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Trade shows sure keep you hopping. You travel to the exhibit site. Set up your booth. Meet people and give away door prizes. And you collect quite a stack of business cards.
At least you should come away from each show with many leads. And when you work your booth right, those are qualified leads.
Your challenge is getting a handle on what to do with all those leads and converting them into customers.
For many entrepreneurs, that conversion – the real reason for participating in a trade show anyway – gets lost after the show.
Consider these eye-popping facts. A survey by Sales and Marketing Magazine found that 80% of exhibitors surveyed never follow up on trade show leads. That’s never. Not one follow up effort. This stat is supported by a report by the Freeman Decorating Company, an exhibit supplier that rents booths. After tracking its rental booths for a year, it consistently found more than half the booths were returned with leads left in the reception counters.
And people say trade shows are a waste of money. Well they sure are if you throw away 80% of the impact.
The truth is, trade shows generate results. With a lot of planning and preparation, you can turn your exhibit experience into a significant lead generator. And with a lot more planning and preparation, you can turn those leads into customers.
Plan to follow up. This may sound obvious. But the stats bear out the truth: People don’t follow up. I’ve heard hundreds of stories over the years of exhibitors collecting a pile of business cards…returning to the office…and putting those cards in a drawer so they can get back to their real work. You need an action plan determined long before the show starts so you can follow up quickly and accurately. Your plan should focus on who will follow up, how and when.
Produce material in advance. You know how you want to follow up. So don’t wait until you return from the show to start developing it. You know your benefits. You know your sales pitch. You know the takeaway each booth visitor should have after talking with you. So you can prepare all your marketing tools and mailers in advance to save time. Then, simply address the material and accommodate any personalization that may be appropriate. And get the piece in the mail the next day.
Create a tracking mechanism. You need to measure your exhibit’s ROI. With all the software available today, it’s easier than ever to track your leads. Essentially, record each lead. Then, simply track your progress from show to sale.
Work fast. Get your follow up started immediately. The faster you re-connect with your prospect, the greater your chance of her remembering you. You’ll also show a higher degree of interest and attention, both of which help you establish a relationship with your buyer. In many cases, again taking advantage of today’s technology, you can start your follow up before the show is even done. Each night, e-mail leads and information to your support team back at the office so someone can start sending out the follow up information. This way ,you deliver any details a prospect asked before he even returns to his office. You’ll clearly demonstrate your interest in taking the next step.
Make sales people accountable. As with any activity, you need accountability. You can’t just let people loose on the trade show floor, let them enjoy the parties and sights and not generate revenue. Stress that these trips are not boondoggles, but valid attempts to bring home qualified leads. Before your show starts, establish your goals and understand your sales cycle. Monitor the activities to ensure each sales person takes complete ownership of his leads.
Don’t forget your phone. Don’t let technology or fear of making calls halt your progress. Every visitor to your booth gave you a phone number for a reason: so you can call. Do so. Right away. You want the call to be personal and friendly. Remind the prospect of your meeting and make a note about something unique you discussed with that person. Then, ask for the follow up visit or order.
The bottom line is simple. If you bring home a pile of leads, put a rubber band around them and stick them in a drawer, you wasted your time at the trade show. But if you implement an active follow up plan that starts right after you meet a prospect, your trade show experience can help you turn those leads into customers.
Roger A. Shapiro is the president/creative director of Mitchell Rose, LLC. He founded the full-service creative consultancy in 1997 to help clients improve the results they get from their marketing budgets. During the ensuing decade, Mitchell Rose has helped many clients achieve business goals through the strategic use of concepts, copy and design. In addition, Roger has authored a book on copywriting, "Write Right, 26 Tips To Improve Your Writing. Dramatically," and speaks often on marketing strategy and creative approaches that achieve results. To learn more about Mitchell Rose?s results-based creative, please contact Roger by e-mail at RogerShapiro@MitchellRose.net or by phone at 609-434-0030.
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