TIPS FOR TRADE SHOW LEAD MANAGEMENT

1. TIPS FOR TRADE SHOW LEAD MANAGEMENT Here’s a scenario: You’ve pulled off an awesome show, with a deluge of booth visitors and tons of leads. Your marketing and logistics before the show were spotless and resulted in a successful trade show. With eye-catching displays and concise messaging, your team was able to gain leads beyond your expectations. Now what? How do you manage and follow up on leads? What do you do to ensure that your post-event phase is just as rocking as your event itself? How do you eventually ensure that your hard- earned leads are not just stacked, gathering dust atop? A study by the Centre for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) claims that 80% of leads generated on the trade show floor are not followed up. Lead management is the most important part of the trade show. Yet it is the least visible stage of trade show marketing. Don’t let your leads reduce to one-time handshakes. Here are some tips to effectively manage trade show leads and grow your business. Have a Lead Management Plan Having a formalized lead management plan is important for a proper follow up. According to In4med Corp. 98% of exhibitors collect leads, but under 70% have any formal process to follow up after the show. Having a plan in place will help you stay atop of things like who you met and what you conversed. A plan should include leads’ information likenames, companies, designations, and conversation notes. You should also document what you committed to the prospects and personalize your follow up by talking about your commitment. Also, avoid sending the typical glossy brochures and packets. It is always better to have a face-to-face interaction and answer all the questions your attendees may have. Use Lead Retrieval Technology Business cards are slowly but surely become obsolete these days. They have been merely reduced to pleasantries exchanges. Instead of being dependent on business cards, use an electronic lead retrieval system like EventBH to record details like what your attendees need and want. It is an efficient way to manage, track and score leads. More than often, these technology will match your lead’s LinkedIn profile and retrieve more information from the business networking website to help you build a stronger, more personal connection. Set Expectations Known about 'promoting' – a nearby joint effort among deals and advertising? That is what is required to catch up on leads. The deals and advertising groups need to work together even before the show starts. This will help you set desires for the leads you produce amid the public exhibition. You can set desires by noting these inquiries: What’s the sales representatives’ follow-up plan after the show? What will be the primary medium of contact: email or phone?

2. Time duration after which sales representative will follow up with the lead? Once you’ve set these expectations, you can easily convey it to your leads and tell them that your team member will contact them. This way you’ll not only set expectations, but will also hold sales accountable for their actions. Appoint a Lead Assistant Appoint one of your staff members as a lead assistant who will take notes of the interactions, things said and promises made. Despite using a shared document or technology to follow up on leads, you need a person who notes each conversations that you have with prospects so that you can send personalized communication after the event. Once you’ve got the information, feed it into your database and easily follow up. Conclusion A successful trade show starts with preparing your booth and your team members with the right marketing and logistics in place.And what happens after the show is just as important as preparing for the showdown. Effective lead management begins with proper ground work. A good lead management begins with proper preparation of yourself and your team members. The secret to post-tradeshow success is effective tradeshow lead management and handing them over to sales. However, in most companies this step is too often broken.Lack of proper follow up results in miscommunication. What visitors say to your team members during the trade show and what your team member responds are not correctly passed on to the field sales rep. This leads to improper lead follow up and lack of motivation, if not frustration with the attendees. I hope these tips will be helpful during your next trade show. Your company invests heavily to get those leads, so make sure you don’t falter at this crucial final step. Leads are the catalysts required to growing your business, and leads generated from trade shows are as warm as it gets. Make sure you keep track of them and become a rock star of your company.