When exhibiting, the people at the front and centre of your trade show booth are effectively the face of your business. They represent you, your company, its interests, know everything about your products and services, and are there to answer any and every question people may have.
Only, a recent report has suggested that the role of trade show booth staff is severely undervalued. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s (CEIR) report ‘How the Exhibit Dollar Is Spent’, of the billions of dollars companies spend exhibiting at trade show, only 1% is spent on exhibit staff training and ‘other’ expenses.
That’s despite the results proper staffing at a trade show booth can provide. In fact, the right trade show booth staffing was rated as the most important thing for exhibitors when they attend an exhibition.
Why trade show booth staffing is so important to consider
In their research, CEIR highlighted that exhibitors give the most value to face-to-face interactions at exhibitions, which is in stark contrast to the paltry amount brands are spending on training their trade show booth staff to appropriately approach and speak with attendees.
So, why the lack of correlation between spend and perceived importance? We believe a lot of this is down to brands still believing that it makes more financial sense to book as much space as possible for their trade show booth at the exhibition hall and spend their funds on gifts for attendees rather than spending serious time and thought on the benefits of properly staffing a trade show booth.
Consider for instance that VentureBeat gave advice on ‘how to survive CES 2018’, the largest tech trade show in the world, saying “if you collect a lot of swag, you can send it home via shipping services instead of carting it on the plane”. It’s still common to go to trade shows and be showered with needless gifts for attention.
When brands are more concerned about giving away gifts than collecting lead data and information to grow their business, then it indicates a lack of forward planning and thinking when it comes to their overall trade show marketing strategy.
The size of your trade show booth isn’t everything
Some are of the impression that their trade show booth is best served as a dispensary, with a common train of thought running in exhibitors’ minds that giving people branded pens, paperweights, bags and more is an effective way to turn them into brand ambassadors.
In our experience we find that simply isn’t the case. Trade show swag – especially lower-value items – often find their way to the bin. People are more interested in the experience you can provide at your trade show booth which can only be provided by experienced, genuine staff (which also explains the growth of the experiential marketing sector).
Partnering with an expert trade show lead generation specialist can not only help you to discover those booth talents to represent your business and collect attendees’ key data in ethical ways. It can also be a way to explore leading team-training masterclasses to help take your team to another level, and truly help your business stand out amongst the competition on the exhibition floor.
Expo Stars’ training masterclasses could help you to grow your business and maximise your ROI when your team hits the trade show floor. Contact us today for more information.
