Last Word
Nick
Noble
a smile and a welcome? We do so
much in our visitor promotion
to get audience to the show and
we all send the classic ‘thanks
for coming’ email, but do we ever
brief the door teams to actually
say it in words as they leave? It’s
so easy, with big returns – a simple
win.
The deputy managing
director of Future Plc
on the highs and lows of
customer service in the
world of events
Every business talks about
customer service yet so many fail
so badly it at it. From my recent
summer holiday, I experienced the
highs (brilliant hotel staff) and
the lows (airport experience) and
it got me thinking about how we
tackle this important subject in
the events world.
The five secrets of a brilliant
show experience
How often do you put yourself
in the shoes of your audience
- whether it’s a member of the
public or an exhibitor - and
experience what an event looks
like from their side of the fence?
Have you, as a show organiser,
forgotten what it feels like to step
outside the organiser’s office? Of
course some of us use mystery
shoppers - but how many of us
do the walk ourselves and really
experience the customer service
our shows offer?
The good news is that it’s really
easy to do. Here’s the five key
tips from the playbook I have
developed over the years.
1. Make sure your venue partner
knows your expectations
Brief your venue partner about
what you expect their team to
deliver for your visitors. From
the car park to the catering, from
security to the cleaning team,
from the VM to the stewards; they
66 — October
4. Don’t just talk to exhibitors
about money
all interact with your visitors so
work with them to ensure your
customer service objectives are
met.
2. Challenge your exhibitors on
customer service
We all have some fantastic
clients who excel at fabulous
customer service and treat the
visitors as the special guests
they should be. But let’s not kid
ourselves; how many clients do
you have that sit on their stand
ignoring visitors as they’re too
busy on their mobiles? We are
happy to take our clients’ money
and therefore need to maximise
their experience.
As a result, we have an obligation
to be honest and open with them
about poor customer experience.
Walking by and ignoring it helps
nobody as the visitor gets lets
down and ultimately you get
judged as the organiser as the
exhibitor ROI gets impacted.
3. Engage with your visitors in
person
Welcome your visitors on arrival
and then thank them as they leave.
Is it really that hard for the VM
and marketing teams to comb the
queues before show opening with
I’ve heard so many exhibitors
over the years comment on event
organisers that only care about
the rebook signature and they
only see the sales team when that
moment arises. Make sure you
allocate sales resource to build up
days to work with your clients and
welcome them and address any
build up issues they have. Spend
the first morning walking the floor
saying hello and let the money talk
come later in the show.
5. Open up your office
I’ve seen many an organiser’s
office in years gone by where
the operations team are too
busy talking to each other/
their contractors and leave the
visitor at the door waiting. At
the Homebuilding & Renovating
Shows we use Maelstrom Event
Solutions and this team makes it
their job to make sure the visitor
at the door is the priority and greet
them with a welcoming smile.
Every show is a combination of
partners, from the organiser to the
event contractors, from the show
registration staff to the catering
teams. Everyone needs to be on
the same page with a genuine
desire to make the visitor trip an
event to remember. It only takes
one person to spoil the experience
so challenge yourself and your
partners to go the extra mile and
set expectations for your event
that you would expect in your own
life. EN