Eight Effortless Exercises to Improve Tradeshow Performance
Tradeshow exhibitors have something in common with the rest of humanity: We'll do what is easy, but avoid what those things we find to be or perceive as difficult. It doesn't really matter what sphere we're talking about: human nature dictates that more often than not, we seek out the smoother path, the gentler grade, the easier climb.
So in order to appeal to human nature and improve your tradeshow performance, I offer you this: Eight Effortless Exercises you can do with your team. Nothing here is particularly difficult, yet all are devastatingly effective. If your team can implement what they learn during these exercises on the tradeshow floor, I can guarantee that you'll be very pleased with the result.
1. Go Over the Goals
Booth staffers function best when they have full knowledge of what as an organization, you're trying, to achieve at the show. A show where you're launching a new product and want to raise brand awareness is, in some ways, a fundamentally different exercise than a show where you're simply attempting to reinforce existing relationships and move as much product as possible. Meet with your team and spell out exactly what you hope to accomplish. This is a good time to let them know what you expect on an individual as well as an organizational level.
2. Play Trivial Pursuit
How well does your team know your products and services? How about your company's structure, organization, and public image? You might be surprised. Test your team with a friendly game modeled after Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy. Instead of random trivia questions, use questions centered on your products and services. Make sure these questions range from the everyday - detailing features and benefits - to the relatively off-topic - are your products manufactured in the country? If not, where, and under what conditions? This exercise will reinforce product knowledge and help your team be prepared for whatever questions come their way.
3. Body Language Bingo
This is a fun exercise. Snap pictures (or use pictures you already have) at a tradeshow and industry event. You want images of people slouching, eating, ignoring attendees, chatting with peers, and otherwise behaving badly at shows. (I wouldn't recommend using pictures of your own people, in the interest of company harmony, but that's up to you!)
Create little bingo cards detailing the bad behaviors, and distribute them to your team. Display the images on a screen and have them identify problem behaviors. Again, this will reinforce to your team what they shouldn't be doing. For a little fun, give the first person to call "Bingo" a prize.
4. Sew Their Pockets Shut
Ok, you don't really want to sew their pants pocket shut - but consider distributing double sided sticky tape that your staffers can use to close their pockets. This will encourage them to keep their hands out of their pockets, a behavior that tradeshow attendees consistently identify as unattractive and off-putting.
Remember to play fair. Give your booth staffers something productive to do with their hands to overcome the natural tendency to fidget. Often, having something official to do with their hands relieves a lot of anxiety.
5. The Name Game
Relationship building is easier and more effective when you use the other person's name. Study after study has shown that people universally respond positively to hearing their own name, as long as it doesn't seem affected and forced.
Do role playing exercises focused on learning the other person's name and working it naturally into conversation. To make it more realistic, have both parties wear fake 'show badges' with a name that's not their own.
6. Do the Demo
Before the show, have your team members actually practice the demo you expect them to perform during the show. This gives them time to familiarize themselves with the equipment - critical, as many salespeople generally aren't 'hands on' with the merchandise - and become comfortable demonstrating it.
7. Teach the Technology
If you're using card scanners or other lead gathering technology, schedule a time to actually teach your team how to use it. You want your team to be proficient with the equipment and not spend valuable, limited show time trying to figure out how to work the scanner.
8. Finesse Follow Up
Maximize the return you realize on the show by following up on every lead. Delegate responsibilities before the show and introduce an element of accountability: simply by letting your team know what they're expected to do and when they're expected to do it, you'll see a marked increase in return.
You see? That wasn't so hard! These effortless exercises don't require much in the way of equipment or money, just a little time. Considering the impact that enhanced tradeshow performance can have on your bottom line, isn't it worth it?
Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, internationally recognized expert working with companies to increase their profitability at tradeshows.
So in order to appeal to human nature and improve your tradeshow performance, I offer you this: Eight Effortless Exercises you can do with your team. Nothing here is particularly difficult, yet all are devastatingly effective. If your team can implement what they learn during these exercises on the tradeshow floor, I can guarantee that you'll be very pleased with the result.
