How to avoid the most common problems when hiring exhibition promotional staff

Attracting potential customers to your stand and making their visit memorable is crucial to exhibition success, which is why brands hire special promotional staff. Finding such staff is easy as they can be booked from specialist agencies like Exhibition girls. This means you get trained staff, who will focus on your brand and do everything possible to promote it.

But you need to take care and avoid making mistakes, which can cost you dearly. There are four very common mistakes that companies often make when hiring promotional staff.

Mistake No 1 – Leave it to the last minute

Staff recruitment needs to be at the top of the must do list, not at the bottom. Promotional staff need to prepare for their jobs, know what they are required to do, any products they have to stress, learn scripts and have all the background they need on the company. Briefing notes should also include a detailed schedule, contact information, dress code guidelines, aims and objectives.

If you leave it to the last minute, they do not have time to prepare properly. You may also find that the staff you want are already booked up by your competitors. At least three months notice is ideal when it comes to booking staff – and bear in mind that the best staff may be booked six months or more ahead when it comes to top exhibitions.

Mistake No 2 – Choosing the cheapest agency

Shopping around is one thing, but automatically opting for the cheapest may not be the best idea. Just think – if the agency is paying only the bare minimum to its staff, then how good are the staff going to be? Will they be sufficiently motivated to really focus on your brand? Price should be only one of the deciding factors which choosing an staffing agency. Keeping costs to a minimum by opting for a low cost agency may backfire in the long run.

Mistake No 3 – Poor communication with the promotional staff agency

Talk to the agency about exactly what you are seeking. Find out how they choose the people to take on a booking, what happens if someone falls sick, what are the back up policies? Can you choose your own staff? Or do you get whoever is assigned to you? An agency stating they have 20,000+ people on their books may be prioritizing quantity over quality.

A good agency will allow you to look through its database and choose your staff. They will provide details of staff for you to check out further. Find out if there is an account manger available during your event, ready to provide immediate assistance in event of problems.

Mistake No 4 – Thinking appearance is all-important

Hiring promotional staff because they seem to look right for the job is tempting. After all, they will make a good first impression. But remember that it is not just appearance that counts, the promo staff need to be able to answer questions, deal with customers, make sure your event meets its objectives, and work within a team. It is essential to interview, even if it is just a short chat on the phone.

Immediately before the event, hold a briefing session with all your staff including the promotional staff. Make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them, and that demonstrators have rehearsed all that they have to do. During the event, be positive, encouraging and motivating. Afterwards, hold a debriefing session with the staff and agency to seek any feedback that may help future events.

Need exhibition staff or hostesses for your next event?

Contact us now – we can make sure that you don’t make those common mistakes. Instead you will have great, professional staff who will work with you and provide your event with the team you deserve.

The Success of Sampling Staff – A Case Study

How our sampling staff were the cornerstone of a project in Boots stores across the UK

Boots is a leading beauty and pharmaceutical retailer in the UK. With 2, 5000 stores across the UK and Ireland, Boots is considered a staple of the high street.

Like other major brands, Boots develop and launch many new own-brand products. The beauty product industry is a competitive marketplace, something that as a retailer, they understand. Customers also tend to be loyal to beauty products that they know suit their skin.

And this is why Boots decided to hire professional sampling staff in 30 of their stores to introduce customers to a new skincare product and be positive brand ambassadors.

The product – anti-bacterial skincare product

The brief – to introduce customers in some of their stores to the new product. Our promotional girls were to discuss, demonstrate and sell the skin cream and other related product.

The client wanted female demonstrators as the product is targeted towards female customers. They also wanted promotional staff who fitted with the image of the product – that is, women confident with their own skin care routines and with an in-depth knowledge of how to look after skin.

Where – Boots designated 30 stores across the UK, identifying a weekend during which demonstrators would introduce the product.

We supplied all promotional and demonstration staff to complete the assignment in the designated Boots stores. Fully briefed before the event, our promotional staff were more than familiar with the product before the weekend sales and demonstration event.

Able to answer questions confidently, our team of demonstrators were tasked to sample the product with customers and drive sales. With an attractive discount, customers were further enticed to make a purchase.

Organising and facilitating the event

For a single demonstration event like this, there is a large amount of behind-the-scenes preparation and planning.

Assigned to an event manager, the project runs smoothly from start to finish;

•Promotional team – first, we choose the member of the promotional and demonstration team, scanning our database for experienced demonstrators close or living in the locations close to the stores.
•Briefing and product testing – once the full brief and products were received from Boots, they were sent on to our team of demonstrators so that they could be familiar with every aspect of the assignment and skincare range.
•Logistics – uniforms were dispatched to demonstrators as were the stands to each of the designated stores before the weekend event.
•On the day – demonstrators arrived at their designated store, introduce themselves to the store manager and staff member, set up their stand and demonstrated the product in the given time frame
•Administration – demonstrators were to record sales and customer feedback, all of which was fed back to the client.

The sampling outcome

As a result of the hard work of the demonstrators and promotional staff on the day, and the work carried out by our event manager, the promotional and sampling event was considered a success, smashing the targets and expectations of the client!

With a comprehensive report detailing the success of the day, we are continuing to work with Boots.

To find out how we can make your next promotional, demonstration, street marketing teams or sampling event even more successful, contact us on 0844 800 0071 or email us.

Hire Exhibition Girls for UK and International Events

Planning and organising a conference takes time and effort. One of the tasks will be to find a team of experienced and professional exhibition girls who can deliver exceptional service, above and beyond what you expect – that’s what we do!

Experienced exhibition girls

Finding the right team just got easier. All you need to do is make one phone call to our bookings team telling us what your requirements are, and we’ll do the rest.
We have a large database of talented exhibition girls in the UK, from London to Edinburgh and beyond, from the east coast to the west, and everywhere in between. We also provide exhibition girls for international events.

Exhibition girls provide a range of services at UK conferences, international exhibitions and trade shows including;

• Reception staff
• Meeting and greeting VPs
• Hosting VIP sessions and parties
• Act as hospitality staff at a range of events
• Act as promotional and marketing staff on stands and a booths
• Acting as models for promotional purposes including catwalk and fashion shows
• Work ‘behind the scenes’ as well as provide administrative support
• And much, much more
In fact, no matter what your requirements, we have exhibitions girls with the skills and expertise to deliver exceptional promotional and marketing services at UK and international events.

Why hire exhibition girls for a UK or international event?

The reason is simple; if you want to make your event memorable, it needs to run smoothly and exhibition girls can provide the services you need for any event or conference to do just that.
If you want to reach more customers, have your brand promoted in the right way and for guests to leave with a memorable impression of your brand, you need exhibition girls.
Briefed before they arrive, our exhibition girls are not only talented but they bring a wealth of marketing and promotional skills to an event. With experience of both international and UK events, it makes sense to come to the exhibition staffing agency with an established pedigree.

How Exhibition Girls can help

We take the strain out of finding promotional staff and exhibition girls so you can concentrate on planning your conference or creating the trade show marketing strategy that will deliver.
Choosing the best exhibition girls from our database, we’ll pick you a team that has all the skills and experience your trade show or exhibition project needs in order to be successful.
With many years’ experience under our belt, you can trust us to not only deliver on our promises but to exceed your expectations as to impact exhibition girls at UK conference and international exhibitions can make.

Request a free quote for hiring exhibition girls today

For a competitive quote for hiring exhibition girls for UK and international conferences, simply complete the form below or chat to our bookings team by calling 0844 800 0071.