So often, those trade show leads come back to the home office and are ignored!! You are not alone, roughly 75 – 80% of trade show leads are NEVER followed up. This figure has been consistent for years. Why is it still happening?
Mike Thimmesch, Skyline Exhibits’ Director of Lead Generation and Industry Relations, wrote a blog post titled. Overcoming 5 Common Obstacles To Trade Show Lead Follow Up.
But while it’s easy to say again and again, there are some real obstacles that can slow you down and get in the way:
- Wrong information recorded The booth staffers were not trained to ask for the information needed to qualify leads, as determined by sales. So the when the sales people get the leads and don’t see the information they need, they don’t feel the leads are qualified.
- No information recorded If the booth staffers do know what questions to ask, they still don’t write down the qualifying information they discover on a lead card or in an electronic lead system. They fail to record what the attendee was interested in, and how interested they were. So even if the prospect said they wanted to meet with a sales person about a new product, the sales person won’t find out from the lead card.
- Lack of familiarity with lead recording Trade show leads present a challenge unlike most B2B leads. Nearly all exhibitors use the lead systems from the show, which can change from event to event. Plus, the booth staffer recording the lead may only do that for one show, unlike a career telemarketer who knows how to record a lead, or a website landing page with mandatory fields.
- Busy people after the show Lead follow up gets pushed aside because people are “behind” at work because of the show they just attended. The sales people who were booth staffer now have to follow up on the leads — but they are digging out from being gone at the show. So the reps don’t want to take the time to wade through all the leads, hoping to find the good ones. Or just as bad, the leads sit on the trade show manager’s desk because they are too busy to get them entered into the company database.
- Fulfillment unplanned Lead follow up packets (brochures, cover letter) were not prepared before the show started to allow for follow up right after the show (or even during it).
Let’s talk about collecting those trade show leads with advanced technology. This might help eliminate the first three points Michael is making.
Bartizan, one of my clients, was the official mobile lead retrieval vendor at ASAE, providing iLeads to all exhibitors.
The Bartizan website, says:
iLeads Smartphone lead retrieval is easier to use than most traditional lead retrieval equipment, offers exhibitors portability and instant access to leads. To download iLeads App exhibitors go to the Apple App Store or Android Market and search for ‘iLeads’.
Many of the exhibitors at the show were very pleased with their experience with iLeads. Listen in to what they said about their experience with iLeads:
Now for the other two reasons follow up gets pushed aside, well this is where a senior manager needs to step in and mandate that follow up is a priority. It is amazing to see how the most mundane activity get new life when it is being watched by a senior management person.
If you are not following up on your trade show leads, your competitor will be and you have lost a solid piece of business.
{ 1 comment }
