written by Denise Lineberry, Director of Marketing
Your lead follow-up plan is the most important piece of your trade show strategy. You have already worked hard to prepare for your show and to generate more leads during the event. Now what are you going to do with them?
Too many exhibitors don’t have a sense of urgency or a thought-out plan to follow-up on the leads they attained at the show. We find that a staggered approach results in the best chance of turning that lead into a valuable prospect and then possible sale.
Regardless of how you attained the lead at the show, badge scanner, lead gen machine, or the traditional swapping of business cards, the first thing you should do is send an immediate email thanking them for attending your exhibit and offer them some valuable tidbit of information about your company.
Second, make sure they are dispersed to the proper sales rep in a timely manner and have them follow-up with a phone call after the event to schedule a meeting. Make sure you include good notes from the time they spent with you in your booth.
Here is a sample step-by-step follow up process:
- Within 1-2 days – simple thank you email
- Within 1-2 weeks – follow-up phone call from assigned rep to schedule face-to-face apt
- Within 2-3 months – personal invite to open house or corporate seminar at your location
- Within 6-12 months – special offer to earn their business. By now you have sold yourself and your company, now time to ask for the business.
When following up on leads, remember the least amount of time between when you met and when you contacted them is crucial. Organizing your leads in order of importance ensures you get to the most valuable leads. Prompt follow up may lead to more sales.
Lastly, reiterate you are educating them so that they can “learn more” whether it be about a product or about your company instead of “selling” them on what you can offer.
