One of the most deadly, trade show sins in my book is to not follow up on your leads and contacts after the trade show event. It is all too easy to take the load off after being on your feet for a few days at a trade show – the event is exciting but tiring, all the prior preparation that went into it and the temptation to take it a little easy for a “short time”.
That “short time” spent recuperating is fatal to your trade show success!
It’s like running for 26 miles in under 2 hours but then deciding you’ve beaten the world marathon record so have a days off for the last 385 yards!
Foolish!
The race isn’t over until you cross the finish line and this is why your follow up starts even before you attend the trade show event.
The first step in determining when the race is over will be the targets you set for the results. Goal setting begins right back in the early planning phases of the event and you need to establish targets so individual behaviors can be controlled, people motivated and a measurable return on investment (ROI) can be produced.
With an ROI measure, you will know what the costs are – you’ll be writing the checks, so it’s simple enough to add them all up. To meet your ROI, you are going to need to impute a sales target into that calculation and that will be your guide to when the event has in fact finished!
You must make sure you have put in place a system to monitor follow up including a client contact system, which will allow you to collate all the customer information in one location and prompt you to make the contact. The follow up phase should be scheduled and planned with a distinct deadline for reporting results – this will prevent slacking on the part of the sales and client contact team and encourage you to do your part too. Once you have completed follow up, you can assess what the results have been and check the ROI you achieved against the ROI you set as a target.
Follow up will also act as a precursor to future event attendance. Attendees at one show are likely to be crossed at another in the future, and people talk too – if you follow up with a disciplined and professional approach, you are going to set yourself apart from the competition.
You may be surprised to learn that around 80 of leads from trade shows are never followed up, so if you are the person who is hitting the phone and sending requested materials out in the mail, you are already a business apart.
The deadly sin of not following up is compounded when you consider how much money is in those contacts you made at the show. Most of the business which is transacted from trade show activity is done within the three months following the event – note, not at the event but, following the event. If you don’t follow up you lose the majority of the sales you could achieve from the attending the trade show and that is simply not acceptable in any business or life scenario!
Author Resource:
Mat Kelly is the president of ExhibitDEAL, a leading provider of trade show displays and accessories such as trade show flooring and banner stands. ExhibitDEAL can be found online at: http://www.exhibitdeal.com .
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