Trade Show Booth Worker Training

How do you train your booth staff for a trade show? In our case there are two separate sets of workers. We have our in-house sales personnel and our outside sales representatives. For the in-house sales personnel we have a pre-show meeting to discuss what is expected of all booth workers. We prepare a lunch schedule so that they take their lunch breaks at the show in shifts. If there is new technology that we will be presenting at the show for the first time, we set up a meeting prior to leaving for the show at the machinery. Our engineers are there to fully explain the new technology, its features and benefits and allow the sales personnel to ask questions. By the time our in-house personnel arrive at the show, they are well prepared.

For the outside sales representatives we host a training seminar in our booth that starts one house before the show opens on the first and second days of the show. We require all sales reps to attend one of the training sessions prior to working the booth so that they too can be brought up to date on our latest technology. We bring in coffee and breakfast (muffins, bagels, danish, etc.) on those days to make sure that everyone gets something to eat before the show starts.

The training does not take a whole lot of effort or time, just some coordination, but the payoff is huge. When someone walks into our booth at the show anyone they speak to is able to assist them and answer the majority of their questions as well as pass on the education on the features and benefits of our machinery. This makes a good impression on the visitors who don’t have a lot of time to wait to speak with only one or two qualified individuals in the booth.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.