The primary reason to exhibit in a trade show is to generate sales leads or contacts for your company. So why is it that the majority of trade show exhibitors say that lead gathering and follow up is the biggest area of improvement needed? The reasons can vary greatly depending on the organizations; however some good up-front planning for both lead generation and follow-up will help alleviate many of the problems that organizations face in making trade show exhibiting successful.

Lead Generation Planning

The key to obtaining leads that can be turned into sales calls (and subsequently sales) starts with a good Lead Retrieval System. Most tradeshows make good lead retrieval systems available to exhibitors at a very reasonable rate. These systems generallyscan an attendee's badge or card, log the information into a database, and print a hard copy. What they do not do, however, is electronically log additional information that your booth staff may gain in a conversation. So how do you make it worthwhile? A good way to make the electronic information valuable is to review the hard copy printout while your visitor is in the booth, and use it to make any notes about your conversation that will be helpful in the follow-up phase. Be sure to write legibly - back at the office you may not remember your conversation!

Another way to obtain contact names and numbers is the "fish bowl" approach. And although this provides quantity in leads, it does not provide quality. Sales people have little motivation to follow-up on these leads, as they do not contain details about the prospect or needs.

Tips on Obtaining High-Quality Leads

1. Have your booth staff (which is often your sales team) review the list of registered attendees. If there are current clients or prospects on the list, set up an appointment at your booth during the show. This makes time productive, and creates activity in your booth - something that is a draw to others.
   
2. Use the list of registered attendees to send a pre-show mailer or e-mail encouraging them to stop by your booth. Use a giveaway - which can be a promotional item, a white paper or something else of value to that audience - to create activity at your booth and hopefully enable you to speak to prospects.
   
3. Train your booth staff to greet booth visitors in a friendly way - shaking their hand and greeting them by first name (if on their badge). Have your staff use open-ended questions that leads to specific needs that your company might be able to help with. "How are you doing today?" or "Are you enjoying the show so far?" is nice, but will not lead to a conversation about your goods or services. An opener such as, "So what challenges bring you to the XYZ Show?" is a much better way to get to the reasons that you're both there.
   
4. When gathering leads, be sure to write details about your conversation with the prospect, including your name, the prospect's name and when you spoke to them, their needs, time frame, familiarity with your product/service, location, etc.
   
5. Be sure your sales staff is in a position to follow up with prospects immediately after the show. That may mean faxing or overnighting leads back to the office for input into a database, or organizing the leads at the end of each day at the show in a notebook or folders for the sales staff that will be following up. Put them in a safe place for the return trip home. It's a good idea to take them with you instead of packing them in one of your booth return boxes. They can be reviewed on the trip back, or will at least be in hand the following business day for follow-up.
   
6. Have a plan for following up with the sales staff after the show to be sure that they are following up on the leads. Whenever possible, offer extra incentive for closing new business from the show. Trade shows are a large investment, and your company should be able to show real ROI from them.