Five Exhibition Staff Training Tips

Good staff are crucial to ensuring exhibition success. They are the focal point of any interaction between visitors and your brand. It is the exhibition staff team and the way they behave towards visitors that will stay in memories.

You need to make sure that all your staff meet your expectations in every way – appearance, attitude, expertise and body language.

Begin by making sure you hire professional staff who are accustomed to working on exhibition stands. Then train them carefully.

Provide company and product education

Staff need to know why you are at an specific exhibition and what you are hoping to achieve. Explaining your core strategy will enable them to meet your company’s targets. Give them time to learn about your company’s products and services. They need to be able to confidently talk to anyone, whether existing client or new prospective customer, about those products and services especially any new or highlighted ones without having to search for answers.

Trade Stand and Booth Etiquette

There is nothing more off putting to visitors than the sight of staff standing talking on the phone, texting or sitting down chatting among themselves. It gives the immediate impression that they don’t care about visitors. It is even worse if they are sitting having lunch rather than dealing with people.

Think too about how etiquette rules match your brand. How can the team personalise your company style? After all, they are the visible brand ambassadors throughout the show. You might want them to dress casually, and use informal speech when talking to visitors. Alternatively, you might prefer the use of formal clothing, a professional appearance and formal language.

First Impressions

First impressions count. Visitors will judge your stand by the first few minutes that they encounter it. If they don’t like it, they will quickly pass on and will not come back. Always greet customers with a smile. Ask questions that could lead to a discussion about your product offer. Open ended questions are far better than ones which generate a simple yes or no. Above all, avoid the direct sell. Visitors dislike that approach and quickly disappear.

Conversion signals

Train your staff to recognise potential conversion signals. They have to be able to instantly recognise which people are truly interested, might be interested or are simply passing by and keen to collect freebies along the way.

The best way to recognise the different groups is the way they approach your booth:

Very interested – they are focused, know what they want. They may have been personally invited to the booth, or have done previous research into the company.

Curious – these are visitors who may not know much about your company and brand, but have been attracted to it by visuals, the displays, press releases. Something has captured their attention. They will pause and take a look as they pass along an aisle.

Not interested. These visitors quickly walk past. They may not even look in your direction.

Train your staff to look for competitors approaching your stand. Just as you will take a look at your competitors, so they will come and take a look at you. Name badges are a good clue – make sure your staff know relevant company names.

Health and wellness

Don’t forget the basics. Staff will need a little time off especially to go and get food and drink. Make sure they are all aware of the breaks schedule and any shift requirements.

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