Trade shows provide the perfect opportunity to showcase your brand, make connections, and drive business. The key to maximizing these opportunities lies in the preparation of your show site staff.

Whether your team is interacting with key decision-makers or simply greeting casual attendees, effective training is essential to ensure they represent your brand with confidence and expertise.

Here’s how you can equip your staff to thrive at trade shows using strategies such as identifying visitor personas, assessing needs, and transitioning into subject matter experts (SMEs)—all while staying visible and engaged.

1. Understand The Mission

The first step to creating a more engaged and motivated show site staff is to clearly communicate what your company’s goals are at the event, and how you plan to achieve them. When staff understand the objectives you’re targeting, they’re much more likely to hit them. Common objectives often include:

  • Build Awareness: Your company may aim to increase company or product awareness, or reposition your brand if you’re already well known. Share with your staffers the key marketing messages you want communicated.
  • Generate Leads: Let staffers know how many qualified leads you expect for the show to be a success, and even how many you need from their staffing shifts. Coach them on the tools built into the exhibit that help them persuade viable prospects.
  • Strengthen Relationships: Face time with existing customers and channel partners is a unique opportunity at trade shows. Let your staff know if your exhibit includes food and beverages, comfortable seating, or meeting rooms off the show floor.
  • New Product Introduction: Coach your staff to smoothly demonstrate your latest major innovations, and how they are superior to what you or your competitors have been offering.

2. Assess Visitor Needs Quickly and Effectively

Trade show floors can be busy and time-limited, so it’s important for your team to assess a visitor’s needs early in the conversation. Train your staff to ask open-ended questions that quickly identify what each person is looking for:

  • “What brings you to the show?”
  • “What brings you to our booth today?”
  • “What are the biggest challenges you are facing?”
  • “How familiar are you with our product or service?”
  • “Which of our products or services are you most interested in?”
  • “Are you here to learn more about [specific industry]?”

These types of questions allow your staff to gather information quickly and tailor their responses to the individual, leading to more productive discussions.

3. Identify Visitor Personas

An often overlooked, yet extremely valuable step in training your show site staff is helping them recognize the variety of visitor personas that come through the booth. Understanding these personas enables your team to tailor their approach, ensuring each interaction is meaningful.

If your site staff haven’t yet determined your visitors’ personas from their earlier needs assessment or by reading their badge or business card, do so with a couple additional questions:

  • “What company are you with?”
  • “What is your role at the company?”

These are common personas of your exhibit visitors:

  • Decision Makers: These high-level executives are interested in the long-term value your company can deliver. Train staff to focus on business impact, ROI, and strategic advantages.
  • Researchers: They are gathering information for their company and may not have decision-making power, but they influence decisions. Staff should provide detailed answers and be ready to demonstrate product features and benefits.
  • Competitors: While they may not be potential clients, competitors can still be valuable sources of market insights. Train your team to recognize them and handle conversations with professionalism, focusing on general, non-sensitive information.
  • Giveaway Seekers: Some attendees visit booths just for freebies. While they may not seem like the most valuable interactions, they can spread positive brand awareness if engaged properly. Train staff to courteously hand out giveaways while subtly sharing your brand’s value in a few quick sentences.
  • Press and Influencers: Media personnel and influencers are crucial for amplifying your brand’s message beyond the trade show. Staff should engage these visitors by discussing newsworthy trends, your new products, and success stories. Introduce them to your top executives on-site. Engage them with hands-on product demos or behind-the-scenes looks.

By understanding these personas, your staff can adapt their messaging and behavior to make the most of each interaction.

4. Transition to a Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Once a visitor’s needs are understood, your staff should smoothly transition to a subject matter expert (SME). If a staffer lacks SME-level knowledge, be sure they know which of your staffers has that knowledge (especially by product line or industry segment), so can smoothly hand off the visitor to them.

For instance, after assessing the visitor’s interest in a particular product or service, staff could say:
“Since you’re interested in [product/service], I can explain how it has helped companies like yours achieve [specific result].”

This approach not only shows your staff’s expertise but also builds trust and creates a personalized experience that resonates with the visitor’s needs. Provide training to update your staff’s knowledge on products, services, and industry trends, so they feel confident in handling these discussions.

5. Stay Visible and Engaged

One of the most crucial aspects of trade show staff training is ensuring they are consistently visible and engaging. Staff should be mindful of body language, remain approachable, and actively engage with visitors at all times. This means avoiding use, or prolonged conversations with coworkers during booth hours—those discussions can wait. The focus should always be on attendees.

Here’s how to ensure your staff stays visible and ready:

  • Eye Contact & Body Language: Staff should always maintain a welcoming stance—avoid crossing arms, putting hands in pockets, down, or appearing disinterested.
  • Approachability: Encourage staff to greet passersby with a friendly smile, offering to answer questions or demonstrate products.
  • Engage Quickly: Don’t wait for visitors to approach—take the initiative to engage them with questions or a quick offer of assistance.

Maintaining a friendly, engaging presence is key to attracting visitors and ensuring they leave with a positive impression of your brand.

6. Plan for Seamless Hand-Offs and Follow-Ups

Trade shows are often fast-paced, and not every interaction will lead to an immediate business result. Training your staff to manage seamless hand-offs and follow-ups ensures no lead falls through the cracks.

For highly interested visitors, staff should gather key contact information and pass it to the appropriate team member. If a visitor has specific technical questions, transition them to an in-house subject matter expert (SME) or schedule a follow-up for deeper engagement.

Conclusion

Effectively training your show site staff means equipping them with the ability to identify visitor personas, assess needs quickly, and transition into a subject matter expert role. Above all, remind them to stay visible, approachable, and fully engaged with visitors at all times. By preparing your staff to adapt to various visitor types—whether they’re key decision makers, giveaway seekers, press, or influencers—you’ll ensure your brand makes the most of every trade show opportunity.

At CenterPoint Marketing, we specialize in preparing teams to succeed at trade shows. If you need help training your staff or developing a winning exhibit strategy, we’re here to help!