14 Success factor stand team

Trade fair participation is the supreme discipline of direct communication. Anyone who participates in a trade fair with a stand has an extraordinary number of face-to-face encounters with customers, new contacts, the press and the competition in a very short period of time. The employees at the stand represent the company, explain products and services. They are dialogue partners and hosts for different types of visitors who wish to receive a wide range of information. So what matters here is the stand team: The success of your trade fair participation depends on them. No matter how good the stand concept may be - if the stand team does not make a personal effort to attract visitors, you will not be successful.

Working at the stand differs from the regular work routine because the stand team is always in the limelight during the event. The employees work at a public workplace for the duration of the trade fair. This requires top performance: no brief breathing or leaning back is possible. Many conversations, various topics, long working days and short recovery phases characterise a day at the fair for the stand personnel. Participation in trade fairs is therefore mentally and physically exhausting - as all the old hands know only too well. At the industry meeting in an intensive competitive environment, all participants should present the company actively, sympathetically and with commitment. The aim is to achieve the defined trade fair objectives and to engage in effective dialogue with visitors. No matter how small or large the stand and the team are.

For you as trade fair manager, as in a sporting competition, it is all about setting up, preparing and supporting a team that can deliver maximum performance in order to best serve the corporate objective. For a successful trade fair participation, the local people are always the decisive success factor at the end of the day.

Requirements and selection criteria

Every fair is different. This also has an impact on the stand team you need. When it comes to the question of who you need in your stand team, always consider what your trade fair objectives are and what the target group looks like that you want to address. These considerations are your starting point because they quickly show whether you need additional specialists such as technicians, product managers or customer service staff in addition to sales. Of course, aspects such as intercultural experience or foreign language skills also play a major role at international trade fairs. For an optimal team constellation, consider not only who is available and who is responsible for which areas in the company, but also the various skills, experiences and competences that you need for your team.

The basic requirements for stand personnel include

• Expertise (e.g. know-how on products, special solutions, services, prices)
• Communication skills (e.g. lively and appealing language, foreign language skills, good listening skills, comprehensible explanations)
• Motivation (e.g. interest and pleasure in trade fair work)
• Physical and mental resilience (e.g. robust health, ability to work long days and take little breaks, ability to improvise)
• Pleasure in dealing with people (e.g. open-mindedness, commitment and sociability)
• Self- and time management (e.g. ability to analyse the potential of visitors, to control trade fair discussions)

The team constellation: Personnel requirements for the trade fair

Trade fair teams can be put together in very different ways. Normally, companies are present at different trade fairs and the stand sizes and types of participation vary greatly. For a medium-sized plant manufacturer, for example, it is not unusual to exhibit at two to three leading trade fairs a year with relatively large stands, to additionally participate in ten trade fairs with small stands and to be present again at the same number of congresses with small stands or presentation tables. Experienced trade fair managers plan the personnel requirements for each trade fair individually, because the number of visitors and the size of the stand team are as different as the size of the respective trade fair stands. Sometimes the presence of the area representative is sufficient, sometimes it makes sense to also have people from the development department or the human resources department on site in order to be able to hold good technical discussions.

The team size and the team competence that you need for each trade fair appearance are influenced by various factors:

• Trade fair type (e.g. regional or international trade fair)
• Stand size and type
• Stand concept (e.g. goals, target groups, tasks and activities)
• Work areas at the stand (e.g. visitor/customer support, support and demonstration of exhibits, catering service, back office for direct processing of trade fair contacts)
• Number and composition of trade fair visitors (e.g. different language skills for regional or international visitors, visitor structure: Are you dealing with managers or users? Where do the visitors stand hierarchically, what is their authority to make decisions?)
• Type and number of the main topics and exhibits presented (incl. demonstration and explanation requirements)

 If you are considering what personnel requirements you have for your trade fair appearance, you should also use the evaluations of the previous events: What personnel requirements did you have? Was the team setup optimal at the last trade fair? Name your personnel requirements as concretely as possible. For example, do not plan with two engineers from the development department as contact persons for technical questions, but name specific persons from a specific area as important stand personnel for them. Remember to coordinate with the superiors of the departments involved in good time.

Selection pool for the stand team

To assemble the stand team, you can access employees from all enterprise areas, hierarchy levels, and qualifications. Product and sales employees from the various sales areas are, of course, usually intended to be regular players in the team. In addition, the assistance of the management or the sales management can often be the perfect miracle weapon for professional visitor management at the reception/information desk. Because these people know both the internal team and many customers, and also competitors are usually known to them. They know when they can disturb a sales manager or managing director in a conversation and when not. Trainees can also learn a great deal about the industry and its customs during a trade fair assignment, as well as in cooperation with various colleagues. On the other hand, they can make a valuable contribution by, for example, taking part in the catering of guests, supporting the stand management in organisational tasks and, if well prepared, participating in the active, direct approach to visitors. Office team members often fit very well into the team, as they have regular customer contact in day-to-day business and can use the trade fair to intensify relations live. And some exhibitors even take their own canteen chef with them as head of guest catering. That's the crowning glory.

Whenever possible, try to set up a real top team that will present the company with commitment and pleasure. Visitors can sense whether the team is in a good mood and whether the team is harmonising in its role as a joint host. Make use of the power of diversity, mix different hierarchical levels, give new team colleagues a chance and make use of the experience of the old hands at the fair, who have been enjoying their work at the fair for more than twenty years.

 If your company has the required qualifications and resources, always give preference to internal employees. Because their identification with the company, internal cooperation and motivation underline the credibility of your trade fair appearance.

 Integration of external personnel

In order to be able to handle all tasks optimally, you may have to supplement your stand team with specialized external personnel. At international trade fairs, for example, foreign-language staff support the info counter in customer service. Depending on the size of the stand and the planned scope of catering for the guests, kitchen and/or service personnel may be required. Or you can serve your guests homemade fruit cocktails - then the use of a professional bartender makes sense. For live demonstrations, external moderation professionals with a lot of experience and expertise in visitor communication are often used. You can usually book qualified hostess and service personnel directly with the trade fair organiser as an additional service. Or you can work together with an external personnel agency that can provide you with qualified personnel for various tasks according to your requirements.

Please make sure that the external staff is also carefully prepared and that the internal and external team members work together professionally. In the best case, your visitors should not notice any difference between internal and external staff, but should experience a harmonious team structure. In this way, a uniform appearance can be achieved. Inform your external team colleagues just as intensively about the course of the trade fair as the internal stand team.

Tip: In the best case scenario, you can create an opportunity for internal and external employees to get to know each other during a trade fair training session before the trade fair or a joint tour of the stand on the last set-up day. A joint dinner before the official start of the fair can also strengthen the sense of community.

Enjoy the teamwork with your team

Anna-Katharina Esche & Lars Lockemann

You can find out more about the stand team as a success factor as well as additional checklists and working aids in the book "Managing trade fairs professionally", which you can buy here (https://amzn.to/2FS621J). (Manual or e-book)