Capturing qualified leads on the show floor is an important reason to exhibit in a trade show, but how do you know your booth staff is capturing all the qualified leads available? You need to entice attendees to visit your booth before you can begin capturing leads. Attracting attendees can be done through an amazing exhibit design or by appealing to attendees senses such as sight, smell and sound. Once people are drawn into your space the sales team can begin to capture those coveted leads.
Time is a scarce commodity on the trade show floor. Make sure your company is using lead capturing systems that fit in with your established goals and objectives and operate quickly.
Here are some of the most popular lead collections tools.
The business card collection. This method is sure to gather a large quantity of leads but more than likely they will not be qualified. It is a better metric for counting the number of visitors you have than gathering qualified leads.
Collecting information on paper forms is good, but also time consuming and requires manual input after the event.
Hosting drawings for grand prizes or premium giveaways. Most of these leads will not be qualified leads, as most are only interested in winning, not your product or service.
Interactive technology is a fast and effective way to capture leads on the show floor.
- Interactive tables and kiosks offer a creative way to entertain and capture leads.
- Lead retrieval systems — basic pre-loaded badge scanners.
- iPad forms are easier than the traditional paper form and are tech savvy.
Having more than one lead capturing method can be beneficial. You never want miss a qualified lead because when there is an influx of attendees in your booth at one time. Make sure you have several opportunities to capture the lead.
Using a scoring method or sheet will make it easy to quickly qualify leads.
Direct your staff to assign points to leads with preferred answers. Once points have been assigned, you should have a complete list of qualified leads to follow-up with after the show. If you are using interactive technology to capture leads, you can enter this information into the notes section or create a survey. Here is an example.
|
Goals |
What is their main goal? |
This is good information to have. |
|
Role |
Is the attendee a buyer or researcher? |
Buyer = 10 Researcher = 5 |
|
Need |
Do they need your product or service? |
Need = 10 |
|
Timeframe |
Are they looking to purchase now? |
Yes = 10 |
|
Opportunity or Potential Sales Volume |
Are they interested in multiple deal partnerships or is it a onetime inquiry? |
Multiple deals = 10 One time = 5 |
|
History |
Are they current or past customers? |
Current = 10 Past = 5 |
|
Meetings |
Are they interested in meeting a sales person? |
Yes = 10
|
Not all companies have the same needs. What works best for one may not be the best option for your company. It is important to remember when capturing leads on the trade show floor to focus on quality over quantity. Having quality leads will increase your event ROI, improve your sales and raise you up as the qualified leads champion in your industry. If you still have questions, contact an Apple Rock consultant today.