1. Go Over the Goals
Booth staffers function best when they have full knowledge of what as an organization, you're trying, to achieve at the show. A show where you're launching a new product and want to raise brand awareness is, in some ways, a fundamentally different exercise than a show where you're simply attempting to reinforce existing relationships and move as much product as possible. Meet with your team and spell out exactly what you hope to accomplish. This is a good time to let them know what you expect on an individual as well as an organizational level.
2. Play Trivial Pursuit
How well does your team know your products and services? How about your company's structure, organization, and public image? You might be surprised. Test your team with a friendly game modeled after Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy. Instead of random trivia questions, use questions centered on your products and services. Make sure these questions range from the everyday - detailing features and benefits - to the relatively off-topic - are your products manufactured in the country? If not, where, and under what conditions? This exercise will reinforce product knowledge and help your team be prepared for whatever questions come their way.
3. Body Language Bingo
This is a fun exercise. Snap pictures (or use pictures you already have) at a tradeshow and industry event. You want images of people slouching, eating, ignoring attendees, chatting with peers, and otherwise behaving badly at shows. (I wouldn't recommend using pictures of your own people, in the interest of company harmony, but that's up to you!)
Create little bingo cards detailing the bad behaviors, and distribute them to your team. Display the images on a screen and have them identify problem behaviors. Again, this will reinforce to your team what they shouldn't be doing. For a little fun, give the first person to call "Bingo" a prize.
4. Sew Their Pockets Shut
Ok, you don't really want to sew their pants pocket shut - but consider distributing double sided sticky tape that your staffers can use to close their pockets. This will encourage them to keep their hands out of their pockets, a behavior that tradeshow attendees consistently identify as unattractive and off-putting.
Remember to play fair. Give your booth staffers something productive to do with their hands to overcome the natural tendency to fidget. Often, having something official to do with their hands relieves a lot of anxiety.
5. The Name Game
Relationship building is easier and more effective when you use the other person's name. Study after study has shown that people universally respond positively to hearing their own name, as long as it doesn't seem affected and forced.
Do role playing exercises focused on learning the other person's name and working it naturally into conversation. To make it more realistic, have both parties wear fake 'show badges' with a name that's not their own.
6. Do the Demo
Before the show, have your team members actually practice the demo you expect them to perform during the show. This gives them time to familiarize themselves with the equipment - critical, as many salespeople generally aren't 'hands on' with the merchandise - and become comfortable demonstrating it.
7. Teach the Technology
If you're using card scanners or other lead gathering technology, schedule a time to actually teach your team how to use it. You want your team to be proficient with the equipment and not spend valuable, limited show time trying to figure out how to work the scanner.
8. Finesse Follow Up
Maximize the return you realize on the show by following up on every lead. Delegate responsibilities before the show and introduce an element of accountability: simply by letting your team know what they're expected to do and when they're expected to do it, you'll see a marked increase in return.
You see? That wasn't so hard! These effortless exercises don't require much in the way of equipment or money, just a little time. Considering the impact that enhanced tradeshow performance can have on your bottom line, isn't it worth it?
Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, internationally recognized expert working with companies to increase their profitability at tradeshows.
Labels: Event-Planning
7:00 AM | Was this helpful? | 
After The Show: Self Analysis A Critical Component to Improve Performance
Continual improvement is a goal for many exhibitors. Knowing that tradeshows can play an integral role in a company's marketing campaign, they're committed to doing the best job they can this year - and a better one next year.
To continually improve, you have to have a very clear and concrete idea of where you are right now. An objective measurement of performance is the only way to plan for and achieve an improved result at subsequent shows. It serves as your baseline.
How do you get this baseline measurement? It's a two part process, incorporating both measurable and intangible criteria. The combination of these two criteria gives you the most comprehensive picture possible of your performance.
Let's start with the measurable criteria. These are your goals and objectives, spelled out in black and white. If you say that you want to do $X in sales or collect Y number of leads, then you can compare your results against your goal. It's simple. You met your goal, you exceeded your goal, or you fell short.
However, there are other factors in tradeshow performance to consider. These are the intangible, hard to measure things that affect your show: staff performance, booth design, general ambiance, and a host of other criteria. You need to know how you're performing before you can improve that performance.
