The booth staffing checklist: 30 things to lock before doors open.
Most booth problems start eight weeks out, not on show day. Badges filed late, a crew that never touched the product, leads stuck on paper. Here's the whole list. Grab the PDF to share with your team.
8 WEEKS OUT
The decisions that lock your budget, your badges and the quality of the crew you can still book.
- Confirm booth size, location and open sides
- Set a lead goal and define a qualified lead
- Book staff, roles and shift plan
- Submit staff names for exhibitor badges
- Choose the lead capture tool and CRM destination
- Order uniforms or branded apparel
4 WEEKS OUT
Training and scripting, so the crew arrives knowing the product and the question that qualifies a buyer.
- Send product training materials to the crew
- Write the 30-second pitch and the qualifying questions
- Schedule hands-on demo training
- Plan breaks and rotation by hour
- Confirm team lead and on-site contact list
- Book meeting slots for key accounts
1 WEEK OUT
Everything that breaks on load-in day gets tested now, while there is still time to replace it.
- Run a full training call with the crew
- Test demo units, chargers and backups
- Confirm load-in times and venue labor
- Share the badge pickup plan and arrival times
- Share the booth map and station assignments
- Set up the nightly lead export
SHOW DAY
Proof it happened and a booth that never goes uncovered, from doors open to the last scan.
- GPS check-in before doors open
- Setup photo logged before the first visitor
- Hosts on every open side at peak times
- Team lead walks the booth every hour
- Leads logged live, not on paper
- Evening debrief with the crew
POST-SHOW
Where most exhibitors lose the value of the show. Speed wins the follow-up.
- Export leads to the CRM within 24 hours
- Send the first follow-up within 48 hours
- Review the recap and cost per lead
- Log what to change for next year
- Book next year's crew early
- Share the recap link with stakeholders
Get the PDF
Two pages, printable, ready to share.
Want the crew too? Get a staffing quote.
Where booths lose leads.
Badge deadlines
Exhibitor badge names are due weeks before the show. Miss the window and your crew spends opening morning in a line instead of your booth.
Untrained crews
A crew that sees the product for the first time on show day will read from a sell sheet. Hands-on training four weeks out is the single biggest quality lever on this list.
Paper leads
Leads written on a clipboard or scanned into a tool nobody exports are leads nobody calls. Decide where leads go before the show and export them every night.
Slow follow-up
Buyers meet dozens of exhibitors. The first follow-up within 48 hours is the one they remember. Book the follow-up block on your team's calendar before you fly home.
The checklist, answered.
What's in the booth staffing checklist?
30 steps across five phases: 8 weeks out, 4 weeks out, 1 week out, show day and post-show lead follow-up.
Is the checklist free?
Yes. Enter your name, work email and next show, and we'll email the 2-page PDF.
Who is the checklist for?
Exhibitors, event marketers and field marketing leads planning a trade show booth.
Can Ignite run the checklist for us?
Yes. We staff, train and report the booth, and handle most of the checklist for you.
How many people should staff a trade show booth?
Plan one host per open side of the booth, one technical lead per demo station and enough product specialists to hit your lead goal, plus a team lead. Our booth staffing calculator turns those inputs into a shift plan you can share with your team.
When should we submit badge names for booth staff?
As early as the organizer allows, and no later than the badge deadline, which usually falls several weeks before opening day. Late names mean lines at badge pickup and a booth that opens short.