There are many moving parts that go into understanding how to work a trade show booth effectively. Face-to-face access to many potential new customers and partners is one of the many reasons why renting a booth at a trade show is great for business. It’s critical that your team knows how to make the most of this unique opportunity.
The work doesn’t stop once the exhibit is set up and the crowds are passing through. There is important work to be done before, during, and after the show in order to maximize your ROI.
As a trade show and exhibit service provider that has helped hundreds of clients and attended thousands of shows over multiple decades, we know how to work a trade show before, during, and after to get the best possible results. Check out our top 14 tips for how to work a trade show booth below or contact us for a free quote about our exhibit rentals and show services.
Table of Contents:
- Preparing for How to Work at a Trade Show Before the Event
- 1. Using Social Media and Press Releases to Announce Your Participation
- 2. Doing Your Research
- 3. Making Appointments
- 4. Organizing and Training Your Staff
- 5. Making Your Booth Stand Out
- How to Work a Trade Show Booth During the Event
- 6. Using Your Senses
- 7. Packing Smart
- 8. Mastering the Area
- 9. Knowing How to Disengage
- 10. Making an Impression
- 11. Professional Appearance and Body Language
- Knowing How to Work a Trade Show After the Event
- How to Work a Trade Show Booth Better with Cardinal Expo
Preparing for How to Work at a Trade Show Before the Event
Knowing how to work in a trade show booth isn’t just about show day. A significant amount of preparation has to be done beforehand in order to set yourself up for success on the big day. There is plenty your team can do in the time leading up to the event to help ensure that you hit your goals during the trade show.
1. Using Social Media and Press Releases to Announce Your Participation
Having a strong social media presence and releasing a press release leading up to the show can have noticeable impacts on your team’s ability to work a trade show booth during the event. Make sure to post about the event, where you’ll be located on the trade show floor, and the times of the show online before the actual event to help get the word out to your followers.
Use your social media to drum up excitement about the trade show and your part in it as well. Post about new products you’re showcasing, demos you’ll be performing, or any entertainment, contests, giveaways, or prizes you’re offering at your booth. This gives current customers and prospects a good reason to plan on stopping by.
Read our post about generating leads through social media to learn more tips and tricks.
2. Doing Your Research
Just as with any speech or presentation, preparation is one of the biggest keys to success at a trade show. Learning ahead of time who will be attending the event, making a list of prospective targets, and scheduling as many meetings as possible are all ways to get ahead of the game.
Research Your Clients
Research what types of clientele will be attending this particular trade show, especially those who may be buyers seeking products or services from your industry.
Create and have your team study an internal list of VIP attendees your trade show booth staff should be looking out for. Establish appropriate protocols for your trade show staff to follow when these VIP attendees visit your booth.
Learn From Past Trade Show Experiences
If you’ve attended the show previously, review your performance so you can learn from it:
- What was your main objective?
- What results did you achieve?
- What went well that you should be sure to do again?
- Were there any missteps that you can correct?
- Were there any missed opportunities that you should take advantage of this time around?
If you haven’t attended the show before, research what it’s like. Many conferences, trade shows, and expos will publish or share information about their previous attendance numbers and demographics, how many qualified buyers they had, what attendees are looking for most, how much revenue was generated by exhibitors, and more.
Do competitor research as well to see what your competition will be doing and how you can stand out from the crowd.
3. Making Appointments
To ensure that you have traffic to your booth, leads in the pipeline, and make the most of your staff’s attendance at the show, try to set up meetings and appointments before the show even starts. Reach out to known prospective and existing customers and invite them to stop by to chat.
This can also help ensure some important face-to-face interaction with prospects and customers. Many professionals believe this is an essential element to forming and maintaining business connections, and it’s a great tip on how to work a trade show booth efficiently.
4. Organizing and Training Your Staff
Trade shows are an investment for every company exhibiting in the expo hall. Unfortunately, many of them make the mistake of not training their staff on how to work a trade show booth. Exhibitor Online reports that the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) found that only 26% of exhibitors train their trade show staff for all or most trade shows, and more than 50% of exhibitors “rarely or never” hold exhibit-staff training sessions.
What makes these statistics particularly staggering is that 80% of what booth visitors remember the most is their interaction with the exhibit staff, and 85% of exhibitor success depends on the performance of its booth staff, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).
Don’t let your trade show budget go to waste. Before your show, make sure that your staff are trained on protocol, your sales pitch, and your approved script for engaging with customers.
Before training your staff, first determine how many trade show booth staffers you will need and can comfortably fit in your trade show display.
Keep Your Space in Mind
We recommend your trade booth have at least 50 sq ft for each member of staff who will be working your trade show booth. For a 10×10 trade show booth, which is 100 sq ft, companies should limit their trade show booth staff to 2–3 team members. Use this guideline to determine how many staffers you should have at your trade show booth, depending on its size.
Calculate and Be Realistic About Staff Interaction Capacity
Keep in mind how many target interactions you want each staffer to attain at your trade show booth, and be realistic about how that can happen. For example, with a 4-day trade show with 8 hours of exhibiting per day, you will have 32 hours of your staff engaging with customers on the expo floor. 32 hours multiplied by 3 staff members equates to 96 total hours of your staff interacting with clients.
