4 Tricks to Effective Following-up at Trade Show Booths

Most exhibitors know that having eye-catching trade show displays, knowledgeable and friendly staff, and promotional giveaways will increase the traffic and leads they receive. What most exhibitors fail to know is that following up with leads after the trade show is critical if they want to turn those leads into new customers. In fact, according to a study by CEIR, over 70 percent don’t take this final step, resulting in a loss of sales. To make sure that you are not part of that 70 percent, check out my tips below on how to effectively follow up with leads and get the results you were hoping for at your portable displays.

#1 Don’t Wait too Long

The longer you wait after the event to contact your leads, the less they will remember you or your trade show booth. Contact them while it is still fresh in their minds, which would be about a week after the event. Do not contact them sooner than that because it could come off as pushy. A week is the perfect amount of time to let all of the information they collected at show displays settle.

#2 Always Have Paper Lead Forms

Although electronic lead forms have become popular, having paper ones will also come in handy. This will allow you to capture any specific information that may not be on the electronic form, making it easier to qualify each lead.

#3 Use a Rating System

You and your staff should come up with a rating system in order to easily tell which leads are “hot” and which ones are not-so-hot. An easy one to remember would be A,B,C, A being the hot leads. Writing these big letters at the top of each lead form will allow you to quickly see which ones should be followed up first.

#4 Have a Plan After the Show

Meet with your staff to discuss who will follow up with these potential customers after the event. Some companies prefer to have the person who got the lead at the display system follow up, while others prefer to designate one person or department to follow up with all of them.

Keep in mind that your competitors will most likely be at the same event and if your leads visited their trade show booth exhibits as well, they may end up following up with these people. This will result in more sales for them, but not for you. Hopefully these tips from Smash Hit Displays will make it easier for you to get the results you want at the convention.