Thursday, March 28th, 2013
So, you’ve followed our tips on hiring trade show and exhibition staff, but have you ever considered what you can do to keep exhibition staff motivated, fresh and alert throughout the event?
Keeping your team motivated can often be a real challenge, especially at the end of a day or during the final hours of the show when traffic is slow, here’s some guidance on how to get the most from your exhibition staff:
KEEP THEM ENTHUSED
Our exhibition staff are naturally very enthusiast but everyone needs some motivation – it’s human nature! We’ve had some clients who pay our exhibition staff a base rate and then a commission for every lead they capture or every subscription they get. Although be careful, if you do incentivize your exhibition staff, do so in a way to encourage teamwork, rather than aggressive, competing sales people.
KEEP THEM BUSY
At the quieter times, towards the end of the day there’s nothing worse than having too many exhibition staff with nothing to do at your exhibition stand. Keep them busy and consider the following:
Competitor research: It’s worth keeping an eye on what your competitors are up to. Assign your exhibition staff to walk around the exhibition hall to takes notes what how other exhibitors are promoting their services or products. Obviously this requires discretion! This information can be great for post event evaluation.
Preparation: Keep the stand tidy, stocked up on samples, gift bags, giveaways during the day and have everything in place for the following day. Ask your exhibition staff to do this the evening before and not the morning of.
Data collation: If they’ve collated a considerable amount of data from business cards or lead cards, it’s worth collating this information. Ask your exhibition staff to enter this information on database or even on a excel sheet that you can upload to your systems once back in the office. It helps to have a laptop on site.
KEEP THINGS INTERESTING
Have your staff generate a buzz at your stand by hiring staff who are trained in presenting to large crowds. When contacting your event staffing agency ask them for staff who are skilled in presenting and crowd gathering. We’ve seen this done very effectively at large trade shows where competition amongst exhibitors is rife. Many of the events staff on our books are actors and actresses’, so they’ll have no problem working the crowd and exhibition floor! You may be interested in reading Hiring live presenters and demonstrators at exhibitions and trade shows.
KEEP THEM FED AND WATERED
Sounds obvious but working at fast based exhibitions can be hard work, on your feet all day for long hours can take its toll one anyone. Prepare a stand rota in advance for breaks and lunch times for your exhibition staff. Keep refreshments, especially water behind your reception desk for your events staff.
I hope the above helps and if you haven’t done so already read our tips on hiring exhibition staff / trade show hostesses.
Tags: event staff, event staffing, exhibition staff, trade show hostess
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Friday, March 22nd, 2013
We’ve had an extraordinarily busy time with the launch of the Event Protocol website this week! What makes the effort so worthwhile is the recognition we’ve received from the media for the hard work over the past few months following our launch. So much so, over the past few weeks we’ve had quite a few articles published in the media promoting our launch and recognising Event Protocol as a valuable service for the Events Industry.
It’s clear following the launch, the media has recognised our business as a valuable event staffing service. The Event Industry News perceive us as “a new type of event staff provider”.
Feel free to read articles about our launch:
EVENT MAGAZINE:
Former RBS events planner launches staffing agency:
http://m.eventmagazine.co.uk/article/1174877/Former-RBS-events-planner-launches-staffing-agency
EVENT INDUSTRY NEWS:
Event Planners Rejoice as a New Type of Event Staff Provider Launches in London:
http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/2013/03/20/event-planners-rejoice-as-a-new-type-of-event-staff-provider-launches-in-london/
CONFERENCE NEWS:
Staff Provider company Event Protocol launches in London
http://www.conference-news.co.uk/news/2013/03/15/Staff-provider-company-Event-Protocol-launches-in-London/5488
RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL:
New Event Staff Recruitment Company Launched
http://www.recruitment-international.co.uk/news/new-recruitment-company-launched-18640.htm
Come back soon for more news!
Tags: event staff, event staffing agency
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Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Every event manager has moments like this!
Experience teaches us that no matter how well you plan something, always expect the unexpected. No one knows this more than an experienced events planner. The saying “the best laid plans” comes to mind!
