If you haven’t already, review the Four Key Roles at a Trade Show before starting. It explains the mindset behind the program and how to think through the MiM™ lens when guiding your client.
Timing & Participation
Session: 4 of 10
Duration: 60 minutes
Timeline: ≥ 4 weeks pre-show
Led by: Coach, Relationship Developer
Attendees: Client Sales Team
This session shifts focus to the people — making sure every team member attending the show has a defined role, knows their handoff triggers, and understands what post-show follow-up looks like before the show begins. The Relationship Developer supports the conversation with context on the outreach that's already in flight and who the team is likely to be meeting.
Preparation
Time Required: 30-45 mins
Led by: Coach
Preparation for this session is broken out by role and timeline below. Each team member has something they need to produce and prepare for the upcoming session.
Step 1. Prep the Whiteboard
If you have any intel on who from the client's team will be attending the show, add it ahead of time so the session can build from what's already known.
Step 2. Touch Base with RD
Get a quick update from the Relationship Developer on how the pre-show outreach is progressing — how many responses have come in, which meetings are already booked, and any context that will be useful when discussing follow-up ownership in the session.
Step 4. Send a Prep Email
From: MiM™ Coach
To: Client Sales Team
Cc: Relationship Developer
Subject: Show Roles Prep
—————-
Hi *contact name*,
Looking forward to our upcoming session together.
We'll be focused on defining roles for the show — who owns what on the floor, how conversations get passed between team members, and how follow-up will be handled after the show closes. By the end, everyone attending the show should know exactly what they’re responsible for before the doors open.
Come ready to discuss who from your team will be at the show and any thoughts you have on who might be best suited for each role.
If anything comes up or you have any questions before then, let me know.
Talk soon,
MiM™ Coach
Step 5. Review the Teach Deck
- Open the Show Roles Teach Deck → in Canva
- Use Presenter View to review your speaking notes
- Practice transitions
- Focus on flow, not memorization
By the time you open the session, you should be ready to lead the client through why pre-show outreach is half the value of the show — and how to do it right.
With everything reviewed and the team prepped, you're ready to lead the client through their Show Roles session.
Teach
Time: ~10 minutes
Led by: MiM™ Coach
Your role in this session is to help the client see that preparation at a trade show matters just as much as preparation for a 1:1 sales meeting. You wouldn't walk into a sales meeting without knowing who was presenting which pieces, or why each person was in the room. You'd have roles, lanes, and a reason every attendee was invited.
A trade show is no different. Most teams say "we'll figure it out when we get there" — and prospects can feel exactly that. The goal is to make sure that from the moment the floor opens, every team member is operating at 100%. Prospects should feel like this team has been here before — that they know how a show works, that there are no unwritten rules catching them off guard, that everyone slides effortlessly into place.
The teaching here is about helping the client's team understand that their salespeople shouldn't just be existing in the booth. They should be operating — each one in a specific role, with a specific job to do.
Open the Teach Deck below to begin.
Gather
Time: 50 minutes
Led by: MiM™ Coach
Transition from the Teach Deck over to the Working Whiteboard to begin talking through Show Roles.
For most teams, the answers come quickly — this is a straightforward exercise. For teams that haven't thought about it yet, it will be one of the most useful conversations they have before the show.
Who's Working — List every team member attending and assign each one a role. Everyone gets one. If someone needs to flex between roles in certain situations, name both and briefly talk through when each applies.
Qualification Questions — Work through each question together. They should feel natural enough to ask in the first two minutes of a conversation — not a script, not a survey. For each one, agree on what a qualifying answer looks like so the whole team is using the same filter.
Floor & Follow-Up — Work through who handles setup, materials, and swag, then walk the conversation flow out loud from first contact to captured next step. Close by assigning post-show ownership — who logs contacts into CRM, who manages follow-up sequences, and who is responsible for each contact after the floor closes. If anyone is unclear on any part of this, run a quick role play before you close the session.
Immediate Follow-Up
Send a short follow-up email after each session, ideally within a few hours.
Follow-Up Email
From: MiM™ Coach
To: Client Sales Leader
Cc: Relationship Developer
Subject: Show Roles Follow Up
—————-
Hi *contact name*,
Another great session today. Here's a summary of what we locked in today:
Who's Working
- Hawker:
- Knowledge Expert:
- Sales Authority:
- Support: Vx Group
Qualification Questions
- Question 1: [Question]
- Qualifying answer: [Answer]
- Question 2: [Question]
- Qualifying answer: [Answer]
- Question 3: [Question]
- Qualifying answer: [Answer]
Floor & Follow-Up
- Setup: [Name]
- Materials: [Name]
- Swag: [Name]
- CRM updates: [Name]
- Follow-up sequences: [Name]
We have one more session scheduled before the show — a light touch base to shore up any final details or questions the week before you head in. We can keep it, or if the team feels ready without it, we can cut it. Let's reconnect in a week or two and see where you're at.
In the meantime, we're going to keep running with outreach and work to pack your show schedule. I'll follow up with another email when your playbook page is ready.
Talk soon,
MiM™ Coach
Synthesize
The goal of this section isn't just to document what was decided for this show — it's to translate those decisions into an evergreen strategy the client owns and repeats.
When you build out their playbook page, frame it around the roles, not the people. The names will change show to show. The roles shouldn't. Capture the three roles and what each one is responsible for, the qualification questions and what a qualifying answer looks like, and the floor and follow-up assignments as a repeatable structure — not a one-time plan.
The qualification questions will rarely need to change between shows. If they do, that's a conversation worth having — but for now, document what was agreed on as the standing framework.
By the end of this session, the client should have a playbook page that any team member can read before any show and know exactly how to show up.
Share
Once the Digital Playbook is updated, share the page with the client's Sales Team. The page should reflect the evergreen framework — roles, qualification questions, and floor and follow-up structure — not the specific names or details of this show. It's a living document. As the program continues and the strategy sharpens, it gets updated.
Playbook Update Email
From: MiM™ Coach
To: Client Sales Leader
Cc: Relationship Developer
Subject: Show Roles | Playbook Update
—————-
Hi *contact name*,
We’ve continued building out your Trade Show procedures in your Digital Playbook.
This page documents your show roles, qualification questions, and floor and follow-up structure as a standing framework your team can reference before every show. The names will change, the roles won't.
Take a look and let me know if anything needs to be adjusted. We'll keep it updated as the program progresses.
You can review it here:
👉 Insert Playbook Link
If anything looks off or doesn’t reflect what we discussed, let me know and we’ll adjust it.
Talk soon,
MiM™ Coach
What's Next
The next session in the program, Show Ready, is an optional touch base scheduled for the week before the show. It's a chance to answer any final questions, confirm the team feels confident, and make sure nothing has changed since Session 4. If the team feels ready and doesn't need it, that's a good sign. Either way, the outreach continues and the show schedule is being built.
Return to the Trade Show Program Overview to continue.