Does size actually matter?

Is the size of your booth relevant to your success at the event?

This is a question I get a lot from my clients; do we need a bigger booth to be more successful?

Let’s examine this question a bit more shall we?

There have been many studies done in the past about what makes the biggest impact at events and how a company can increase its success rate.

The one that has always made the most impact on me is the statistics about your booth staff.

85% of your success rate hinges on your booth staff.

Another, more shocking, statistic tells us that less than 1% of the exhibitors budget is spent on the training of their staff ((CEIR) report ‘How the Exhibit Dollar Is Spent’, ).

Your staff are your ambassadors. They represent your company and your brand. Everything they say and do in the booth will form the image and culture of your company.

Not your booth, booth size, back drops, handouts, give-aways or even your product. All those add up to 15% of your trade show success rate. Everything else is all down to your staff.

So, how can you impact your next event the most?

Train your staff and train them well.

If you don’t have enough staff? Hire well trained professionals. Even if they don’t work for you permanently, they do represent your company when they are in the booth.

At Bright Forever Consultants we classify booth staff in three groups:

1.      Regular booth staff: your basic temp staffer but trained to be respectful, understand the product, be able to engage booth visitors and pass them on to the subject matter experts. They can answer very basic question about your company, product or service and will represent your company the way you want it.

2.      Promoters: Better trained booth staff that can-do product demonstrations and market your product well. More in depth knowledge of the product and company and they can handle more in-depth conversations with your target audience. They can qualify leads and pass on the high potential leads to the subject matter experts. They will represent your company professionally and enthusiastically.

3.      Engagers: These are highly trained booth staffers that can engage, qualify and collect leads. They will run the booth and all the operations for you. They will represent your company as if they work there and will bring you the best quality leads. They can set follow-up appointments and all you have to do is collect those leads and make the appointments.

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for. My advice is always, be smart with your budget and invest the money where it will create the biggest returns for you and your company.

Step 1: Train your staff to become lead generating champions

Step 2: Hire the right staff to create the right impact at the event

Of course, everything stands and falls with being at the right event, so, make sure you know your target audience very well and make sure they will be there!