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Gathering the Right Information at Trade Shows and Events
Most often show managers leave
a trade show or event with what they consider to be a substantial amount of
leads. However, once these contacts are properly formatted into a leads
database, it becomes clear that event staff neglected to capture key pieces of
information from the potential prospect or lead.
Information such as time-frame
of purchase intent, need for a follow-up or even the prospect’s specific
interest is almost always not properly documented and leaves the sales team
with very little to follow-up with after a show.
Take for example, a client of
ours that documented close to 300 leads at a trade show and was initially
satisfied with this result. However, once the information was processed in a
database it was clear that only 40% of the prospects could be deemed a
“qualified” lead. Most lead entries in the client’s database had little to no
additional information to pass on to the sales team for targeted follow-up.
If show managers streamline the
process by which they capture leads information at a trade show or event by
using a well thought-out lead documentation system and implore the value of
capturing the information to event staff through pre-show training, then they
can produce more promising prospect information.
Remember, training exhibit
staff on the value of documenting key customer or prospect information is a
process that takes time. Show managers must slowly create this “culture” shift
within the organization and find an approach that works the best for their
team.
