Attending shows is important but they aren’t “technology shopping junkets” as they used to be. People still walk the halls to see what’s new so depending on your product (high price/high tech versus low priced commodity) you need to determine the best strategy for generating useful leads.

Trade Show Effectiveness

Pre-Show: Mailings or emailings to announce new products and talks or posters enhances booth traffic. I am not a fan of announcing give-aways because people looking for gifts will block out potential “real” leads. Almost all the gift-seekers are not going to be customers and will not be followed up on by sales reps who know a bad lead when they see one.

Enhancing Trade Show Communication

Booth Personnel: It’s important to have skilled people who are knowledgeable, can ask quality questions and who can drive customers – the right customers – into the booth. A combination of sales people to engage the clients and technical people to answer tough questions is an ideal personnel mix to ensure high quality interactions. Have a meeting before the show to ensure that everyone understands expectations, the show goals and what the focus should be.

Increasing Booth Traffic

Booth Traffic: In-booth seminars drive booth traffic. If you can do a live demonstration it captivates people and enhances credibility. Talks given by customers as part of the meeting are the pinnacle of credibility building and have a big impact on traffic. Workshops for important product launches can be useful but they are very expensive and must be used judiciously. Sales Reps setting up meetings in the booth create traffic and “buzz”. The worst thing to do is just set up a booth and wait for people to stop in.

Lead Qualification

Lead Capture: A name without information on need, interest level, next action, etc, is nothing more than a mailing list addition. Without this key info the rep knows nothing about how hot the lead is, what it’s for or what the customer needs and this type of lead is useless. Booth personnel must capture this vital information or your money is being poorly spent.

Booth Demeanor

Engaging the Customer: People that have important calls to make or computer work to do should leave the booth to do that. Congregating as a team for a group chat may make potential customers feel that they are interrupting. Be ready, open and receptive for someone to approach and ask a question. People that are otherwise engaged (phone, computer, conversation) tend to make passersby continue to pass by.

Lead Follow Up: Key to Success

Follow Up: Don’t expect that Trade Show leads are business; they are leads. Either Sales or Marketing management should set up a systematic program for tracking the leads and the follow up activity. Good money and time has been spent on those leads, make sure that the follow up is well executed.

In Summary:

Understand the market’s needs, be able to articulate why it’s a your product is a good solution for the booth visitors’ problem and follow up. You generate the most quality leads if your pre-show email strategy, your booth, and your reps focus on just a few, key problems which you solve better than anyone.