How to Deal with a Bad Booth Staffer
I recently received an email from a trade show exhibitor who stumbled across my article entitled A Smiling Staff Equals a Successful Trade Show. She agreed with the article, but unfortunately has to work with a booth staffer who is the exact opposite of the Safelite Auto Glass company employees I highlighted. So she ended her email by asking ”How do I rein him in without being like a mother hen and nag. We have no reporting structure between us. And other than ‘telling on him’ to our ‘boss’, do you have any suggestions?”
I presented her with three ideas on how to handle a staffer who gets bored easily and behaves unprofessional when the “boss” is not looking:
- See if there is any other person in the organization who could staff the booth in lieu of this bad booth staffer who would appreciate the opportunity to meet with potential customers face-to-face, behave appropriately, and recognize the value of trade shows.
- Have a conversation with the President or Vice President and have them put together a list of goals and expectations for the show…including manners, etiquette, behavior expectations, as well as qualified lead goals and appointment setting goals (if applicable)…as a subtle way to get the point across as to what is acceptable and unacceptable booth behavior.
- Tell him to leave the booth when he starts mis-behaving. Turn the negative into a positive by harnessing his energy and using it for good by giving him a task list to accomplish away from the booth…checking out the competition, schmoozing with attendees that he knows that are just walking around, sending a pre-written email as an on-site follow-up to the leads already collected. That way he will not take away from the professionalism that has been established at the booth, and he will take advantage of the slow time to get something productive accomplished for the trade show team.
So what do you think? What advice would you offer as to how to handle a bad booth staffer?
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This is a tough one! The problem for your reader is that she has no direct authority over this person. I think the only option she has is #3 which is to suggest that this person do something he/she is more suited for. Anything to get them out of the booth (although they could do damage in other areas!).
Sticky bad booth staffer scenario #2 – What if it’s your boss? Any thoughts?
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Emilie Barta Reply:
June 8th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Oh Heidi…what a horrible situation THAT would be; that is if the bad booth staffer was the boss!
Unfortunately, I have actually been in that situation and it was very uncomfortable…I spent the majority of the trade show apologizing for the President of the company’s horrendous behavior and was constantly asking people to form their opinion based on the product itself and the person who would be their sales rep. I will have to say that this company lost business because of the President’s bad booth behavior…and lost me as their Product Demonstrator!
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WOW – great question! What about having him ‘fess up on why he doesn’t want to be there. Usually that type of behavior is present when the attitude is bad – find out. No harm in asking “what’s up with the attitude?”
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Emilie Barta Reply:
June 8th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Great answer, Christine. I think the author of the email would love to confront the bad booth staffer, but does not feel like she is able without looking like a “nag.” But you never know…maybe she could slip it in somehow so he doesn’t know what hits him!
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A very worthwhile question, Emilie!
Christine nailed the usual reason for bad booth staffing — they don’t want to be there in the first place. Unfortunately, it’s too late to have them trade places with a more willing staffer when the show is across country from the home office.
So if they don’t want to be there, what will change their mind? Let them know about the sizable investment the company has made, about the even larger value of potential leads, about the client insights they will gain asking people what they are looking for. If the carrot doesn’t work, there’s the stick — remind them to initial their lead cards, because you will be tracking and reporting lead counts by booth staffer to management.
I’ve also seen people who are bad at booth staffing because they simply don’t know how. If so, give them a quick how-to overview, and ask them to shadow a capable booth staffer for an hour to see how it’s done.
If that fails, then I really like your idea #3, have them do something else of value out of the booth to prevent them from damaging your corporate reputation with attendees.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
June 8th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Thanks for your comments, Mike! In this instance the bad booth staffer just does not care…and sounds like he never will so metrics mean nothing to him. With that being said, I’m glad you approve of my idea!!
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Great solutions from everyone. And the big problem here that your reader has and one that is quite common, is no authority. Until exhibit managers actually get authority over the booth this will keep happening. How many exhibit managers do you know who get to choose who staffs their booth? They don’t get to pick the staff but are still responsible for the success or failure of the event. Again, up on my soapbox I go a-preaching strategic leadership over logistics.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
February 28th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Doesn’t that just burn you, Traci? How does it make sense that the one person responsible for the success of the booth does not get to select the staff that is going to ensure the success of the booth? Having a booth staff that wants to be there, is committed to achieving the goals the company has set forth for the trade show, has a great attitude no matter what frustrations occur, and gives off a positive 1st impression of the company absolutely guarantees success!
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I think the bad attitude guy needs to understand the bigger picture. It takes a lot of time, effort, and especially money to participate. He should realize this is a privledge to be the face of the company. My impression is that this person should not be manning the booth but if they must…..yes, very clear expectations for behaviors, etc. are necessary.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
March 2nd, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for your comment, Jody. I completely agree that it is a privilege to be a booth staffer, but unfortunatley not all company employees feel that way. Clear expectations are definitely needed as he is not going away.
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