Trade Show Planner: All-Hands Meeting
Your 12 month trade show checklist
Having an in-booth meeting is just one task in a large checklist you’ll need to complete as a trade show exhibitor. Review my entire pre-show, on-site, and post-show checklist of exhibitor planning activities.
Trade Show Planning:
Have an All-Hands Team Meeting (Preferably in the Booth)
ON-SITE. AT SHOW.
On the evening before the show begins, I like to get my whole team together, booth staff and non-booth staff, for a pre-show dinner at a local restaurant. This enables everyone to get to know one another in a casual environment and for me to discuss what everyone should expect over the next few days.
On the morning of opening day, require that your entire booth staff arrive at your booth one hour before the show opens to the public.
If the show opens at 10:00 am, ask your booth staff to be in your booth no later than 9:00 am for your team meeting. This includes both those people who are scheduled to do booth duty at 10:00 am and those who may not have booth duty until 1:00 pm. Walk everyone around the booth so they can familiarize themselves with the layout.
You should have already conducted training back at your office so this meeting will focus more on:
The layout of the booth.
Where the lead retrieval materials are kept.
How to open the booth in the morning before attendees enter the hall.
Where to turn on and shut off lights.
Where extra literature, giveaway items, office supplies, and tools are kept.
Whether items need to be locked up in the evening.
Instructions on which giveaway items to give to which attendees.
How to play games or contests.
Have your team members scan each other’s badges with a lead retrieval device so they understand how the device works.
Show them where the lead retrieval devices should be kept when not in use.
Show them where extra pens, paper, and other office supplies are located if needed.
Show them where the promotional items are stored and request that they replenish the items that booth visitors can take whenever they see them running low.
Encourage them to work together and invite each other into customer conversations if they are unable to answer a question. For example, if a salesperson is unable to answer a technical question, introduce the customer to a member of your engineering team who will be able to quickly answer the question.
This all-hands meeting will ensure that each member of your staff knows what is expected of them, where everything is located in the booth, and how they should interact with booth visitors.
CONTINUE YOUR TRADE SHOW PLANNING WITH RELATED CHECKLIST ITEMS.
Are you new to trade show exhibiting and feel completely overwhelmed?
Trade Show 411: The Essential Guide to Exhibiting Like a Pro is a must-have for marketers and small business owners. It gives you both the strategy and action plan to set you off on the right foot. By linking your pre-show marketing strategy to onsite activities and post-show follow-up, you’ll get the most out of your sales and marketing efforts and maximize your trade show results.
