trade show tips booth staff performance

Here's a trade show tip that will increase your trade show exhibit staff's performance—and won't cost a penny. An appointed Booth Captain, implemented correctly, can improve your staff's body language and etiquette, elevate attendee's perception of your brand—and relieve the exhibit manager from having to play the bad guy. The result will be increased performance of your custom, modular and rental trade show exhibits.

Here's how it works:

1. Before the show starts, communicate your expectations for exhibit etiquette to your team (Go over the whole list: no unfriendly body language, eating, drinking, clumping, use of mobile phones, leaning, etc.). Use whatever combination of methods you like: pre-show memos, exhibit staff manuals, pre-show briefing and/or professional staff training.

2. Authorize one team member per shift (or per show) to act as the Booth Captain. Empower this person to take charge of monitoring all of your booth staffers—both to compliment staffers for doing things right and to gently redirect when they are engaging in unwanted behaviors.

The ideal Booth Captain will be a positive leader who can work with the team to ensure the best result. It could be someone from the management team or the exhibit manager. Ideally, your Booth Captain should be:

  • Trusted and respected by your booth staff, even keeled, and not considered bossy.
  • Bold enough to tell other staff members when they observe an opportunity for improvement. If your captain is timid about telling people what they need to improve, they aren't going to create the desired positive impact.
  • Tactful enough to make suggestions without offending or annoying the other booth staff members. If the captain embarrasses or angers your exhibit staff, they aren't going to give the booth their best effort.

Examples of the messages your Booth Captain should be telling your staff:

  • "Donna, great job engaging people from the aisle."
  • "Bobby, don't forget to face toward the aisle."
  • "Betty and Angela, don't forget not to stand in clumps."

Have you ever assigned a Booth Captain to assist in improving your booth staff's performance? If you have, how did it work out? Any tips you'd like to share?

For examples of bad booth etiquette, click here.