Exhibit Staff Training - Trade show training, exhibit staff training and more!

If you only market or sell one product or service at your trade shows, then you can stop reading this. It doesn't apply. However, even in a 10 x 10 booth, if you've got more than one product or service to talk about, then keep reading. Don't worry, they're aren't too many big words.

First, what is cross-selling? Offering religious icons as show specials? Writing up orders when you're angry?

Nope. It's making sure that visitors to your booth hear about everything you offer that they might buy, not just the one product they were familiar with when they walked in.

I've seen it too many times: A visitor hunts down the product they want to see, asks for and receives a demo. Then, the staff person lets them leave without even asking if they want to see something else. This is called "missing opportunities".

Did that visitor even know about your new product, the dot.com Bankruptcy-In-A-Box kit? Or that the dot.com Suicide-in-an-SUV Manual is a perfect companion item? You spend too much time and money on trade shows to have your qualified visitors miss out on the opportunity to buy everything that you have to sell.

That's why your exhibit staff needs to learn how to cross-sell. Don't worry, it's easy. There are just a few things that your staff needs to know in order to successfully cross-sell.

First, they need to know what's being shown in the booth in addition to their own product. Tell them to take the blinders off.

Publish what's going on in the booth ahead of time (products being exhibited, special promotions, etc.) To get the staff to read this stuff before the show, make a deliberate misspelling and ask them to find it. The first three to do so get a prize.
Have the different product representatives stand up and give a 30-second overview of their product at your pre-show meeting (you do have pre-show meetings, don't you?) With lots of products and services this can take a while to complete, so make sure they hold themselves to just a quick overview.
Encourage the staff to introduce themselves and their products to their colleagues before and during the show. I call this internal marketing.
During the show, walk up and ask staffers where else in the booth a typical visitor they would want to talk with might also want to go. Slap them if they haven't figured it out yet.
Ask them if they've scoped out the booth and talked to other people about handing visitors off to each other. Give them a major wedgie if they haven't done this yet.

Secondly, everyone needs to know a question or two they can ask visitors to see what else they're interested in. In order to ask these questions, they need to have a working knowledge of, or at least access to information specific to, everything else that is in the booth.

Next, the staff needs to know that you don't simply point the visitor across the booth to the next thing that they want to see; you escort them to the area, and introduce them to the staff member who will help them learn about the next product. It's a nice, personal touch that really works well.

Finally, make sure everyone knows that the consequence for not cross-selling is immediate agreement to wear the giant pickle costume the next day of the show.

That's all there is to it. Cross-selling is a key skill when there are a number of products or services on display in your booth. That over-used term "complete solution" can absolutely be provided for your qualified visitors again and again through the simple act of cross-selling. And as a final benefit, you can add "Started Successful Escort Service" to your résumé.

Talk to Your Staff
Published in Exhibit City News, Volume 7 Issue 12, December 2000

Does your staff really know why they are going to your next trade show? Sure, you sent them a detailed and indexed show guide, thoroughly listing all of the information that they will need to perform perfectly on the show floor. And you...What! You didn't send them a show guide? Don't worry, they wouldn't have read it anyway.

So, what do they need to know? Well, start thinking about this from the beginning. Trade shows are a corporate event. Staffers represent your entire company when they are working in the booth. In fact, if they wear an exhibitor badge and/or company shirt anywhere, they continue to be an ambassador from your company to the outside world. That means even when they're standing in line for an $8 soda, in the restroom, in a taxi or bus, in an elevator, at a restaurant, and -- knowing your staff -- in the holding cell at the local police station.

Because they are representing the entire company, the staff's number one priority needs to be making the entire event work. They cannot have just a myopic focus on their own product. Visitors to your booth need to see and hear a consistent message about your company, and all of its products and services.

So, how is the staff supposed to communicate all of this information to visitors? Well, you could read them a pre-designed greeting message from your show guide. "Hello Mr. or Ms. important visitor. Our company is focused on enterprise solutions that provide robust bandwidths for collaboration across the Internet in order to cobble together custom best-practice helper applications." Of course, this works about as well as you might expect it to -- not at all.