If you want each staffer to interact with 3–5 clients each hour, your staff’s interaction capacity is between 288–480 individuals reached. If you are expecting a greater number of people than this to come by your booth, we recommend considering an additional team member for your trade show booth.
Schedule Breaks for Food, Phone Calls, and Rest
Your team will also need to organize any shifts and breaks to keep things running smoothly. Body language is key to making a positive first impression on your clients, so you don’t want staff working the trade show booth to be eating, playing on their phones, or sitting down too much during the show. But, naturally, people will need “off” time so that they can be “on” with prospective clients. It can be difficult to predict every trade show environment, which is why it’s important to create a plan for staff members to take breaks and be able to trade off with others.
If you have enough people available, it also helps to have team members who enjoy talking to people and active sales staff on the trade show floor with you. Their positive attitudes and conversational skills will make it easier for clients to feel comfortable and at ease at your booth.
Part of preparing for how to work at a trade show is making sure any staff who work the booth are properly trained. This includes subject matter expertise about your products, services, and industry as well as trade show etiquette and customer service skills.
Staff should practice with lead retrieval systems before the show, so they are comfortable and confident when retrieving leads at the show.
5. Making Your Booth Stand Out
It almost goes without saying that your trade show booth is an essential part of catching the eyes of passersby. Recognizable branding, attractive design, and attention-grabbing graphics are all important for bringing traffic to your booth.
Not only does your booth need to bring people in, but it needs to keep them there. Your exhibit should be planned with traffic flow and visitor pathways in mind, ensuring that attendees are strategically funneled through your booth and can easily find everything they need. Have your staff positioned strategically near your booth entrances to welcome attendees into your booth. Remember this tactic when designing your booth, and ensure your booth layout allows for you to properly position your trade show booth staff strategically.
The layout of your booth should also accommodate any features or activities that you need, such as product displays, A/V equipment, demo space, entertainment, storage space, and meeting space.
At Cardinal Expo, we work with you to determine the best layout and design for your booth, with 2D and 3D renders along the way so you can make sure you have everything you need to succeed. Our experts will make sure your exhibit is attractive, functional, and eye-catching so you’re prepared to make the most of your show.
How to Work a Trade Show Booth During the Event
In order to make sure all of your hard work leading up to the event pays off, your team will need to bring their A-game on show day. Keep these tips in mind for how to work a trade show booth during the event.
6. Using Your Senses
A great way to attract customers on the day of the event is to use your senses—literally. Use eye-catching visuals, exciting sounds (such as revving engines at a car show), and enticing smells (such as freshly made popcorn) to draw visitors to your booth.
Effective and creative scent marketing can help clients literally follow their noses to your booth and make your business memorable long after the trade show is over. You can also spray a little bit of the scent on your business cards to help jog the person’s memory later.
Once people enter your booth, providing a tasty treat like popcorn, cookies, or ice cream can engage their taste buds and keep them in your booth longer. In addition to creating positive sensory experiences for visitors, it’s important to avoid any negative ones. Make sure your staff have opportunities to freshen up throughout the day, including bathroom breaks, mouthwash, and gum.
7. Packing Smart
When working the floor, it’s important to dress professionally while also looking friendly and approachable. Also, remember that while having all the necessary materials such as business cards, demo items, and literature is part of packing smart, taking too much along to a trade show can be a burden.
If your staff feels refreshed and confident about how to work in a trade show booth, their performance will be better. There are several ways to ensure that you and your team members are putting your best foot forward on the day of the trade show:
- Pack an eye mask if needed and get plenty of sleep the night before.
- Eat a good breakfast and pack a few snacks. It’s hard to stay positive when you’re hungry!
- Please note: Trade show booth staff should not eat or drink while in the booth. We recommend you train staffers to keep refreshments nearby, but consume them elsewhere.
- Make sure to have gum, mouthwash, and deodorant on hand at the show, just in case.
- Pack clean and appropriate clothing, including options for whether you’re too hot or too cold.
- Bring shampoo and conditioner or make sure your hotel provides this if you need to wash your hair.
- Pack comfortable shoes—you don’t want to be sitting down too often.
It can also help to preemptively come up with a way to store phones, such as a safe lock box. This can help deter individuals from getting sucked into their cell phones while they’re supposed to be working the show floor.
8. Mastering the Area
Treat the area around your exhibit like a neighborhood. Get to know the other exhibitors nearby, actively engage with passersby, and keep a tidy area to ensure positive first impressions. Avoid letting the booth get messy, eating on the job, or getting distracted by phones or busy work.
Team members should check with colleagues before leaving the booth, and there should be a clear code of conduct as to how trade show staff should work the trade show booth. This includes how long breaks show be, when to offer and when to withhold promotional items, no sharing of confidential information, no competitor criticism, etc.
9. Knowing How to Disengage
Part of knowing how to work a trade show booth efficiently is knowing when enough is enough. Your time is limited, and there are a lot of opportunities that you need to take advantage of.