Where can you get information on these intangible criteria? After all, there's no magic ball where you can look and see how you did. Tradeshow exhibiting is not like Monday Night Football, with cameras tracking every move and instant replay only a moment away.
This is where a mystery shopper's services can be critical. By providing an objective, focused analysis of your exhibit, a mystery shopper can pinpoint weaknesses, identify strengths and on occasion, offer suggestions for improvement.
It's important to take the mystery shopper's report into account. However, it is not the only point of view you'll want to consider. Often, valuable information can come from your booth staffers themselves. During your end-of-day debriefing session, go over what worked, what didn't, and what challenges arose during the day. Take time to meet with your staffers a short time after the show as well - giving them time to reflect upon the event and gain some perspective may yield up new insights.
Another source of information might be your customers. Offer your best accounts - and some new clients that you want to reinforce your relationship with - an opportunity to critique your team's performance. This can be done as a simple e-mail survey or during a follow up phone call. Often, an attractive incentive item can persuade people to share their opinions with you when they would otherwise keep quiet.
You may wish to offer an anonymous comment area on your organization website as well. Some people may very well have commentary to make, but fear to say anything as they feel it may jeopardize a profitable business or professional relationship. If you do this, be prepared for commentary that's markedly harsher than you'd otherwise get - people will say things behind the cloak of anonymity that they'd never dare voice otherwise. If you offer an anonymous option, though, you have to be fair about it - no sneaky tracking of IP addresses to later ferret out who said what!
Combining the mystery shopper's report the information garnered from your staffers and customers will give you the most comprehensive picture of the intangible factors that influence show performance. Coupled with the measurable criteria, you've got your baseline measurement.
Collecting this information is only the first step. You have to consider what the information is saying and decide how it will influence your future actions. For example, if you find that you've fallen short on the number of leads that you want to collect and your intangible criteria indicates that you had surly booth staffers reluctant to engage with the public, you've got a clear cause and effect relationship spelled out for you -and an obvious point indicating where training is needed. Additionally, these reports have historical value: comparing this year's reports with previous years will show you in black and white how the team's performance has evolved over the years and the clear value of your training efforts.
Data in isolation is useless. If you're going to compile for reports just for the sake of compiling reports, don't bother. However, if you're going to use this information to identify problem areas and take actions to improve performance, you'll find your efforts well rewarded.
Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, internationally recognized expert working with companies to increase their profitability at tradeshows.
To continually improve, you have to have a very clear and concrete idea of where you are right now. An objective measurement of performance is the only way to plan for and achieve an improved result at subsequent shows. It serves as your baseline.
How do you get this baseline measurement? It's a two part process, incorporating both measurable and intangible criteria. The combination of these two criteria gives you the most comprehensive picture possible of your performance.
Let's start with the measurable criteria. These are your goals and objectives, spelled out in black and white. If you say that you want to do $X in sales or collect Y number of leads, then you can compare your results against your goal. It's simple. You met your goal, you exceeded your goal, or you fell short.
However, there are other factors in tradeshow performance to consider. These are the intangible, hard to measure things that affect your show: staff performance, booth design, general ambiance, and a host of other criteria. You need to know how you're performing before you can improve that performance.
Where can you get information on these intangible criteria? After all, there's no magic ball where you can look and see how you did. Tradeshow exhibiting is not like Monday Night Football, with cameras tracking every move and instant replay only a moment away.
This is where a mystery shopper's services can be critical. By providing an objective, focused analysis of your exhibit, a mystery shopper can pinpoint weaknesses, identify strengths and on occasion, offer suggestions for improvement.
It's important to take the mystery shopper's report into account. However, it is not the only point of view you'll want to consider. Often, valuable information can come from your booth staffers themselves. During your end-of-day debriefing session, go over what worked, what didn't, and what challenges arose during the day. Take time to meet with your staffers a short time after the show as well - giving them time to reflect upon the event and gain some perspective may yield up new insights.
Another source of information might be your customers. Offer your best accounts - and some new clients that you want to reinforce your relationship with - an opportunity to critique your team's performance. This can be done as a simple e-mail survey or during a follow up phone call. Often, an attractive incentive item can persuade people to share their opinions with you when they would otherwise keep quiet.