Be aware of what the situation is like on the show floor. Most often, your staff is probably just responding to visitor questions, and if an opportunity presents itself to talk about your company and/or its products and services, then your staff person probably talks only about their own product or service area. The task of communicating your company's marketing objectives will be left to your signs and graphics. This is not unusual, and in fact, your signs and graphics should absolutely be doing this.

The only way you are going to get your staff to talk about the company's marketing objectives with visitors is to have the staff first truly understand and believe in the message. Second, you have to help your staff figure out how to seamlessly weave company objectives into their conversations with visitors. Finally, you have to hold the staff accountable for actually delivering the message.

Sometimes, your company's trade show objectives sound very obvious to your staff -- they hear them all the time. However, they need to understand that a lot of the visitors to the booth do not know the company the way your own people do. It's important to give your staff the proper perspective on where the mindset of the typical visitor to your booth is. Your staff can then focus on starting communication from that mindset.

One of the most effective ways to weave your company's market position, value proposition, etc. into visitor conversations, is to start asking questions. Here's an example: Suppose one of your objectives is to "Build on our image as a services driven solution vendor." It would be more than a little contrived to say to a visitor, "Hi, welcome to our booth. I'd like to build on our image as a service driven solution vendor. What do you think is the best way for us to that?" However, there are good questions that can lead to that message. How about, "What is your experience with our ability to address the challenges you've had?" Or, "If you could wave your magic wand, what else could we do to provide you with the services you need, so that you can do the things you want to do?"

An effective exhibit staff becomes even more effective when they take a little time before the show to prepare. However, they are not likely to take it upon themselves to do so, and if you are responsible for the staff, then you are going to have to be the one to prepare them. Work with them to think of ways to communicate high-level messages. Give them the time to develop some really good qualifying questions. Gather them together to share ideas for making sure that all the visitors hear the same information and messaging from everyone.

My Staff Doesn't Listen to Me
Published in Exhibit City News, Volume 7 Issue 11, November 2000

Another "mandatory" pre-show meeting. The forced march. You're saying to yourself "They've all heard it before; if they'd just do their jobs I could quit being the booth policeman. But, my staff just doesn't listen to me!"

Yes folks, if this sounds like you while getting ready for your last pre-show meeting, have we got what you need! That's right, for a limited time only, The Hill Group is proud to be able to offer some tips and techniques on how to make those ugly, boring pre-show meetings bright and shiny, new and improved!

First off, hire Jim Carey to host your meeting. No one is going to miss that! Second, serve great food and drink. How about surf and turf with some great Napa Valley wines? Finally, deliver your show information with the promise of a new BMW for the person who gets the high score on the review quiz!

So, I'll bet that fixing up your pre-show meetings is a lot easier than you thought it was going to be. Hey, that's what we consultants are for, to make the complicated expensive, the uncomplicated even more expensive!

What's that you say? You have a budget that can only support renting a Jim Carey movie? And you're talking water and mints? And an out-of-date logo mouse pad for answering all of the quiz questions right? Yikes!

The following are our top ten tips for improving your pre-show meetings, garnered from our attendance at way too many pre-show meetings during the last fifteen years.