Remember the 80/20 rule: Have your trade show booth staff aim to listen to prospects 80% of the time, and only speak/sell to them 20% of the time.
Some individuals will be happy to just check out your business without conversation or even take a business card or brochure for later. However, it’s always possible that you will have some visitors who are exceptionally chatty.
On the day of the show, be sure to keep an eye out for your fellow team members who may get stuck talking to one person for too long. You can always come into the conversation and call them away for something else, or ask if the customer needs anything else to keep things moving but also avoid looking rude.
10. Making an Impression
If you and your team have done the necessary pre-work before the show, it should be a snap identifying the key players at other booths and in the crowd. Remember who the decision-makers are when visiting other areas on the show floor and inviting potential customers and partners to stop by.
There are many different ways to make a good impression on a potential customer—and most of them are free! Your business cards can help individuals remember what goods or services you’re offering, but there’s a reason that trade shows aren’t just a lineup of cards with websites on them. It’s the people that make it personal and leave a lasting impression.
Conversation Starters that Work vs. Ones That Don’t:
When trade show booth staffers engage with attendees, they should let your booth visitors speak first, particularly so you can hear about their pain points. Prospects are people, and people want to talk about themselves and what problem you can help them solve. Let them tell you how you can help them, and only offer your sales pitch after you’ve heard their issue and have helped them to see that you understand what they’re dealing with.
When someone new approaches your booth, try:
- I see you work for [their company.] What do you do there?
- How has your experience been at the show so far?
- I see you spent some time at [neighboring booth]. What solutions would help bring your business to the next level?
- That’s an interesting [item they’re carrying/company logo on their badge/etc.]. Could you tell me a bit about the challenges your team is facing in [area your company’s solution can solve]?
Remember to follow the 80/20 rule after using these starters: listen 80% of the time and speak only 20%, focusing on how your solutions might address the specific challenges they share with you. This approach demonstrates that you’re interested in solving your visitor’s problems, rather than just making a sale.
Avoid generic questions that are likely to generate one-word answers that end a conversation before it begins. Although it may seem helpful, a question like “Can I answer any questions?” may result in a prospect immediately replying “no” and shuffling away from your booth. Don’t start with selling, and don’t be pushy before you’ve proven your value to your booth visitor. Engage your booth visitor with a conversational, professional tone and with questions that open up discussion, and let your lead generation flow more naturally.
Make a Positive Impression on Your Trade Show Booth Guests
Some ways you can make a positive impression include:
- Introducing yourself by name
- Using a firm but friendly handshake
- Remembering their name and using it in your conversation
- Being an active and engaged listener
- Making eye contact
- Complimenting something specific about them, such as their shoes
- Having a handful of pens to pass out, and offering one to them immediately as a way to start a conversation and give them something to remember you by
- Using a strategic mix of personal and professional conversation topics, tailoring the ratio to their preferences
11. Professional Appearance and Body Language
You want your trade show booth staff to seem warm and approachable to any potential customers. For this we recommend:
- Staff remain standing while they are in the booth; have staff leave the booth when they need to sit down to rest.
- Staff wear their badges on their chest or right shoulder, so attendees can clearly see their name.
- Staff smile and make eye contact with everyone who passes your booth.
- Staff avoid using their phone while at the booth; have team members leave the booth if they need to make a phone call or send an email.
Knowing How to Work a Trade Show After the Event
The work of a trade show doesn’t end just because the event is over. There’s still more to do after you’re all packed up.
It would be a shame to waste any of the potential you’ve created with your hard work leading up to and during the show. Make sure your team knows how to work a trade show after the event to make the most of your results.
12. Connecting Beyond the Show
Social media platforms are perfect for staying in touch with new contacts beyond the trade show. Exchange X (formerly Twitter) handles and connect on LinkedIn, then follow up as soon as possible to engender lasting relationships. You can also post on your company social media accounts about the success of the event and provide a roundup of any company news, product launches, show photos, and contest winners from the show to keep the engagement going.
13. Following Up on Leads
After the event, it should be clear to everyone on your team who is following up with what leads. Sending emails, making calls, and scheduling meetings right away with any leads generated during the show will help to actually close those deals.
14. Measuring Your Results and ROI
Your team should also do the important work of measuring your results and return on investment after every show. Come up with a plan beforehand to make sure everyone is measuring your objectives, whether it’s sales closed, leads generated, promotional items given away, or other actions taken during the show. Then afterward, follow up with your team to see how you performed so you can make data-driven decisions for the next event.
Read our post on how to measure trade show effectiveness for more details.
How to Work a Trade Show Booth Better with Cardinal Expo
Your team is busy, and our experts can take on a significant amount of exhibiting work while also showing you how to work a trade show booth more efficiently for your goals. We design exhibits of any size for rental or purchase, and we also provide end-to-end show services, including fabrication, shipping, logistics, paperwork assistance, third-party coordination, installation, deconstruction, warehousing, and more.
For more trade show tips and information about exhibit rentals, call Cardinal Expo at 800-695-3452 or contact us online using the form below.
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We at Cardinal Expo are here to answer any questions you may have, provide you with additional information, and create an effective solution for your exhibit needs.
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