1. Making the Case for Exhibit Staff Training
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Matt Hill
The Hill Group

2. Exhibit staff performance matters
80% of what visitors remember most about their visit to a booth is their interaction with the exhibit staff.
75% of the effectiveness of any trade show is due to the exhibit staff.
From the CEIR (Center for Exhibition Industry Research)

3. Why exhibit staff performance matters
A visitor’s conversation in your exhibit booth is one of the few, and sometimes only, face- to-face experience they will have with someone from your company. It’s both an opportunity and a responsibility.
Want to give your booth visitor’s a positive, memorable experience? Give them a personalized experience – one focused on the unique needs and situation of every visitor.

4. Results you can expect from training your exhibit staff
They will have more conversations with more highly-qualified visitors.
Qualified lead generation will increase.
Your booth visitors will receive positive, personal experiences.
Your exhibit staff will be polite, professional, proactive, and positive.
Your staff will be better than your competitors’.

5. Results you can expect from The Hill Group’s training your exhibit staff Same trade show, same company

6. Common unproductive booth staff behaviors
They are not prepared; knowledge of all products, elevator answers, opening and qualifying questions.
They are unapproachable to visitors:
Standing in circles with their colleagues.
On their cell phones.
Eating/drinking in the booth.

7. Common unproductive booth staff behaviors
They are not proactive about engaging and greeting visitors.
They are not focused on the visitors’ interests.
They don’t know how to end unproductive conversations.

8. Trade show skills that result in more qualified lead generation
Proactive visitor engagement.
Quick needs assessment and qualifying.
Visitor-focused product discussions and presentations.
Adding visitors to ongoing conversations (not making visitors wait).
Cross-selling (selling multiple products).
Politely and professionally disengaging.

9. Exhibit staff training options
In order of effectiveness:
Live training.
Live facilitation of DVD/Streaming Video.
Webinar training.

10. Common objections to moving forward with exhibit staff training
Our people don’t need it.
Our people don’t want it.
It’s too expensive.

11. Our people don’t need it
Everyone can be trained to be more effective in a trade show booth. Professional athletes and performers are constantly practicing and improving. So should your exhibit staff.
Can they qualify visitors quickly?
Do they know how to add waiting visitors to ongoing conversations?
Can they disengage from low-value conversations?

12. Our people don’t want it
No one thinks they need to be trained to work in an exhibit booth.
When the training is engaging, interactive, fun, and relevant, your exhibit staff will walk away with refreshed skills and a few new ones.

13. It’s too expensive
The Hill Group’s Exhibit Staff Training Workshop is $5,900 + expenses.
What is the value of the face-to-face conversations your staff will have with current and potential customers?
How many more qualified leads need to be generated that will result in additional sales that will provide an acceptable ROI for exhibit staff training?

14. These companies see the value in The Hill Group’s exhibit staff training

15. Matt Hill President The Hill Group•