Run your agenda by someone who is not afraid to tell you the truth about it. (Yes, that means someone other than that guy from the mailroom who has been trying to get you to come over and see his Star Trek collection for the last two years.) Find someone who can help you focus on what your staff really needs to know; consider asking someone who has been to as many of your pre-show meetings as possible. They may not tell you what you want to hear, but chances are it is what you need to hear.
Put an absolute time limit of two hours on your meeting. Think about it; even the best movies start to make your butt numb after two hours, and you probably aren't quite ready to compete with Hollywood in terms of entertainment value. (Of course, you can ignore this advice if you have managed to hire Jim Carey to host the meeting.)
Serve something. Your staff will really appreciate the "multi-tasking" opportunity of devouring food and important information at the same time. Depending on the timing of your pre-show meeting, serve the appropriate meal, or even just hearty snacks. With a limited budget, you have less selection, but keep the quality as high as you can. And, it's okay to do beer and wine. It is amazing how agreeable people can be after they have had a free beer or two.
Have a management-type kick-off the meeting. It encourages promptness and attendance. The higher up the ladder they are, the better. Of course, it's best if you can get them to stick around for the whole meeting too; tell them to consider it setting a good example.
Get some help presenting. Have members of the staff present as much of the agenda as possible. Ask them to feel free to make it clever by doing skits, showing funny visuals, etc.
Present useful information. Provide the staff with the information they are going to need to feel comfortable and effective out there on the show floor. Give them help with qualifying questions, dealing with the press, moving people to other important areas of the booth.
Make a distinction between the marketing objectives and the sales objectives, and make sure that they understand what these objectives are.
Include a professional behavior piece; again ask one of the staff to present this information in a fun way.
Save the show shirt (and any other important handouts) for after everything else has been presented and taken care of. Yes, it's a sneaky thing to do. But, if the staff is required to wear a shirt, and can't get it until the meeting is done well, you can do the math; they're going to have to stick around.
Ask for feedback. I know it's scary to have to talk to these people one-on-one, but asking your "customers" (after all, when it comes to pre-show meetings, the staff is your customer) for feedback is going to help make these meetings better for them.
Most importantly, realize that any changes you make to your pre-show meetings are simply the beginning of the process. It's not like you are flipping a switch and can expect everyone to immediately appreciate the change. But with thought and effort, you (and your increasingly grateful staff) will notice a difference over time.

Little Show, Big Results
Published in Exhibit City News, Volume 7 Issue 6, June 2000

It seems that the big trade shows get all the attention, all the resources, and all the funding. Sort of like the Defense Department. But most companies also participate in small shows: 10x10 and table top shows. Usually the marketing department merely sends out a "kit" to the salesperson that will work the show. That's it for support. With that in mind, I would like to offer some tips and techniques for making these small shows as productive as possible.

1. First, have some clear objectives for the show. Sure, you already have them in your brain. Now write them down. My high priced business consultant says that objectives are rarely met if they are not written out; once written, they become commitments. You should have both marketing and sales objectives. (Yes, they are different.) Marketing objectives begin with words like, "Introduce", "Position", "Communicate", and "Reinforce." Sales objectives are measurable: leads, sales, appointments, etc.

2. I'll show you mine... Is there anyone else exhibiting at the show that your customers and potential customers could benefit from meeting? Their customers could probably benefit from meeting with you too. It's called cross-selling. Do some internal marketing among the other exhibitors to see if there is a possibility of creating a more complete solution by working together. Then send visitors to each other's booth.

3. I've never seen one that small before. You really have to plan ahead when arranging a small booth. Where are you going to put the table? Out in front really creates a barrier in a small booth, which is not necessarily bad. It will be perceived as being a bit safer for visitors; they might be more comfortable with something between you and them. (Especially with the way you are going to look by the third day of the show.) Some visitors are too intimidated to step into your booth for fear it will be perceived as a signal that they're ready to buy. Try positioning the table lengthwise along the depth of the booth so that people can use it to separate themselves from you, and still come into the booth when they feel comfortable doing so. If you're not sure exactly how to set it up, don't worry. It's marketing, and therefore there is no right answer. In minutes you can change the position of a table in a small booth and see if you like it better. And you can always change it back.

4. Do your last minute check before the last minute. Make sure you have everything you need for the booth while there is still time to replace whatever is missing. (And something will be missing.) In other words, don't cut it so close that you realize you don't have any new product literature just as the show floor is opening.

5. Raffling off the Booth Babes. Do you need to attract visitors to the booth? How about contracting with the three remaining Beatles to have their reunion in your booth? I know, I've heard it before, "It will bust my budget." What a whiner! Well, with budget constraints like that, maybe you should consider putting out a bowl of candy, giving away the ever popular pens, or offering visitors five bucks for three minutes of their time.

