Trade Show Planner: Lead Follow-Up

Lead follow-up is just one task in a large checklist you’ll need to complete as a trade show exhibitor. Review my entire pre-show, on-site, and post-show checklist of exhibitor planning activities.

Trade Show Planning:
Lead Follow-Up

POST SHOW. WITHIN 5-7 DAYS AFTER SHOW.

If you are unable to distribute trade show leads to your sales team while the show is taking place, now is the time to pass them out to the appropriate salespeople. Distribute them based on the criteria you established in the lead follow-up plan which should have been created as part of your pre-show activities.

Add the leads to your customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation systems and enter any notes which may have been written down or added electronically by your booth staff.

Ensure they follow up in the appropriate manner - email, phone, direct mail, etc.

Encourage them to mention the lead’s visit to your booth, thank them for stopping by, and remind them of a personal interaction a member of your team may have had with them.

This is a great way to get an immediate foot in the door with these contacts and increase the likelihood that they will return your request for an additional conversation.

Evaluate how many contacts are simply prospects, and how many are marketing qualified leads (MQL), sales qualified leads (SGL), or ready to buy.

This will enable you to understand where each contact is on their buyer’s journey and work with your sales team to determine the conversion percentage at each stage on the journey to becoming a customer.

CONTINUE YOUR TRADE SHOW PLANNING WITH RELATED CHECKLIST ITEMS.