You may wish to offer an anonymous comment area on your organization website as well. Some people may very well have commentary to make, but fear to say anything as they feel it may jeopardize a profitable business or professional relationship. If you do this, be prepared for commentary that's markedly harsher than you'd otherwise get - people will say things behind the cloak of anonymity that they'd never dare voice otherwise. If you offer an anonymous option, though, you have to be fair about it - no sneaky tracking of IP addresses to later ferret out who said what!
Combining the mystery shopper's report the information garnered from your staffers and customers will give you the most comprehensive picture of the intangible factors that influence show performance. Coupled with the measurable criteria, you've got your baseline measurement.
Collecting this information is only the first step. You have to consider what the information is saying and decide how it will influence your future actions. For example, if you find that you've fallen short on the number of leads that you want to collect and your intangible criteria indicates that you had surly booth staffers reluctant to engage with the public, you've got a clear cause and effect relationship spelled out for you -and an obvious point indicating where training is needed. Additionally, these reports have historical value: comparing this year's reports with previous years will show you in black and white how the team's performance has evolved over the years and the clear value of your training efforts.
Data in isolation is useless. If you're going to compile for reports just for the sake of compiling reports, don't bother. However, if you're going to use this information to identify problem areas and take actions to improve performance, you'll find your efforts well rewarded.
Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, internationally recognized expert working with companies to increase their profitability at tradeshows.
Labels: Event-Planning
6:59 AM | Was this helpful? |
Building A Team With A Corporate Event
To be effective, corporate pursuit should be exhilarating, bonding experiences that can be enjoyed by all members while asset clear spotlight and staying true to the organization's goals. When planning or select a corporate amusement, try to chart the event at an off-site situation. Professionals who specialize in corporate entertainment and squad structure would be able to provide numerous valuable fun activities to develop a particular team?s performance.
Administrative conference centers provide facilities such as meeting rooms, training rooms, panel rooms, and consultation rooms that are fully furnished with executive chairs, inner processing unit chairs, conference tables, sofa, and easels. They are also equipped with a wide choice of acoustic/ocular equipments such as overhead projectors, LCD projector, DVD player, VCR performer, Cable TV, and stage microphone.
Team building, leadership quality, and dissimilar management accomplishment are what most corp are concerned about. Driven by a motive to maximize the out-put from the employees, corporate events are planned to hone these attainment of their employees. Indoor and outdoor corporate events are designed in a way that is entertaining as well as rewarding for culture experiences.
The basic requirement for control a corporate occurrence is a step-by-step disciplined to see through various tasks from set off to finish. There are many corporate event management companies gift professional military. They will work with the company contact one-on-one to make sure all of the needs and desires of the company are met when putt together an event.
In the end, choosing to use a corporate affair planning examination is no different than any other production decision. You hand over the employment to those that have the greatest resources to accomplish the task. When it come up to fitting a company event to its idea, a professional event planner can turn your company thanks feast into a motivating, rewarding and inspirational team building event that will kick your next quarter into high gear.
Administrative conference centers provide facilities such as meeting rooms, training rooms, panel rooms, and consultation rooms that are fully furnished with executive chairs, inner processing unit chairs, conference tables, sofa, and easels. They are also equipped with a wide choice of acoustic/ocular equipments such as overhead projectors, LCD projector, DVD player, VCR performer, Cable TV, and stage microphone.
Team building, leadership quality, and dissimilar management accomplishment are what most corp are concerned about. Driven by a motive to maximize the out-put from the employees, corporate events are planned to hone these attainment of their employees. Indoor and outdoor corporate events are designed in a way that is entertaining as well as rewarding for culture experiences.
The basic requirement for control a corporate occurrence is a step-by-step disciplined to see through various tasks from set off to finish. There are many corporate event management companies gift professional military. They will work with the company contact one-on-one to make sure all of the needs and desires of the company are met when putt together an event.
In the end, choosing to use a corporate affair planning examination is no different than any other production decision. You hand over the employment to those that have the greatest resources to accomplish the task. When it come up to fitting a company event to its idea, a professional event planner can turn your company thanks feast into a motivating, rewarding and inspirational team building event that will kick your next quarter into high gear.
Labels: Event-Planning
9:17 AM | Was this helpful? |
