7 Steps to Improve Lead Management at Trade Shows

Marketing and logistics play a significant role in ensuring the success of your trade show. However, when it comes to making an impact on the bottom line, lead management is the king.

Research suggests that most leads generated by the booth staff are not pursued after the show. This wastes valuable resources results in loss of revenue.

Furthermore, dropping leads negatively impacts the image of your brand in the market. To prevent this from happening, you must nurture hard-earned leads, so you can reap their long-term benefits.

Here are 7 steps you can follow to improve lead management at trade shows:

1. Lead Fulfilment

Devise a plan or a streamlined process prior to your trade show. Discuss the plan with your team, so that every single team member is well-informed and prepared to manage a lead on their own.

For instance, let’s say you are at a trade show booth, and you gain a lead. You can promptly comply with your team’s plan of tracking the lead’s personal details in a document or software, which includes information like their name, address, contact details, etc. You can later share this document with your team.

2. Setting Firm Lead Goals

Encourage your team to set qualified lead targets and take responsibility for their respective targets. Doing so will ease the pressure off anyone person, and push members to achieve sales goals every day.

You can also appoint a lead assistant to monitor the progress of your team. He/she will track the lead interactions and save the notes in an organized database for reference.

3. Effective Post-Show Communication

Today’s increasingly competitive market demands a rapid response to lead queries. Establishing effective post-show communication is vital when it comes to keeping the leads interested in your product.

Experts have observed that if the leads don’t receive a response within 24 hours, they are likely to lose interest and move on to other options.

You need to have prompt automated responses ready for lead management, allowing your team to maintain contact with the lead at all times.

4. Successfully Identifying Qualified Leads

Instead of chasing dead-ends, you should channelize your efforts toward following up with promising leads who meet your sales criteria. To assess leads in an efficient manner, coordinate with your sales rep and initiate a scoring system.

Tracking this system will help you close more leads. Additionally, you can categorize the leads as per your level of priority for future reference.

5. Tracking Lead Progress

Lead management is a prolonged process. It requires nurturing and attention even after the show is over. Ideally, you should be well-acquainted with the length of your marketing cycle, so you can tailor your marketing strategies accordingly.

Marketing and sales can review the results of your leads over a period of months, or perhaps even years, depending on the frequency of your marketing cycle. You can also utilize CRM systems or automated marketing systems that provide analytics of the outcomes received from follow-up activities. These measures will help you resolve issues and monitor your sales funnel.

6. Organize Contests/Giveaways for Your Leads

Monotonous marketing techniques tend to bore your leads. You need to adopt innovative strategies that are more likely to induce excitement and gain compliance for leads in hand, forging a lucrative lead-exhibitor relationship.

You can do this by organizing contests that promise rewards equivalent to the value of the trade show leads. However, if you’re on a budget, you can come up with innovative giveaways to manage your inventory.

For instance, if you have organized an elaborate trade show booth displaying an array of phone accessories, you could perhaps set up a pinwheel. This will ensure lead interest while managing your inventory cost-effectively.

7. Ask Clients for Referrals

Lead satisfaction is directly proportionate to the success of your business. The more leads you create and satisfy, the more your business will expand.

After your reps gain the trust of your leads and forge a relationship built on mutual understanding, you can use your satisfied leads as channels to gain more leads. This will ensure effective lead management and generation at the same time.

Proper lead management lays the groundwork for a successful sales cycle. By following these steps, you and your team can formulate effective strategies to track and tackle the leads you earn. This will enable you to obtain greater value from trade shows and maximize the ROI.