How's your booth staff performing?

I have a friend who works in the hotel industry, a nice hotel on the upper end of quality and service.  One thing he is always mentioning is the “shopper visit” and the “shopper report.”  In his world, a shopper is an  anonymous mystery guest who checks into the  hotel, calls room service, visits the concierge, eats at the outlets, visits the exercise facility - no department is spared. All the time, the mystery shopper is taking copious notes on cleanliness, service, courtesy, attire, etc.  The mystery shopper also takes names.  

The shopper report is a big deal for him and all his coworkers and he always talks with a tone of respect and  seriousness.  The shopper’s visit and resulting report is completely objective and its outcomes can have serious repercussions, both positive and negative.  Indeed, the program has a great affect on behavior modification.  For instance, he says his manager is always telling him to “treat everyone like a shopper.”

Now let’s apply this concept to trade shows.  What if there was a mystery booth visitor who entered your booth at the next trade show - someone totally unknown to your booth staff and employees?  The mystery booth visitor could carefully observe many staff behaviors that ultimately can make or break the success of the show.


Unless you, the management are physically inside the booth at the show observing the staff, how do you really know how they are performing.  And if you are there, how is your presence affecting their behavior?

This mystery visitor could observe things like the approach and greeting, qualification and presentation skills,  demonstration skills, how the visitor is followed up on after the show, 6 months, 12 months.   Also, the mystery booth visitor could check the setup of the booth while checking the quality of third-party vendors’ services, such as florists and installation/dismantling crews.

Yes the mystery visitor could “take names” but ultimately the mystery booth visitor can tell management what is working and what is not and what needs to be worked on through additional training.