sales staff will be effective for approximately four hours. Beyond that their effectiveness decreases significantly. When facing a six to eight hour exhibiting day, divide the team into two or more groups and alternate them.
  3. Schedule a daily pre-opening staff meeting to identify and resolve problems that have surfaced during the course of the event.
  4. Establish a daily, written break schedule (15-minute breaks every two hours are effective) and staff rotation before the show opens. Ensure that each team member has a copy.
  5. Use every meeting before the show as a "pep rally" to build team spirit. Engender pride in the organization and enthusiasm for the event that is about to take place.
  6. Have your team develop signals for alerting each other to come to the "rescue" when caught with an unqualified prospect. Catch the eye of a fellow staffer and either tug your ear, rub the back of your neck, or clasp your hands behind your back with thumbs straight up. Your teammate can then call you away for a phone call

Boothmanship

Consultative Selling

The profile of today's trade show attendee is changing. Generally, they are more knowledgeable than ever and attend shows to evaluate vendors and products as part of their buying decision. They are not attending shows to hear sales pitches. Rather, exhibitors are viewed as an important resource for getting immediate answers to questions and for gaining knowledge of new technology.

It is important that your booth staff be skilled at discerning buying motives and tailoring their presentation accordingly. Discerning buying motives is best done using a consultative sales approach that relies on strategic questions rather than a generic sales pitch.

Your strategic questions should focus on several areas:

  1. What attracted the visitor to your booth?
  2. What company are they from and what do they do there?
  3. How are they familiar with your company, product or service?
  4. Do they have specific needs and questions or are they looking for a general overview of your product/service?
  5. Does the product meet their needs?
  6. How are they involved in the buying or decision process?
  7. Have they budgeted for this expenditure?
  8. What is the best way to follow-up with them following the show?

Objectives and Goals

Review your show objectives, goals and key messages with your exhibit team. Set daily goals for each team member. Discuss results at the daily pre-opening staff meeting. Identify problems and take corrective action as needed.

General Tips

  1. Ensure the booth is adequately staffed at all times.
  2. Greet visitors at the edge of the aisle, not in the booth.
  3. Wear your name badge on your right side so that the badge faces the visitor's direction when shaking hands.
  4. Never sit or carry on extensive conversations with team members in the booth. Always appear prepared to help.
  5. Never eat, drink or smoke in the booth.
  6. If possible, address customer complaints in an area away from the booth.
  7. Remember that personal contact and involvement are important keys to memorability.
  8. Ask the prospect to somehow demonstrate his interest. Invite him to register for a product sample, suggest that he complete a product inquiry card, or arrange for him to complete a product demo.