You are flying home with hundreds of leads from your trade show. After all of your efforts to have a successful show you can finally wipe your brow and relax. But a part of you feels like you have been here before. You know that the leads that you have worked so hard to create are perishable. You know that you probably will not follow up with all of the leads as quickly as you should.

Most companies are not equipped to capture the results they should from their trade show. Industry statistics show that a staggering 80 percent of trade show leads do not receive follow up. Historically, most companies are willing to settle for the results they get and just chalk it up to the cost of doing business. Unfortunately, it ends up costing you plenty in missed opportunities, lost sales to your competition, and a diminished return on the investment you have made on the trade show.

First, understand why 80 percent of trade show leads are wasted

There are two key concepts here. The first is that trade shows create a problem of having too much activity at one time. The second is that the flurry of activity can cause you to be inefficient or misuse your time. With so many prospects to reach it is difficult to know where your time and effort would be most productive. Having a system to quality-grade your leads before sending them to the sales team will greatly help.

Second, significantly increase sales by increasing the number of quality prospects that you generate from your show.

Most companies let too many good prospects fall through the cracks and potentially into the hands of their competition. They do a great job with all the preparations to have a great show and generate a large number of leads; however, they typically do not do a great job to identify and engage all of the real quality prospects.

What typically happens is that sales reps cherry-pick what they think are the top prospects. The important fact here is that there are many more good prospects but they are hidden in the other 80 percent of the leads.     

Third, leverage the time of your sales team

One of the biggest issues is to realize the limitations of your sales team. Having your sales team qualifying raw trade show leads is simply not a good use of their time.

And that is the best case. The worst case scenario is that the leads never get called. Some leads just are not good prospects, and for some the timing may just not be right and they might not be ready to buy yet. A key step to increase results is to qualify the trade show leads before sending them to the sales team so that they can focus their efforts just on qualified prospects. Consider using an inside sales team, your marketing team, or a company like Lead Generation Solutions that specializes in lead qualification. 

Fourth, beat your competition and gain a competitive edge

Your booth, unfortunately, was not the only place your prospects swiped their cards to create a lead!  If you can get there faster and more efficiently, you are going to be more agile and improve your ability to increase sales.  

As we have discussed, the leads are perishable. Contacting a lead weeks after the show is a waste of time. Contacting each lead immediately after the show while everything is still fresh and a priority, and before the competition does, is critical.  

Fifth, have a solid follow up plan

Realize the goal is not to get as many leads as possible. The reason you exhibited at event in the first place was to gain face-to-face access with key prospects. Do not overlook the value of pro-active calls to reach the key decision-makers and establish a personal relationship and increase results. Being able to call and reach every lead immediately after the show will dramatically improve results.

Most companies do not have an effective plan to follow-up on leads. A strong follow-up plan will enable you to effectively manage your team, and move quickly and efficiently to increase the number of prospects and sales.

About the author
Mike Drohan is the president of Lead Generation Solutions, a company that specializes in lead qualification solutions for companies looking to leverage the efficiency of their field sales team and increase the return on their trade show and event marketing efforts. For additional information visit www.LeadGenerationSolutions.com or contact at +1 (610) 688-7650.