Qualifying Trade Show Sales Leads

Trade shows draw millions each year, as marketers meet their markets face-to-face in looming convention halls and exposition centers. Exhibitors fork out big bucks for displays and give-aways.

Every hawker has a gimmick or a give-away. Attendees gather logo-imprinted Frisbees, mugs, pennants and pen sets. Participants enter their business cards for drawings for free cars and computers.

Does all of this pay off for exhibitors, in terms of valid sales leads?

What constitutes a successful trade show? It's all about return-on-investment, which depends on sales leads! Staffers pull out all the stops to gather names, addresses, and other information from all who venture into their turf. These are passed along to sales representatives for follow-up.

How can you tell good leads from poor ones?

Ask any astute marketer, and you will discover that it pays to determine which leads actually represent key buyers or decision makers.

Having spent more than two decades in public relations, I have trudged through more exhibition halls than I can count and even hosted several trade show booths.

Typically, a company's marketing team returns from a trade show and dumps a big bundle of business cards on the sales representatives. The sales reps nod and go on about their business as usual. About 80 percent of all trade show leads are not even pursued. Why not?

Trade show leads are often not qualified as potential buyers. Simply put, no one bothers to sort out the dead wood from the real prospects.

How can leads be qualified?

At the show:

Have ample staffing at your booth.

Collect specific information from visitors, not just business cards. Have a checklist or questionnaire at the booth for interested parties or those desiring give-aways. (This can be quite simple and modeled after the postcards/bingo-cards in your industry's trade publications.)

Do not expect people to fill these out on their own. Instead, have a booth staffer or salesperson walk them through the questions. Ask about job responsibilities, buying habits and plans, product mix, and company size.

Offer an incentive or reward for filling out your checklist. Don't waste your pricey premiums on browsers who are not in a position to purchase your product or services.

After the show:

Do follow-up calls, or hire a lead qualification service or freelancer to do so. By guiding those you call through a simple questionnaire (focusing on job responsibilities, purchasing authority, budget allocations, and buying habits), you can eliminate non-qualified leads and provide your sales force with truly helpful contacts.

Back at the office:

Generally speaking, half of all qualified sales leads may actually result in sales opportunities. Half of those may result in invitations for product or project quotations. And half of those will lead to an actual sale or contract. With these ratios, what savvy salesperson would even both pursuing a non-qualified lead?

As your sales reps begin to realize that your marketing staff is providing high-quality, qualified sales leads from your trade shows, they will become much more eager to cooperate and follow up on these contacts. In addition, your corporate executives may see the increase in sales, as tied to trade show participation, and increase your marketing and exhibition budget!

Everyone wins with qualified sales leads!