6. Making friends and influencing people. Be approachable without being too aggressive. You have about three seconds per ten linear feet of booth for a visitor to read your signs and decide if they have any interest in talking with you. Watch their eyes and their body language first. If you detect some interest, then approach the visitor to find out what they would like to find out more about. (It's like a singles bar, only some of the people there may actually want to talk to you.)

7. Make it a group thing. This is the key to working a small booth. It is pretty easy to have your time monopolized - it only takes one visitor. -- and if you're totally involved in a conversation, no other visitors are likely to wait long for their turn. So, what do you do? I recommend continually acknowledging waiting visitors. You don't want to be rude to the visitor you're currently talking with, but it is a trade show. Visitors will understand that you're there to talk with as many people as possible. Just tell them what you're doing. You can interrupt yourself (never interrupt a visitor) and say, "Hello, I'll be with you in just two minutes." That tells the visitor you're talking with that they only have two minutes left, so it manages their time expectation. And it tells the waiting visitor that they only have to wait two minutes to talk to you, a really reasonable amount of time. The other thing you can do is to say, "Hello, we were talking about our new product, is that what you'd like to hear about as well?" Make sure it is okay with the visitor you are currently talking to and ask the waiting visitor to join the conversation. You're now going to be able to work with two people at once. What a concept! Then if more and more visitors show up, because a crowd begets a crowd, you can take a tiny step back to non-verbally communicate that this is now going to be a group presentation. Make sure you continue to talk to everyone, even the guy three rows back. Do a group Q&A session, a group lead fill out, and then a group dismissal.

8. Finally, take leads, not just business cards. If you don't have access to a lead generation system, make up your own form and use it. Take notes so that you have something to follow up on. No matter how many prospects you meet with at a show, you (or anyone else following up on a lead) need to be able to pick up each conversation right where it left off.

Changes - It's a Process
Published in Exhibit City News, Volume 7 Issue 8, August 2000

You want your trade shows to really make a difference: drive sales, push the marketing messages, uncover the alcoholics in your company, etc. And no matter how effective (or ineffective) your shows are now, you probably have a few new ideas and a few things you would like to change, all in an attempt to make your shows better.

You may, in fact, be in a position to make some of these changes happen (i.e. compromising photos of the higher ups who approve your budget.) But, in implementing changes, there is one important thing to remember; it's a process, not a flip of the switch. Undoubtedly, there is already a fair amount of momentum built up in your company that tries to keep everything about trade shows the way it has always been. And you can be sure that this favorable impression of the status quo has hold of just about everyone, from management, to sales and marketing, to engineering and janitorial services.

So, what can you do? Well, do have any experience working with high quality explosives? None at all? Then we'll have to go with option number two: get some honest feedback. Now, don't go asking the sales department for advice in this arena. But, you do want to ask them (and all the other interested departments and parties) what they are getting out of trade shows as they run right now. This may take some probing, prodding and pleading, but you should be able to get people to tell you what they like about the shows they have been to. It certainly helps if you can do this right after everyone returns from a show, when everything is fresh in their minds (except for that three hour blackout period right after the company party.)

Then, ask them what they would really like to get out of the shows in the future. In other words, ask your customers, the sales, marketing, customer service, engineering, and other people that make up your show staff, what they would like to see happen at shows. Here again you'll have to be creative and persistent to get useful information from people. Feel free to lead them with questions that highlight feedback you have already received and point them towards the goals that you already have in mind. Just remember, the idea is to get them thinking and talking about what would work for them, so that they can feel invested in the changes you will be making to trade shows.

Your aim here is to be cooperatively developing new objectives for your trade shows. To ensure success, it's a good idea to get buy-in from as many involved people as possible. So, get them excited about your changes, while incorporating their ideas as well. Be sure to manage their expectations as to how long changes will take, and how the changes will ultimately be implemented. Change in the trade show environment is sort of like asking teenagers to pick up their clothes off the floor; you can ask, but results come slowly, if ever.

