Your exhibition stand is impressive, unique and has a beautiful design. The message is clear and comprehensible, the advertising materials are impeccable and the position at the exhibition centre is a stroke of luck. Is that enough to convince your clientele and prospects or to leave a lasting impression? One significant factor in the planning of your trade fair presence is still missing: your trade fair stand personnel. The people on the trade fair stage – who convey your company’s message directly to interested parties, ensure authenticity, react spontaneously and create interpersonal closeness. But above all: make the contacts! All elements that are indispensable for a sales talk – and cannot be replaced by any setting, no matter how perfect.
Read this blog article to find out how to dress your team most effectively, what to look for in a brief and what tools exhibition stand staff need to do a good job.
The right team selection
First of all, there is the question of who to choose when it comes to representing the company at the trade fair stand. Is it possible to release your own employees for the trade fair visit? Or do you prefer to hire staff from an external company that specialises in trade fairs? Depending on the size of the event and the booth, a combination of both may even be an option.
In most cases, staffing the booth with in-house experts is a better choice. After all, they are already familiar with the products, services, brand and company values and can therefore provide competent and confident advice. They also know potential regular customers and competitors and can avoid embarrassing faux pas.
External staff may not have that knowledge edge, but it can still make sense to hire a company that specializes in trade show staffing. Because not all of your employees necessarily have the soft skills that are needed in a trade fair setting to be able to provide convincing advice. A specially trained professional who already has a lot of experience may be a better option than a shy employee who doesn’t like being exposed or having conversations with complete strangers.
The right look
It may sound obvious, but the look of your team at the booth should not be underestimated. Visually, this can result in a coherent overall picture – or, at worst, leave a careless or inauthentic impression.
On the one hand, the outfit and make-up of the trade fair stand personnel must harmonise with the rest of the setting, but on the other hand they must also correspond to the brand personality and your values. Whether that’s a professional business look, branded t-shirts or casual, neat everyday wear doesn’t necessarily matter as long as the selection is based on a thoughtful concept – and your team feels comfortable in the outfits.
The right briefing
Regardless of whether your trade fair team consists of company employees or external personnel: In order for them to offer competent advice, a thorough briefing in advance is essential. This is the only way to ensure that the team is well informed about all relevant products, services and any additional offers, but also about the brand values and core messages, and can provide interested parties with detailed information.
Furthermore, it is important to clearly define the processes in customer consulting. Is the focus on collecting contacts or are purchases also made? If the latter, who is authorized to make binding offers and what does this process look like in detail at the trade fair stand?
Besides, the briefing in advance is also the perfect opportunity to familiarise the exhibition stand staff with the technical conditions and documents on site, which in turn leads to the next important point.
The right tools
To ensure that the consultation runs smoothly and that you can present your company in the best possible light, you should give your trade fair stand personnel the right tools on site. This ranges from information and advertising materials with added value to small Gifts and refreshments to tech equipment like tablets, projectors and exhibits.
While the team should obviously know what tools are available, the situation is potentially more complicated, especially when it comes to technical equipment. When a lot of electronics are used, it can make perfect sense to have a technical expert on site – or at least on call – who can intervene if the worst comes to the worst. After all, there are few other things that can make a sales pitch as lastingly difficult as stubborn technology.
The right behaviour
Ideally, your trade fair stand personnel already have experience in addressing interested parties and convincing them of your offer in a charming manner. Nevertheless, it does not hurt to emphasize the most important qualities once again in the briefing – or, if necessary, to learn/strengthen them in advance in a sales training course.
The following soft skills are particularly important for sustainable customer acquisition and/or successful sales:
- Skillful identification and addressing of the defined target group
- Sensitive analysis of and feeling for needs
- Competent and efficient consulting
- Argumentation skills and flexibility
- Confidently closing a sale or making an offer
Also of importance are body language and accuracy, such as when taking contact information.
Conclusion: Good trade fair stand personnel are the key to success
In the sum of these individual arguments, it becomes clear that the team at the trade fair stand is not only the figurehead of your company, but can also contribute significantly to its success. Therefore, you should already make sure that your staff has a self-confident appearance as well as solid expert knowledge and feels comfortable in the consulting role during the selection process. Trade fair training in advance can be just as helpful as a detailed briefing on site. The external appearance of the employees and the competent handling of the technical equipment are also important.
Would you like support in organizing, selecting or briefing your trade fair stand personnel? Contact us and let our experienced experts advise you on how a perfect team can also put the finishing touches to your stand.
