Updated- 13th March 2024

How much stand surface do I need for an exhibition? How many employees do I need for my stand?  Would I need employees? These are frequently asked questions with a relatively simple answer. All it requires for you to answer are specific questions that can push you in the right direction to figure out the correct requirements and number of crews or employees that your exhibition stand needs.

You might feel that why do you need to consider putting effort for your crew or staff for your stand. But staff considerations are also important since your exhibition stand design is just the face of the organization. Your staff present at the stand is the lifeblood for your marketing campaign. They are the ones that will ensure your brand message touches your customers in the right way. Their attitude, behavior and professionalism reflect the perception of your brand and ensure that the first positive impression they got from your exhibition stand is retained. Not having a well-trained and sufficient staff will deteriorate any positive associations for your brand identity at the show. Not to mention an understaffed crew will have low morale, low energy, all of which has the cascading effect of ruining any interaction with attendees that will attend your exhibition stand. Conversely, having a well-staffed crew with proper training and assigned responsibilities will keep your exhibition stand lively and a welcome sight. This is great for your brand and its recall value.

The number of crew in your stand what you need depends on various factors. How many visitors do you expect? It’s obvious that a larger attendance requires more stand crew. You should determine how many visitors you will expect during the entire exhibition period. What will be peak moments and how many visitors can you expect at that particular moment? What’s the size of your exhibition space? Will you need more or less staff to cover every entry point for your exhibition stand? How do you plan to schedule breaks for your staff during the show? What responsibilities will your staff need to handle at the exhibition stand.

If all this sounds mind-bogglingly complex and hard to keep a track off we have simple method that can help you get a ball park idea. You can apply an arithmetic method, based on employees given the formulated goals and a conversion to the required amount of m2.

Number of employees (stand crew) based on goals

This approach is based on the number of useful contacts which should result from this exhibition. A good employee can make an average of 3 good contacts per hour. It concerns serious leads you wish to follow-up after the exhibition.

If your 3-day trade fair should result into >200 leads or good contacts, you will need 3 employees.

Our sum: 3 employees x 3 days of 6 hours* x 3 contacts per hour = 162 leads in total at the end of the exhibition.

How many employees (stand crew) do I need for my stand?

We can also convert it to the amount of m2 per employee.

Each individual (employee or visitor) requires approximately 2m2 freedom of movement. Our sum: 3 employees + 3 visitors x 2m2= 12 m2 surface.

The speaking zone of a stand takes up approximately 1/3 part of the total stand surface. The remaining 2/3 part is filled with furniture, promotion or demo-materials. For this reason 36m2 (3x12m2) is required for comfortable working (and achieving goals).

Using lead generation as a metric

You can use your lead generation objectives to determine your exhibition stand crew numbers. If your target is to gather 70 high-quality leads, then first determine your parameters that qualify a lead as worthwhile. Then determine how many leads a staffer can approach in a day. For example, if a staffer with breaks, can approach 4 leads in an hour, then a staffer can approach 24 leads in a six-hour day. Then for a three-day show, one staffer can easily contact 72 leads. In case, your objective is to collect twice as many leads than you could potentially double your lead gathering figures with an additional staffer. This method is not the most accurate but it will give you a rough estimate in case you can’t use the formula-based rules.

Which roles you need to fill?

The responsibilities your staff will have to determine the size of your trade fair crew. The smaller your booth, the less staff you need to manage your booth. With a larger booth, you need a staff member to man the exits and entries. If you are taking leads digitally, you will also need a staff member with a laptop to maintain and keep track and collate your lead collection. Depending on how famous the exhibition show is, you will also need to put additional staff as substitutes to cover for the ones who are going on a break.

About Expo Display Service:-

Expo Display Service has over 3 decades of experience in exhibition stand designing and construction, making it your most reliable exhibition partner in Europe.

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