Your booth design is flawless, your marketing plan is in place, and all of your collateral is ready to ship – what about your trade show team? Your people are essential parts of your trade show display – they are the ambassadors of your company, and they help to tell the story. Even if everything else is perfect, if you don’t have a cohesive trade show team, your booth will have difficulty succeeding. Part of what makes a trade show team effective is… you guessed it: teamwork.
Conduct a meeting for trade show team building.
Well before your staff prepares to board the flight to their trade show destination, you should make sure they communicate and collaborate well. This is especially true if you have people from several different departments who rarely work together. In a large company, it’s possible that they’ve never even met. Here are a few tips to start prepping your trade show team:
- Organize a meeting for introductions and brainstorming about goals.
- Hold training sessions on trade show etiquette and working the trade show booth for the entire group.
- During the training sessions, have the group get together in teams to play a game for a fun way to build trust and learn more about each other.
- Meet to discuss the marketing plan so that each trade show team member knows his/her role, and make sure they are able to support each other in the event that someone needs coverage.
- Take the team out for a team building experience and dinner before the show so they can get to know each other a little better.
After the trade show is over, take some time to give feedback, not just to individuals, but to the team as a whole. If they know that their performance in the group is just as important as their individual achievements, they are more likely to contribute for the advancement of the whole team, which promotes harmony.
Hold a follow-up meeting in which you ask the trade show team to share individual stories, and ask them to share their own feedback. When you ask for feedback from the staff, you are demonstrating your respect for their opinions, which is empowering. Creating this atmosphere of empowerment can boost your staff members’ confidence, which is always a positive trait on the trade show floor.
Creating an exciting and engaging trade show booth starts with choosing a great trade show team to staff your booth. Trade show booth design is also key. ADM Two are experts at trade show booth design, so give us a call at (813) 887-1960. One of our knowledgeable staff can assist you with design ideas. Also, check out some of our other articles to get ideas for trade show exhibit graphics and etiquette.