Now, if you should happen to discover that not only does the staff not care about getting more out shows, but that your management feels the same way, it may be time to "investigate alternative rent-payment resources," also know as "sticking your toe into the pond of employment opportunities." However, if you invest some time and energy into it, you are likely to get support and interest from the people in your company towards changing how trade shows are running. Then all that's left for you to do is share your incredibly insightful visions.

Here are a few ideas that may aide you in this process, and some "simple" changes that can start making a difference right away:

Before the show, circulate a FAQ document to help prepare the staff for any tough questions.
Have your staff do their demonstrations for each other so that everyone gets better.
For booths with more than four or six stations, have a booth map ready for your staff to use as a guide for visitors.
Change the dress code for the show; mix it up a bit.
Have a brief (5 minute) meeting on the show floor just before the doors open. This is positive motivation time.
At this meeting give feedback on attendance, number of leads generated, have someone relate a story of how some big sales prospect really wants to do business with you (set this one up in advance), then ask for feedback on things that could be done differently, etc.
Hand out $100 bills in the aisles to drive traffic. (Warning! Not for the budget challenged.)
Get management and executive types out on the show floor.
Sort and count all of the leads with a salesperson every day.
Have a staff appreciation dinner or cocktail party.
Give staff awards for Star of the Show, Most Improved, Best Attitude, and Most Likely to be Fired Because of Behavior at Last Night's Party.
At the end of every show, ask for feedback.
And don't forget, send Matt Hill $50 for these wonderful ideas.

Pretend You're the Visitor
Published in Exhibit City News, Volume 7 Issue 7, July 2000

Are you considering some changes in your trade show plans? Thinking about trying something new and different at your next show? Most decisions about what happens in the booth are going to be a combination of budget concerns, logistics, availability and company politics. But your should add another important criteria to this list: What is the visitor going to think?

The visitor's experience in the exhibit booth is the ultimate test of anything you do at a trade show. So, step back, change your perspective and take a reality check. What would you think if you were a visitor to your own booth?

For example: maybe you are thinking about not taking any collateral to a show (because you are pretty sure none of it is ever read anyway.) Is this really a good idea? Of course, you could figure it out simply by trying it -- not taking any paper to the show -- and seeing what happens. But you are better off taking some time to put yourself into the shoes of a visitor to your booth. Most of them are probably expecting to be able to walk away with a datasheet or a brochure if they want one. Now they can't. How are they going to feel?

This is the part where you do the work; pretend you are the visitor. How does it look to you when there are no brochures? What effect will this have on your experience in the booth, and after the show? What does it communicate to you? Does it encourage you to feel a certain way, or to take a certain action (one that in some way supports the objectives for the show?)

When you start to think like a visitor you will have to sort out what is reasonable and what is not. (Go ahead, give them the benefit of the doubt -- some visitors are reasonable.) Be realistic. I don't think any visitor would say, "No brochures! That does it, I'm never going to do business with you again!" But will they think you're cheap? That you couldn't get your act together to have brochures available? Or are they likely to think that there is some other insidious plan that you are about to spring on them? To a great extent, the answers to all of these questions are going to be based on the kind of visitors you are hoping to attract and the type of show you are attending.

Most event people consider the visitor when it comes to the layout of their booth, the signs, and the other physical attributes. This is just good business. But, don't forget to think about the presentations or demonstrations offered in your booth? Is the visitor really going to be interested in what's going to be shown? Or is the presenter showing what they think is important? The two could be same from time to time, but not always. Ask your presenters to spend some time pretending they are visitors as well, so that they can ascertain the relevancy of their demonstration's content.

Just remember that not all visitor expectations can, or should, be met. You will never be able to please everyone (not even with a fully stocked, open bar in the center of your booth.) No matter what you do, someone out there will probably think you are doing it all wrong, or that you are purposefully picking on them. So, think about who the most important visitors to the booth are, and try to design an ideal experience for them.