No matter how well decorated your trade show booth is or how incredible your demos are, it's the people staffing your booth that will either engage promising leads, or not. You may be tempted to save money by bringing employees to staff the booth rather than hiring promotional models. However, unless your employees are outgoing individuals with sales and event experience, they won't have the same impact that professional promotional models can. Your best bet is to bring a few staffers for their expertise, and hire promotional models for their engagement skills.

Here are a few things you can do to make sure that your promotional models generate the leads you need to make your trade show experience a success:

Think Outside the Booth

You've heard of thinking outside the box. At a trade show, thinking outside the booth is an extension of that. Your booth staffers need to go outside of the bounds of the booth and into the aisles to draw potential leads in. This is a key ability that promotional models can provide for you.

Leave your employee staffers inside the booth to run demonstrations and field technical questions – they have the knowledge and expertise that comes with working with your products on a day to day basis. Have your trade show models focus on engaging leads in the aisles and guiding them into your booth.

Don't Skimp on the Script

Your trade show models should have a loose script to work with that will help them bring you genuine leads. Not every person at a trade show that expresses interest in your demo will actually be in a position to help your business venture. Give your models some qualifying questions to ask, so they know which attendees to engage and which ones to release. They should also have a simple and polite release phrase for attendees that don't meet your qualifications. Something like, "Thanks so much for stopping by, enjoy the rest of the show," will do the trick.

Make sure that your models know your key brand talking points and can summarize them quickly in just a few phrases. You don't want potential leads to get bored, or strike up a lengthy conversation in the middle of the aisle, but you do want them to know why they should be interested in your booth. Make sure that you give your models adequate time to practice the script before the show starts.

Don't Forget the Morning Meeting

All of your staffers, employees and models alike, need to be able to make adjustments as the show progresses, and they can't do that if you don't keep them in the loop. Make time every morning, a half hour or an hour before the show starts, to update on your booth's progress and set goals for the upcoming day.

Make sure to comment on the quality of leads that have been coming in, make adjustments to the script or to various staffers' assigned tasks, and go over the timing of that days activities. Also, don't forget to recognize the contributions of your top performers and the hard work of everyone involved. All of your staffers will perform more effectively if they're informed and they feel appreciated.

With some professional promotional models who know their way around a trade show and a solid performance plan, you can make your trade show experience a rousing success. A good trade show modeling agency can help you come up with an individualized plan that will ensure a great show.