The haiku, a short form poem of Japanese origin, was in the news recently when Sun Microsystems’ CEO Jonathan Schwartz quit (via Twitter) by posting this haiku:
Financial crisis
Stalled too many customers
CEO no more
That news reminded me of some near-haiku I had read recently in an unexpected place. While reviewing responses to a survey question about booth staffing, I was struck by several exhibitors’ concise, almost poetic language, to the point that they reminded me of haiku poetry.
(In case you don’t remember from school, Haiku are very short, three line poems of only 17 syllables. The first line has 5 syllables, the second 7, and the final line has 5 more. )
Inspired by former Sun CEO Schwartz, I went looking for more within the survey answers. While a few could almost stand verbatim, I still made some nips and tucks to “find” 17 haiku about booth staffing, one for each of the haiku’s 17 syllables.
Because so much of trade show success hinges on the quality of your booth staffers, many of these haiku extoll the virtue and nuances of choosing the right staff:
1.
being excited
to be at the trade show makes
a huge difference
2.
once used tech people
we cut that back and now send
sales & marketing
3.
one man one woman
in the booth at every show
when it’s possible
4.
staff who can perform
are able to work the crowd
not the booth work them
5.
staff with the people
that know specific products
for specific shows
6.
to pick our staffers
how they engage customers
handle travel well
7.
technical product
must answer detailed questions
staff with salespeople
Other haiku promote the value of pre-show meetings, and what should be covered at them:
8.
hold pre-show meeting
every morning of the show
outline objectives
9.
offer much info
to each booth staffer pre-show
even for veterans
10.
pre-show meeting share
last show ROI results
salespeople respond
11.
have a trade show guide
that outlines expectations
and where to find things
12.
those working the show
must have a clear idea
what is expected
Two haiku go to the heart of what a good booth staffer needs to do to succeed:
13.
remain attentive
listen to the customer
no email or phones
14.
keep the contact brief
this is not the place to sell
generate interest
Often one finds wisdom shrouded in classic haiku. These haiku proclaim the wisdom of training for your booth staffers:
15.
with booth staff training
get better quality leads
plus we get more leads
16.
more and more training
product, industry knowledge
assess client need
17.
hired an outside firm
train and monitor booth staff
improvement result
Thank you to those who shared their wisdom that inspired these haiku. Feel free to share your own trade show haiku in the comments box below. And I would love to hear if you offer these haiku as part of your exhibit marketing preparation and training!
To get more, albeit less concise and poetic trade show booth staffing tips, click here to get your free copy of the 48-page Booth Staffing Guidebook. “many articles / many worksheets and checklists / help you prepare staff”
Mike, you may have missed your calling!! This is brilliant. Might I suggest that you tweet one of these very useful haiku poems out as tradeshow tips every once in a while with a link to this post, if it fits? You might even invent a hashtag to go with it. I just love seeing such a creative way to effectively get out a very useful message!
Thank you, Jenise! Like you, I came to marketing with a writing background, and sometimes ideas just bubble up and can’t be ignored. I’ve got a blog post about The Counte of Monte Cristo waiting in the wings. You were dead on about sending the haiku over time … check out my Twitter stream from today! http://www.twitter.com/skylineexhibits .
You ROCK!!!
Mike, I am constantly impressed with how you always manage to post stuff that is both fun to read and packed with great info. You can tell you love what you do!
Now maybe you can help me get Jenise bitten by the trade show bug. I mean, events are OK, but trade show people are so much more fun!
Traci — thanks for your note — I’m blushing!
My motivation is helping exhibitors uncover the best ways to take full advantage of the power of trade show marketing. When exhibitors embrace the tools available to them, they succeed, they return to shows, and we all benefit.