Trade Show Follow-up System to Maximize Sales

B2B trade show success is all about the follow-up. The most effective approach is to have a systematic plan. But research conducted by EXHIBITOR Magazine indicates that fewer than 70 percent of organizations have a formalized process.

So, the question is, how do you create a winning trade show follow-up system?

Setting up your trade show follow-up tactics

Don’t expect each salesperson to invent their own follow-up plan. That makes for a lot of duplicate work and inconsistent content.

Instead,  collaborate with your team before the show to document a follow-up process. If you have a CRM or task management system, schedule follow-up reminders and track when they are completed. Alternatively, use a tickler file: It may be low tech, but it works.

Here are the most important things to grasp:

• Develop the trade show follow-up plan before you go to the show.
• Collaborate with your sales force so they are invested in the process.
• Create autoresponder series, email templates, case studies and any other materials you need for your follow-up program early. Make sure everything is set up and ready to start as soon as you return to your office after the show.
• Track what works and what doesn’t for your business and market. Before your next trade show event, adjust your process to reflect lessons learned.

After the event: Sorting your trade show leads

The first thing I suggest you do is score your leads, sort them into piles and type them into a spreadsheet.

HOT TRADE SHOW LEADS

These are leads that are ready to buy and have expressed interest in your solution. Any lead that you score as hot should be assigned to a salesperson to follow up.

WARM TRADE SHOW LEADS

These leads are worth your time, but they are not ready to buy right now. Add them to an automated lead nurturing campaign to help keep your company on their radar.

COOL TRADE SHOW LEADS

These prospects won’t be making a deal any time soon. I recommend adding them to your email newsletter marketing list for long-term nurturing.

TRADE SHOW LEAD QUALIFICATION CHART
HOT	WARM	COOL
Is a member of your target market – business size, revenue, industry and so on.
Very interested	Somewhat interested	Might be interested
Immediate need	Said they would need it in the future	Don’t need or don’t realize they need
Budget allocated	It is likely that funds could be made available	The organization is right-sized to be able to afford your product or service
	If the warm lead is already an open prospect in your CRM, bump them up to hot status.

Promoting and demoting your trade show leads

For each phase of your follow-up, determine the triggers for retiring or promoting the prospect to the next activity level or into your other nurturing workflows.

For example, a hot lead who does not respond within three months or a certain number of touches might get moved into your warm leads system. But if a warm lead calls, he might get transferred to the hot leads campaign.

The trade show follow-up plan

Exactly how you follow up depends on the size of your sales force and the tools you have available. The sample plan below is suitable for manufacturers, consultants and other B2B organizations.

SAMPLE TRADE SHOW FOLLOW-UP PLAN
	HOT LEADS	WARM LEADS	COOL LEADS
ASAP – aim for 3 days after the show	Make contact in person via a call or handwritten note	“Thank you for visiting our booth,” automated email
	Add contact to your lead nurturing-email newsletter list.
1 week	Call from territory manager	An automated email with a call to action button that they must click to confirm they are entered into your grand prize drawClicking takes them to a landing page where they can download a high-value content piece or show collateral while they wait for the drawing
1 week + 3 days		Resend the email in 3 days to anyone who did not click the call to action
Week 2	Send an automated email announcing any prize draw winners
Week 3	Send an email that asks a relevant question to stimulate a response and position you as a partner and advisor, not just a salesperson	Dispatch an automated email with some valuable information or insights from the show	Add contacts to your standard lead-nurturing campaign, such as your email newsletter
Week 4	Send a personal email with some valuable information or insights from the show	Add contacts to a 3 to 7-piece autoresponder (automated email sequence) that has strong calls-to-action
Week 5	Send a personal email and include a case study that is relevant to the lead
Week 6	Send some informative market information that you think your contact will find valuable
Week 6+	Develop a contact plan to continue to reach out to the lead for the months ahead
Month 8-10	Personal email that reminds the prospect you met them at last year’s event and that you are planning/not planning to exhibit again.A personal invitation to visit your booth	Automated email about attending the current year’s event and an invitation to your booth.