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Lead Gathering at
Trade Shows
The primary reason to exhibit in a trade
show is to generate sales leads or contacts for your company. So why is
it that the majority of trade show exhibitors say that lead gathering
and follow up is the biggest area of improvement needed? The reasons can
vary greatly depending on the organizations; however some good up-front
planning for both lead generation and follow-up will help alleviate many
of the problems that organizations face in making trade show exhibiting
successful.
Lead Generation Planning
The key to obtaining leads that can be
turned into sales calls (and subsequently sales) starts with a good Lead
Retrieval System. Most trade shows make good lead retrieval systems
available to exhibitors at a very reasonable rate. These systems
generally scan an attendee's badge or card, log the information into
a database, and print a hard copy. What they do not do, however, is
electronically log additional information that your booth staff may gain
in a conversation. So how do you make it worthwhile? A good way to make
the electronic information valuable is to review the hard copy printout
while your visitor is in the booth, and use it to make any notes about
your conversation that will be helpful in the follow-up phase. Be sure
to write legibly…back at the office you may not remember your
conversation!
Another way to obtain contact names and
numbers is the "fish bowl" approach. And although this provides quantity
in leads, it does not provide quality. Sales people have little
motivation to follow-up on these leads, as they do not contain details
about the prospect or needs.
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Tips on
Obtaining
High-Quality Leads
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Have your booth staff (which
is often your sales team) review the list of registered
attendees. If there are current clients or prospects on
the list, set up an appointment at your booth during the
show. This makes time productive, and creates activity
in your booth – something that is a draw to others.
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Use the list of registered
attendees to send a pre-show mailer or e-mail
encouraging them to stop by your booth. Use a giveaway –
which can be a promotional item, a white paper or
something else of value to that audience – to create
activity at your booth and hopefully enable you to speak
to prospects.
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Train your booth staff to
greet booth visitors in a friendly way – shaking their
hand and greeting them by first name (if on their
badge). Have your staff use open-ended questions that
leads to specific needs that your company might be able
to help with. "How are you doing today?" or "Are you
enjoying the show so far?" is nice, but will not lead to
a conversation about your goods or services. An opener
such as, "So what challenges bring you to the XYZ Show?"
is a much better way to get to the reasons that you're
both there.
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When gathering leads, be
sure to write details about your conversation with the
prospect, including your name, the prospect's name and when you spoke to
them, their needs, time frame, familiarity with your
product/service, location, etc.
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Be sure your sales staff is
in a position to follow up with prospects immediately
after the show. That may mean faxing or overnighting
leads back to the office for input into a database, or
organizing the leads at the end of each day at the show
in a notebook or folders for the sales staff that will
be following up. Put them in a safe place for the return
trip home. It's a good idea to take them with you
instead of packing them in one of your booth return
boxes. They can be reviewed on the trip back, or will at
least be in hand the following business day for
follow-up.
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Have a plan for following up
with the sales staff after the show to be sure that they
are following up on the leads. Whenever possible, offer
extra incentive for closing new business from the show.
Trade shows are a large investment, and your company
should be able to show real ROI from them.
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