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Follow up immediately:
There’s an old saying “an old lead in a desk drawer in not a dead lead, it’s a fire hazard.” The key to measuring success from your trade show is to follow up immediately on your sales and leads from the show. When it comes to lead follow-up there are two ways to do it: do it right and do it now!

Many companies already have in place a procedure to follow up on their show leads. Some send the leads back to the home or district office each day after the show (electronically or hard copy via carrier) to help expedite the process. Others gather the leads at the end of the show, carry them back and sort and distribute accordingly. Remember, your competition may be following-up on the same lead and thus it’s imperative that the reaction time is as fast as it can be. Some helpful hints regarding lead and order follow-up:

 

Prospects:

  • Track the total number of leads you received.
  • Make sure that leads on forms or business cards contain notes and information that will be helpful in following up.
  • Distribute leads immediately to your sales or marketing force.
  • Before you give a lead to a sales rep, make them agree to give you an update on the lead after 30, 90 and 180 days- then hold them to it.
  • Follow up with literature, letter and phone call.
  • Always make sure to tell the prospect or client “Thank You” for visiting your booth, taking time with you, and for allowing the follow-up.
  • Make sure to let your prospect know who their contact person in your organization is, as well as your nearest location to them.
  • Personalize your follow-up; penetrate the account getting all potential contacts within.
  • Make sure your staff is well versed in your products / services so they are prepared to answer any prospect questions.
  • Establish the prospects’ needs and time frame.

Clients:

  • Contact them immediately after the show.
  • Thank them for visiting your booth and spending time with you on the show floor.
  • Address any request (literature, new product information, etc.) at once.
  • Follow-through: acknowledge and confirm all orders placed with special attention to deadlines.
  • Make sure your client is up-do-date on all new company offerings and products.
  • Check all internal customer changes that might impact future business.
  • Check to see if there were any new items of interest to the client; target these areas for potential new sales.
  • Confirm who is involved in the buying decision process.
  • Ask how your company can expand its supply partner relationship with the client.
  • Look for and take action on all potential opportunities.
  • Ask your client for referrals, a great lead source for you.

The key to every successful show extends beyond the exhibit hall and trade show floor. All of the pre-show promotion, hype and show floor activity is worthless if there is not an aggressive, effective post-show follow-up procedure. Remember, when you set up your booth at the next venue and find that fishbowl full of leads from the last trade show, you’ve effectively wasted time, efforts and resources on leads that were never followed up on. Did your competition do the same?