Smart Tradeshow Follow Up

The close of the tradeshow doesn't mean the work is over. Focused, aggressive follow up is how the sales are made, but follow up is where many tradeshow exhibitors fall short.

Tradeshows can be both exciting and exhausting. Most of the effort goes into the planning: creating the right presentation, designing your booth, training your team, and promoting your message.

Here are four of the most important tradeshow follow up rules.

Follow up According to Needs

Not all leads are created equal. Prioritize your leads. Which need specific information and which need more general information such as a fact sheet? Hot leads need an immediate follow up—the next day—with either a phone call or email.

This is the time to provide the quote they asked for, or to answers questions, the real reason for your follow up. If you were asked to provide information to someone who has decision-making authority, do so the next day.

Follow up Immediately

Studies show that most trade show leads are never re-contacted or activated, which wastes the time and money you spend, according to Joanna Krotz, co-author of the Microsoft Small Business Kit. Timing is critical. Don't let a hot prospect become a cold lead because too much time has passed before you've made contact.

Your post-show strategy should be fairly simple: call the most serious prospects within two days. Then follow up with all your leads within five business days, either by email or phone. The longer you take to make contact with the customer, the more chance there is of another exhibitor getting their business.

What about the contacts that aren’t considered good prospect or leads? Email all attendees who provided their contact information. Thank them for stopping by your booth and repeat the message, sales point or offer you were promoting at the show.

Prospect Your "Turn Downs"

Obviously not all your leads will be interested in buying your product or service. This doesn’t mean that warm or even cold leads should be ignored. Give them an alternative to purchase and offer a way to keep in touch.

This can include putting them on your newsletter mailing list, inviting them to participate in webcasts, or sending them articles or whitepapers about your industry.

The goal is to cultivate these leads and keep actively engaged with your company until they are ready to purchase.

One of the most important post show activities is to evaluate your performance to help you plan future events.

"Trade shows are experimental marketing," says Powerful Exhibit Marketing author Barry Siskind. That’s why it’s important to find out what went wrong and what went right.

Therefore, ask your staff the following questions.

• Was it the right trade show for your business?
• Was the booth functional and did it suit the venue?
• Was your booth in the right location to attract enough traffic?
• Did you meet the right people or prospects?
• Was your literature and handouts effective?
• Was your sales force able to handle the number of prospects?
• What did your biggest competitors do differently? How did they fare?

In all tradeshow follow up activities, don't assume that potential customers will take the time to contact you for more information. Remember that your hot leads also talked to your competition at the same show and they will most likely respond to whoever does the best follow-up.

This article on tradeshow follow up was written by Mimi Hashemi, Director of Marketing and Communications for Tart Marketing.

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