For example when organising a conference, often the events manager is distracted at the start of an event with last minute demands from speakers, clients or staff and cannot give attention to welcoming guests at the registration desk. With this in mind, even the most experienced event manager is likely to lose nerve as hundreds of guests start to pour through the doors at the start of the conference and understandably so.
This is why hiring events staff is crucial. In order for your speakers and clients to feel welcome and appreciated, it is essential that someone meets and greets them at the registration desk. Event staff can assist in a myriad of ways, from escorting speakers to the speaker ready room to ushering guests into the conference auditorium to making a conference badge for someone who hasn’t registered and not forgetting looking for a speaker a few minutes before he is due to speak! The list goes on and you’ll come to realise hiring event staff is fundamental for ensuring successful onsite management.
Our corporate event staff are experienced in running business to business events such as conferences, annual general meetings, summits, workshops, seminars and roundtable events. Our corporate event staff have worked at major conferences held in the city for clients such as Investment Banks and Law Firms. Our staff will deal with your event requirements and your guests and clients in a professional and articulate manner. For larger conferences where you require a large team of event staff we will allocate a team leader to manage all event staff onsite and will act as a central point of contact for you.
If you would like to hire our corporate event staff for your upcoming conference, congress, symposium or seminar, feel free to contact us.
Found this interesting, read another one of our blogs – There’s never a second time to make a first impression – think carefully before hiring your event staff!
Tags: corporate events staff, event staff, event staffing, promotional staff
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Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Engage exhibition staff / trade show hostesses in lead generation.
One of the key elements of exhibition and trade show success depends on the “lead management process”. However, the best lead generation continues to be face to face and person to person. Visitors at an exhibition still want to be treated as the valued person that they are and not reduced to a target of a sterile marketing campaign. Event and trade show exhibitors continue to see higher results using professional exhibition staff / trade show hostesses to build awareness, engage visitors, distribute and gather information and expedite the sales process.
Engage and involve your exhibition staff or trade show hostesses in lead generation to ensure tradeshow and exhibition success:
- Prepare a lead card in advance for your exhibition staff to use. Your lead card needs to be easy to complete allowing space for attaching a business card and include space for notes. Insist that your exhibition staff fill the lead cards with as much information as possible. If you have the budget, consider a badge scanner for faster recording of leads.
- Leave the booth babes and wallflowers at home. Hire exhibition staff who understand your product and service and in turn can solve your clients’ problems. It’s important to have staff who are positive, upbeat, have a great smile and have experience in a customer facing role.
- Instead of giving away literature encourage your staff to offer to mail it to attendees. Collecting contact data will allow for further leads.
- Encourage your exhibition staff or trade show hostesses to take proper notes at the show so that the information visitors are interested in is properly communicated to the representative following up the lead post event.
- Encourage your exhibition staff to generate more leads by paying them commission on every lead generated. Hold a contest to reward the staffers who take the highest quantity of qualified leads. Although be careful, if you incentivize your exhibition staff, do so in a way to encourage teamwork, rather than aggressive, competing sales people.
- Encourage more leads by motivating people to visit your exhibition stand. You could perhaps ask your exhibition staff to promote a competition or prize draw. However if it doesn’t fit with your brand values and target market think if there’s a better way of achieving the same thing, the next tip may be worth considering.&
- Hire exhibition staff or trade show hostesses who can present live demonstrations on a stage if your booth is particularly large. This can help draw visitors to your stand, create a crowd and generate buzz at your stand, which in turn can increase lead generation. Read our blog on Hiring Live Presenters for exhibitions & trade shows is helpful.
- Record leads in a contact management database, your exhibition staff can do this onsite at the exhibition stand in the quieter times.
Hiring events staff for exhibitions & trade shows can be expensive but it’s money well spent and if their skills are utilised effectively they could well help you generate your business objectives and help you manage your lead generation effectively.
If this blog has been helpful, please also read our Tips on hiring Exhibition Staff and Exhibition staff motivation.
Tags: exhibition staff, trade show hostess, trade show hostesses
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