Introduction
In my last blog, I discussed the 6 Gigantic benefits of outsourced staffing. However, as with anything else in life, using outsourced event staff isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There are a few potential downsides to consider before making the decision to outsource.
I know this may come as a shock to see someone who owns an event service company writing a blog that is critical of using outsourced event staff. The truth is that even though the use of booth staff can have a tremendously positive impact on your trade show marketing strategy, there are some critical things you need to consider.
Read on to discover some potential drawbacks of outsourcing and the ways you can prevent them from happening.
1. Using Outsourced Event Staff Takes Away Control.
When you use an outsoruced event staff, you lose a certain level of control over the process. You are no longer in charge of hiring and training staff members, and you give up a lot of influence over what they say or do while working your booth.
Being in control of the event staff is one of the key benefits of having in-house employees. When you have your own employees working your booth, you can be sure (to a certain extent) that they will meet your standards and expectations.
To lessen the risk, make sure that you firmly communicate any requirements and expectations you have to the staffing company. They have a long list of people to choose from, and you’re much more likely to get the right people when the staffing agency has a clear understanding of your needs.
2. Loss of Personal Touch with trade show attendees
No one knows your company’s products, services, and client pofiles better than you do, and no one knows how to treat you clients better than you do, right? Hopefully you have passed than same knowledge and attitude of service on to your employess. If so, then having a personal touch is one of the key benefits your own staff bring to your events.
When you use outsourced event staff, there is the potential that you lose the personal touch that comes with having in-house employees. This is why it is crucial that you spend some time with your outsourced team before the event. Even though you may have thoroughly expressed your requirements and expectations to the agency, don’t take it for granted that those sentiments were passed along.
Yes it may cost a little extra for you to have them show up early, but if you take the time to convey your brand message, some key information about your product or service, and your passion for your brand to your outsourced event staff, I promise they will pass it along to your potential customers.
3. Difficulty in Building Relationships
According to 4imprint.com, 15 seconds is the average amount of time trade show visitors spend at each booth. This makes relationship building that much more important. Afterall, relationships help increase brand loyalty and customer retention. If a potential customer has a positive experience at your trade show booth, they are more likely to remember your company when they need the product or service that you offer.
You may be concerned that outsourced event staff, would find it more difficult to build relationships with trade show attendees because they are not a part of your culture. Therefore, they may not be able to respond to questions the way your employees could.
Fear not, the truth is, according to customerthink.com and Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, people make initial buying decisions based more so on emotion than they do logic. Zig Ziggler always said “people buy with their emotions and then use logic to justify their decision”. A professional event staffer may not know your product or service as well as your emplyees, but they do know how to interct with people. Once they have established the initial rapport, your sales people can come in an seal the deal.
4. Outsourced Event Staff May Not Be Appropriate for All Events
While most events can be staffed by outsourced event professionals, there are some situations that may be better suited for in-house employees. For example, if you are hosting an exclusive VIP event, it may be better to have your own employees as the main points of conatct for attendees. There’s no denying that in-house staff members who are more familiar with your company have the ability to represent your brand in the best way possible.
However, outsourced event staff can still have a very positive role in situations such as these. By utilizing outsourced services for entertainment, registration, directional services, and other similar positions, you and your key employees are free to schmooze the VIPs.
5. Using Outsourced Event Staff Can Have Hidden Costs
In the 6 Gigantic benefits of outsourced staffing, I showed that outsourcing is a cost-effective option for your trade shows and other marketing events, However, there could be some hidden costs that you should be aware of.
For example, if you are working with a staffing company that charges by the hour, you may be required to pay for extra hours if your event goes over the allotted time.
Additionally, some staffing companies charge extra fees for travel and accommodations. If you are hosting an event in a different city or state, you may be required to pay for the staff members’ travel and accommodations.
Before you sign an agreement or make a deposit, be sure to ask about all of the potential hidden costs and get a complete rundown of the entire package in writing. And don’t forget to read the fine print in the contract!
Conclusion
The bottome line is that there are some risks involved in using outsourced event staff. However, the vast majoirty of those risks can be mitigted by following a few sound guidlines in event planning.
- Firmly communicate your desires and expecations to the staffinf agency at the outset.
- Set aside an hour or so before the event to get to know your staffers and answer any questions they have. The benefits far outwiegh the extra hours’ expense.
- Utilize event staff to set the intial rapport with event attendees. This will open the door to deeper relationship building with you and your sales team.
- Utlize outsourced event staff in non critical roles when hosting VIP Events and free up your A-Team to cloe more sales.
- Make sure to thoroughly evalute the costs of using outsourced event staff up front, get everything in writing, and read the fine print before signing any contracts.
Follow these guidleines, and using outsourced even staff can be a benefit to any B2B marketing event strategy.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and check out the rest of our tips, tricks, and advice to make your events shine at The Shine Blog from Divine Shoe Shine Models!
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