Effective Ways to Improve Trade Show Follow Up

Following up with customers is one of the most underestimated ways to improve sales. Once you go through the trouble to gather contact information from your leads, it only makes sense to take the next steps to connect with them. Unfortunately, this step is often overlooked because sales reps don’t have enough lead information or worry that they will be bothering the customer. Some sales reps simply forget and get busy doing other things.

Before your trade show employees hand over leads to the sales team, be sure that you have a reliable process for capturing contact information and qualifying leads. This way, your sales team will have the right information to contact leads at the best times.

Here are effective ways to improve post trade show follow up.

Qualify Leads

Not all leads are the same. Identify your hot leads and prioritize them so that your sales team knows which ones to contact first. This can be done by using a range of further engagement opportunities such as lead demos and whitepapers.

Customize Your Follow Up

A generic message is a wasted business opportunity. Not only are automated messages more likely to be ignored, but also they can give people a negative impression of your business. Use the lead’s personal information to customize their message and deliver it in the right moment. 

Respond Promptly

Don’t wait to contact your leads. Have a campaign for following up and be ready to launch it when the trade show is over. It could be something as simple as an email with the contact’s name and a link to download your ebook.

Include a Specific CTA

Be specific about what you want people to do. If you send an email and want contacts to watch your demo video, include a call to action that says, “Watch Our Demo Video.” Other specific calls to action are, “Learn More,” “Schedule a Personal Appointment” or “Get Our Latest Whitepaper.”

Share Your Contact Information

Let the contact know where they can reach a real human from your company. People sometimes avoid calling 1-800 numbers because they don’t want to be bounced around. Any correspondences that are sent out should include the point of contact from your company, along with their direct number and email.

Share Specific Information

Another way to personalize your messages is by pointing out specific examples from the trade show. Maybe you had a meaningful conversation with a lead and you want to refer back to that. This is a great way to show that you are listening and remember the person’s pain points.

Be Ready to Follow Up Again

No business wants to be pushy, but some people need a few emails before they respond. If you don’t hear back from the lead, follow up again with another email or phone call. The person may not be ready to convert at this time, but you can always ask to hold onto their information and contact them at a later date.

Trade shows are an investment. See more ROI from your events by having a strong follow up trade show strategy in place. If you need assistance planning your next exhibit, contact IGE for a free estimate.