Booth staff – some hints to bear in mind

How to choose the right booth staff

A well informed and briefed stand crew is an important factor for the success of a fair. Surveys show that 70% of the visitors are not addressed at all or not correctly addressed by the exhibitors.

At least two months before a fair gets started, the booth staff should be determined. It is not significant whether the employees come directly from the company or are fair hostesses and hosts.

Before the fair opening, the following things should be considered:

• A company should plan enough people for the booth to cover all necessary duties: conversations with existing customers and probable new customers, getting in contact with passing visitors, catering, appointment management etc
• The whole booth staff should get information about the company’s goals regarding the fair, about products and services, prices and target groups. The responsibilities of each employee should be clearly defined.
• The training for the future booth staff should start early enough e.g. in the form of seminars. A company can also book a professional fair trainer for preparation. He or she provides special conversation trainings and gives the necessary confidence to the employees.
• The goals and the general importance related to the fair should be clear to everyone. A company should think about a few significant key messages regarding the products and services presented at the fair and the company itself. The whole booth staff should know these messages and communicate them to the visitors.
• Every conversation should be recorded in form of short reports. The booth responsible should organise regular team meetings during the fair.
• At least one employee should care for the back-office. New contacts can already be saved, and arrangements taken during the conversation can be prepared.
• All employees should know about the advertising material such as flyers, leaflets etc. and one employee should be responsible for the management of these items

The following qualities should be considered when choosing the booth staff:

• Communicative
• Sociable
• Good at listening to people
• Emphatic
• Team-minded
• Enthusiastic
• Improvisation-talent
• Resistance to stress
• Confident behaviour
• Foreign language knowledge

We are happy to advise you – your exhibition construction team from Leipzig.