Preparing for an exhibition is stressful, there’s so much to do around planning and implementation as well as making sure you’re on budget. However, don’t overlook your most vital asset, your team.
To make sure you get the best performance from your team, and ensure your greatest ROI, it’s important to have a well-trained and knowledgeable team of people behind you.
top tips on how to brief your exhibition stand team
Tell your exhibiting story
With all the noise in the run up to a show, sometimes briefing your stand team can be a last minute thing. However, by involving your team early on in the planning stages you’ll increase participation and buy-in.
So make sure that they are aware of the campaign theme right at the start, include them in your planning meetings and discuss your stand layout ideas and artwork. Ask for their feedback and thoughts, you never know they may have some great ideas!
Goals and Expectations
If you want your staff to make a number of appointments, tell them at the outset! They’re much more likely to get there if they have goals set for them right at the start of the exhibition.
Giving your team members a clear set of goals and objectives is a great way of making sure everyone is on the same page. More importantly on the day of the show, organise a breakfast team briefing before the show opens.
At the briefing you can easily communicate your expectations and remind your team about the overall objectives, stand etiquette, being approachable and friendly, dressing the part and how they should interact with visitors, as well as what the sales/targets are.
Brief them on your brand image
On the day of the show run through the entire stand design with your team, pointing out areas of interest. You can also highlight the actual cost of the stand and the number of leads or appointments you expect each individual to make throughout the day as well as your expected return on investment.
It’s also worth running through how to use any digital or physical engagement tools that are present on your exhibition stand as well as any audio-visual display. Make sure your team are completely confident with show-casing all aspects of the stand to visitors and most importantly, make sure they have sufficient product knowledge.
Provide some role play a week or so before the show and a crib sheet for any frequently asked questions. If visitors are getting mixed messages and differing language regarding your company, it may cause confusion later and de-value your company’s brand image.
Over staffing
You need a great team to get the job done, but you shouldn’t over-staff your stand as this can scare potential visitors.
When too many people are on an exhibition stand it will take away those intimate conversations that you should be trying to create at the event. Make sure there’s enough staff on the stand at any given time and ensure they take sufficient breaks throughout the duration of the show.