Stand staff and lead management
Who runs the stand, how and in how many shifts; the first thirty seconds with a visitor; a visitor record form that complies with data protection law; consent for commercial messages; data ready for post-fair follow-up. It is not the crowded stand but the well-spoken one that brings business.
A stand is an office the sales team sets up for a few days a year; the rules of the office apply on the stand too. This section covers staff preparation and the lawful collection of visitor data; how that data is used after the fair is in the after the fair section. The legal part is guidance, not a definitive rule; prepare your own privacy notice and consent form with your data controller or legal adviser. How we prepare the stand itself is on the exhibition stand services page.
01
Staff briefing and shifts
A written briefing is handed out a week before the fair and walked through in a one-hour meeting:
- Objective. What is expected from this fair: distributor, project, dealer, market intelligence. The objective is one sentence and everyone knows it by heart.
- Products and message. Which products are shown, a three-sentence description of each, the five most frequent questions and their answers, and that no comparison with competitors' products is made. Quantities and hand-out rules for catalogues, samples and giveaways are in our catalogue and sample plan.
- Roles. Welcome (facing the aisle, standing, asking the first question), technical (at the product), sales (in the meeting area), stand manager (organiser, technical and hospitality matters). Even on a three-person stand the roles are written.
- Shifts. Fair days are long; four-hour shifts and a lunch rotation never leave the stand empty. Staff sitting and looking at a phone means a closed stand.
- Appearance and language. Dress code, name badge, which language to use with foreign visitors; an interpreter or hostess, if needed, joins the pre-fair briefing.
02
The first thirty seconds with a visitor
A visitor walking down the aisle decides in three seconds: stop or pass. Stopping them is the stand's job (graphics, light, product); getting them talking is the staff's. The first sentence is not a product pitch but an open question: which sector they work in, why they came to the fair, what they are looking for today. A visitor whose need is clear is taken to the meeting area; a visitor only looking is given a catalogue and thanked. Both are recorded, at different levels.
In the meeting area a pen, record form or tablet, product sample and water are ready; a conversation longer than fifteen minutes becomes an appointment. A price question gets a general answer on the stand and a written quote after the fair; that protects against competitors' ears and gives a reason to follow up.
Still have a question?
Whatever stage you are at, we can point you in the right direction in ten minutes by phone or WhatsApp. You do not have to ask for a quote; answering a first-time exhibitor's question is part of our job too.
03
The record form and data protection
Taking a business card or having a form filled in is processing personal data; it falls under Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698. The minimum order to keep on a stand:
- Privacy notice. A short notice is shown before data is collected: the identity of the data controller, which data is processed for which purpose, to whom it may be transferred, the retention period and the rights under article 11 of the law. It goes at the bottom of the form or on the tablet screen, with a link to the full text on the website.
- Data minimisation. Only the fields needed for the purpose: name, company, role, e-mail, phone, area of interest. No special categories (health, belief, union membership).
- Explicit consent, separate boxes. Sending a quote needs no consent (pre-contractual contact), but newsletters and marketing messages need a separate, unticked consent box. One box reading "I accept everything" is invalid.
- Commercial electronic message consent. For marketing by e-mail and SMS, separate consent is obtained under Law No. 6563 and registered in the Message Management System (İYS); the visitor may withdraw it at any time.
- Retention and security. Paper forms travel locked at the end of the fair, digital records move into a CRM accessible to authorised people, business card photos do not stay on personal phones.
If a card scanner or the organiser's badge reader is used, check in the exhibitor contract where the scanned data goes and the conditions of data sharing with the organiser.
04
A record ready for follow-up
| Field | Why it is needed |
|---|---|
| Name, company, role, country | Shows who the decision maker is and which market they belong to |
| Contact (e-mail, phone) | Follow-up channel; one is enough, two are preferred |
| Area of interest and product | Makes sure the quote goes with the right product |
| Need date | The basis of the hot, warm and information split |
| Conversation note | Reminds the caller two weeks later of what they no longer remember |
| Promised action and date | Quote, sample, visit; the field by which follow-up is measured |
| Consent and İYS status | Decides whether marketing messages may be sent |
- 3 business days
- target for calling hot records and sending the promised document; AUMA recommends following up as soon as possible
- 2 consents
- separate consents needed for marketing: explicit consent under data protection law and commercial electronic message consent (İYS registration)
05
Frequently asked questions
- How many people should be on the stand?
One person per 12–15 square metres of open frontage is a good start; a 24 square metre corner stand needs three (welcome, technical, sales) and one reserve. A crowded stand scares visitors off, an empty one lets them pass.
- Do we need a hostess or interpreter?
At a fair abroad you need someone who speaks the visitors' language; if none of your own product-trained staff does, hire an interpreter and include them in the pre-fair briefing. A hostess takes the welcome role, not the sales conversation.
- Should we use the organiser's badge reader?
It records quickly; but where the scanned data is stored and the sharing terms with the organiser must be written in the contract. Keep your own conversation notes and consent boxes in addition to the reader.
- Do hospitality and giveaways help?
Hospitality lengthens the conversation, a giveaway reminds; neither stops a visitor. With a limited budget, lighting and graphics first, hospitality second. A giveaway should relate to the product and be easy to carry.
If your fair date is set, the countdown has started
The stand calendar starts the day the plot contract is signed. Send the fair name, date and plot size; within two business days we come back with a concept visual and an itemised quote. Asking for a quote commits you to nothing.