Trade shows can have a big impact on your small business. These dynamic industry events are an opportunity to come face-to-face with your partners, colleagues, and customers and can play a valuable role in your business success. Trade shows are an excellent channel for:
- Networking
- Making sales
- Connecting with prospects
- Introducing products and services
- Identifying trends
- Sharing knowledge
- Competitor analysis
Time Tracking is an Important Part Of Trade Show Management
Whether you participate in a trade show as an exhibitor, attendee, or speaker, it’s hard to underestimate the benefits this kind of experience can bring to your business regarding relationship-building, marketing, and sales. But the benefits come at a price. Trade show participation requires significant investment. That’s why employee time tracking is so essential.
Between registration fees, equipment and booth rentals, travel, meals, and lodging, trade show costs can add up fast. Not to mention, your employees are on the clock when they are at the show, meaning that accurate time tracking matters for both your team and your budget.
But with busy schedules packed with sessions to attend, people to meet, and sales to make, your employees may feel bogged down by manual time tracking tasks. Not only is time tracking using paper timesheet templates or spreadsheets quite impractical for traveling employees, but it could also pull them away from more critical trade show matters, like closing that next deal.
Boost Employee Team Productivity With Mobile Time Tracking
A mobile time tracking app can help your team track billable time wherever they are, whether that’s on the floor or in a business meeting. It’s an essential addition to your trade show management tools with capabilities that can streamline the time tracking process so that your employees can focus on growing your business.
Here are just a few things you and your team could do directly from a mobile timesheet app:
Clock In And Out With A Tap
Save time while tracking time by eliminating the need to rely on paper timesheets or spreadsheets. Your team can clock in and out right from an app—with or without cell coverage. They’ll be less likely to forget to track their hours, and the times will be more accurate, giving you insights into labor costs.
Approve Time From The App Or Office
Whether at the trade show or in the office, you can review and approve employee timesheets from an app, desktop, or tablet.
View Multiple Timesheets Simultaneously
Oversee your entire trade show team at a glance. Gain insights into your team’s availability and adjust as needed.
Revise Schedules
Need someone else to manage the exhibit or conduct a demo? Reschedule your team and alert everyone of the revised schedule.
Track Team Member’S Location While They’Re On The Clock
Time tracking apps may be equipped with automatic GPS functionality that allows you to track miles. Use this precise data for taxes and reimbursements.
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Track Mileage
Automatic GPS functionality may be available allowing you to track miles, providing data that can be used for taxes and reimbursements.
Time Tracking Apps Connect To Payroll
As if all these benefits weren’t enough, certain mobile time tracking apps connect with your payroll and invoicing software. Once timesheets are submitted, you can approve them and they’ll sync with your payroll. This automation helps:
- Minimize the need to enter information manually.
- Ensure that employees are paid accurately for the time worked, including correct overtime.
- Accelerate your recordkeeping so you can pull real-time reports quickly.
- Track your trade show labor costs.
What About Other Trade Show Labor Costs?
Vendors, attendees, and speakers aren’t the only people at trade shows. Consider the labor costs and time tracking needs of the crews responsible for installing and dismantling the booths, material handling, and providing electrical services. The Tradeshow Network Marketing Group reports the following:
- The average installation and dismantle labor rate is $140/hr for straight time and an average of $205/hr for straight time, overtime, and double time combined.
- The average electrical labor rate is $132/hr for straight time and an average of $188/hr for straight time, overtime, and double time combined.
- The average material handling rate is $1.88 per pound before event deadlines, increasing an average of 10% when materials are received after event deadlines.
If you head one of these teams, think about how mobile time tracking could be an essential part of your business, whether you’re at a trade show or other job site.
Mobile Time Tracking Solutions Support Your Trade Show Success
From initial setup to booth breakdown, there are many costs associated with trade shows, not the least of which is related to labor. With mobile time tracking, your team will save time and hassle when clocking in and out, and you’ll reduce the time it takes to approve timesheets and run accurate payroll.
Make the most of your trade show investment by investing in a mobile time-tracking app that can help you handle your event more efficiently while managing costs.
