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Feature
Article:
Co-ordinated
approach to trade show staffing
by
Barry
Siskind
Imagine
you have invited friends and neighbours to an open house at
your home. The coffee is ready, the snacks prepared and the
house is spotless. Nothing is left to chance....well almost
nothing. The outstanding issue is who in your family should
greet your guests? Certainly not your daughter who has body
rings inserted in the most unfathomable and unimaginable places,
or your son who has sprouted permanently attached earphones.
Then there is your couch potato spouse who would rather watch
Sunday football than make small talk with the neighbours.
That leaves you, but you can't be everywhere at once. What
do you do?
Exhibitors
face a similar dilemma. “We have a great exhibit at an important
show, who should we recruit to staff the booth?”
Your
immediate attention will go to the sales staff - after all
aren't they the best people to deal with the customer? While
sales people probably have the most experience, by limiting
your booth staff to sales people you may be losing valuable
synergies.
At
an exhibition lots of people meet under one roof for one purpose
and for a limited amount of time. By opening up this opportunity
to people with different experiences within your organization
you may be uncovering valuable hidden possibilities. Let me
explain.
The
benefits to the sales and marketing people
are obvious. But product development experts ,
for example, have a wonderful opportunity to get out of their
laboratories and testing facilities to get immediate feedback
from lots of potential users. It's more than just conducting
an on-site survey (which in itself is of value.) It is a matter
of talking to users and finding out how they use your product,
what kinds of solutions they are searching for, what works
best and what unique challenges they face. It's a chance for
product development experts to move beyond a purely cerebral
approach to their job to look at the practical applications.
When these two are combined you have the potential of enhancing
the product development process significantly.
Customer
service personnel
are often confined to telephone or Internet contact with customers.
This often jeopardizes their perspective when the customer
is a faceless number or voice. Attending a show gives them
the unique opportunity of face-to-face contact. Customers
and staff can put a face to the voice. What is often a cold
impersonal service now has new meaning. People tend to be
more tolerant of each other when face to face which paves
the way for greater understanding and problem solving between
customer and supplier.
Technical
support people
are a necessary element because so many attendees have specific
technical questions that need to be addressed. This doesn't
mean that an inordinate amount of this person's time will
be spent with each attendee with a question but the technical
expert can provide a quick answer and for those questions
that take longer to answer, this can be done at a later time
by two people who already know each other. That's the value
of a face to face meeting.
There
is also a place for senior executives . What
was once an unthinkable option - seeing senior executives
at a show booth - is now standard practise. Having senior
people at the booth is a great bonus for sales people trying
to impress new clients with a personal introduction to “the
boss.” It's also an opportunity for these executives to move
to the front line and show their support to the troops.
The
bottom line - when it comes to staffing your booth there is
a place for anyone within your organization to benefit. Opening
the doors to these people can be a serendipitous beginning
to otherwise hidden possibilities. The secret is choosing
people with the following criteria;
1.
They want to be there. Asking or coercing those who have no
desire to work at a show is an exercise in futility. It's
an invitation to a “self-fulfilling prophesy.” When the show
is over and you look at this person and their abysmal results
they will say “See, I know I wasn't right for this.”
2.
They have to understand what to do. Working a show requires
a unique set of skills. No matter what their background, dedicated
time needs to be set aside to hone their current skills to
the show environment.
3.
They need to be credible. Credibility starts inside the person.
It's the passion and enthusiasm they feel for your product
or service. They develop this by fully understanding your
products or services. When they truly like what they represent,
they exude an aura of credibility.
So
maybe your family can meet the neighbours. If exhibitors can
do it, so can you.
Permission
to reprint this article or other articles by Barry Siskind
can be obtained by email. Contact Barbara@siskindtraining.com
for a release.
Best
Practices:
Mystery
Shopping
Here's
an idea to consider
Have
you ever wondered what your staff are up to when you are not
looking? Ever wanted to get information from your competitor
but can't because you are too familiar? Then your answer might
be working with a mystery shopper. The advantage is that the
mystery shopper is an anonymous face and can often obtain
information you can't.
All
industries use mystery shoppers, they provide senior management
with much needed intelligence to ensure they are getting maximum
return on their investment. The results also help them focus
their resources in the future. Trade show exhibitors and managers
have been using mystery shoppers successfully for years.
Notes from around the world:
Brazil
Expo
Systems celebrated its 3rd banner year as Brazil 's leading
trade show event. This year there were over 350 delegates
and 40 exhibitor companies who met in Sao Paulo to learn and
network. This year Barry introduced his Expo-Tour for participants.
Both tours were quickly filled to capacity and the program
was a smashing success.
Russia
The
Russians are coming, The Russians are coming
The
Union des Foires Internationales (UFI) is the world's largest
association for trade show organizers in Europe and Asia .
With Barry as the master of ceremonies, 450 delegates gathered
for two days of information sharing and learning. Delegates
heard first hand how Russia , which is one of the 4th fastest
growing economies, is positioning itself to attract international
exhibitions. They have new facilities in the plans and are
aggressively looking for business opportunities.
Germany
We
are all fascinated with brands - Coke, Google, Kleenex. But
what are the trade show brands. In the Agri-food business
it's ANUGA. This year ANUGA, held in Koln , Germany hosted
over 6,000 exhibiting companies and attracted 161,000 visitors
from all corners of the globe. There were 30 country pavilions
during the 5 days of the show. One of the biggest continuing
trends is the focus on organic foods.
Because you asked:
Question
The
last few shows I attended seemed to be pretty slow. Are shows
loosing their appeal?
Answer:
The
industry reports that the number of shows in North America
during the past 5 years has increased from 13,185 exhibitions
in 2000 to 14,124 exhibitions by the end of 2005. That's an
increase of 7.1%. During 2004, trade show spending grew by
5.8% while advertising grew by 2.2%. The only media to surpass
the growth of exhibition spending was e-marketing.
While
trade shows are generally becoming more expensive for exhibitors,
expenses are being off-set by the integration of marketing
packages that offer a greater focus on the overall ROI for
exhibitors.
In
short, trade shows are not going away. However, exhibitors
are slowly realizing the need for a strategic approach to
their exhibit plans.
Educational Events:
Exhibitor
2006 March 5-9, 2006 Mandalay Bay Convention Center , Las
Vegas
www.Exhibitor2006.com
TS2,
July 25-27, 2006 Chicago
www.tsea.org
Discover
Your Exhibiting Excellence with Barry Siskind. Across Canada
www.siskindtraining.com
MARCOM
2006, Canada 's Public Sector and Non-profit Marketing Symposium
June
7 –8, 2006, Ottawa Congress Centre
www.marcom.ca
Christmas
Gifts
There
is still time to order one of Barry Siskind's best –sellers
for Christmas giving. Please check our website www.siskindtraining.com
and review the books available. We are pleased to offer
you a Christmas special of 25% off any of the books and we
guarantee 2 day delivery.
Tell
a friend:
Do you have colleagues who
wants to get the most from their exhibit investment. Let us know and
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1-800-358-6079
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