Merely ‘Showing your face’ at a tradeshow will not result in an effective event attendance, beyond the level of keeping up appearances. Even with a brilliantly planned exhibition booth, the level of its success will depend on you using it to compliment your marketing activities, rather than relying on it solely. In order to utilise the time, money and effort that has gone into planning the logistics of a business attending a trade show, it is worth investing that bit further by properly training the staff who will be representing a company on a stand. Not all companies see the value in this, but we believe that it is an important part of generating and securing the all important business leads. If you are one of those companies, read on as we list why we think you should be training the staff on your exhibition stand:
Inform them of key customers
It is useful to find a list of those who are attending (or also exhibiting) at a trade show, and let your staff know whom to target. By giving them a ‘hit list’ of names or companies, your staff can use their time better to ensure they speak to those people who matter the most to your business, and not uninterested time wasters.
Make sure they are knowledgeable about a product
Trade shows and exhibitions are very industry specific, and are awash with technical experts with a huge knowledge of their niche. Although it won’t be expected that your staff are technical experts too, they should have solid understanding of the products on offer and the direct benefits they give to the industry in order to keep your business respected by those who speak to your staff.
Be clear of your aims and goals
Not all attendances at tradeshows will be for the same reasons, so informing staff of your corporate strategy for each event will ensure you get the outcome you desire.
Let them know the lead management process
Be clear on how your lead management process works, be it by collecting business cards, filling in a form or scanning event badges for digital data collection. Re-iterating this information will mean you will leave the event with a full and healthy list of leads to contact upon your return, rather than an unhelpful list or missing contact details.