7 Ways Your Tradeshow Staff Can Sabotage a Deal

Tradeshow consultants and trainers sound like a broken record when they harp on how important it is for your front line people – the tradeshow staff – to be “on” all the time. To put their best face and effort forward. To respond with a smile. Etcetera.

In spite of how fast information spreads (like wildfire!), some tradeshow managers just don’t get it! So here’s a quick list of ways your staff can blow the next deal that may be walking into your booth. Pay close attention now and see if they’re making any of these mistakes:

1. Eating in the booth. Yup, it’s a giant turn-off.
2. Talking or texting on the cell phone. It tells your visitors that they’re second rate – behind someone who’s not even in the booth!
3. Not finding answers to a visitor’s questions. If you don’t know the answer, take their card and jot the question down on the back of it – then tell them you’ll get back to them as soon as you can. Then do it.
4. Talking amongst yourselves. On a lightly-traveled show floor, you can probably get away with talking a lot. But if the floor is thick with visitors, any sign that you’re not paying attention to a possible visitor is perceived as disinterest. And perception is reality.
5. Answering a question incorrectly. Could be worse than having no answer.
6. Significantly bad body odor. Nothing like forgetting to shower to drive away a big customer.
7. Showing a bad attitude. Having a bad attitude is one thing – a bad thing. But a true pro can shift from a bad frame of mind. Showing a truly bad attitude is grounds for dismissal and having the ticket to the tradeshow permanently revoked.

Do your staffers show any of these symptoms of sabotage? You can teach them how to do things correctly (they might learn and pay attention – good). You can show them (better). Or you can get them to buy in to the whole marketing effort and mission of the company. When they believe – and understand a few common sense rules – they’ll happily become true ambassadors of your company.

And at that point they’ll be the best ‘front line’ people you can have.