Most of the effort that goes into a tradeshow comes at the front end, deciding on the show, the right message, the best booth graphics etc… By the time the show is over, most people are exhausted and proud they made it through the whole experience in one piece. Unfortunately the battle is only half over, and it’s this last half that leads to sales.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at ITEC with kind words about Technology Advisors and the blog. These four tips were inspired during my two days there.
Plan Ahead for Follow Up
I wanted to immediately store my booth and sleep for a day, and without an effective plan to guide me I probably would have. Before you go to the show plan on exactly what your method will be to follow up with prospects. Are you sending a letter? Phoning them? When time needs to be spent making a plan when you return, this is the plan you most often see: “I’ll figure out how to follow up later.” That’s bad. A predetermined plan effectively forces you into a follow-up routine with little brain power expended.
Follow Up Immediately
I didn’t want to follow up with the leads. Instead I came up with reasons why I could just follow up later:
- People are too tired from the trade show to want to talk to me.
- They just saw over 70 companies. They need time to digest that information.
- They have all our literature and I spoke with them for fifteen minutes. If they are interested they’ll call me.
- I heard there was fog this morning. I bet their plane was delayed and they are not even at their office today.
I’m sure you can come up with even better ones. None of them are true.
The only way to get a good response is to follow up immediately with prospects. The longer you wait the less likely you are to be remembered. And that initial contact sets you apart from everyone else at the show.
Segment Your Leads, Follow Up Accordingly
Some people do this by separating leads into A, B, and C leads, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily the best way. If I pass those off, my gut tells me that only the A leads are going to be called, and the B and C’s lost to the ages.
It’s better to separate leads by actions. We break ours into Call Lead, Info Pack Lead, Nurture Letter Lead, and Disqualify.
Call leads are your hot leads, the A leads, who you’ve had a conversation with, are a good fit, and have a budget. No more than seven of these should be given to a salesperson, otherwise they will be self-segmented by that person into A and B leads. We know from above what happens with B leads.
The next two levels depend on how qualified they are. Obviously they didn’t demonstrate as pressing a need as the Call Leads, but they still warrant an informational packet, or a simple letter to keep you top of mind. This will be less time consuming for you, but will create that touch that will cause you to be remembered.
Have an Actionable Item for Turn Down’s
Obviously you want all your leads to immediately buy your product or service, but that isn’t realistic. There should be an alternative to purchase, such as a web cast, whitepaper, or other offering that will keep prospects engaged. By nurturing these leads after the tradeshow is over, you’ll keep them around until they are ready to purchase.
Bonus Tip
And finally here’s a bonus tip for anyone who hasn’t had great results with their leads. Try to gain, at the least, a renewed sense of appreciation for what you offer. I asked Marketing Assistant, Mary Ann Pekara, what she got out of the show. Just by interacting with people she was able to better understand what we as CRM providers did:
“I had forgotten what life was like before CRM, but at this year's iTEC convention in Chicago, I was surprised by all the people I met who had yet to come in contact with the magic that is Customer Relationship Management.
“I've never used the term "magic" lightly, and don’t intend to start now. Some people were simply blown away by the ability to tie sales, marketing, and customer service into one central environment. They couldn't believe how a customer could just call in, they could pull up their record and see who last spoke with them, what was discussed, if a ticket was opened, and how it was resolved.
“After hearing a brief overview of CRM, one man left the booth and returned about an hour later with a woman and exclaimed to us, "You must tell her what you told me; she would not believe me when I tried to explain it to her."
“Seeing people get so genuinely excited about the capabilities of CRM, gave me a new found faith in what we, as Technology Advisors, do, day in and day out.”
Forcing immersion and really explaining your product/service to other people gives you an outsider's perspective and reminds you why you offer this in the first place. It won't tie directly to the bottom line, but it certainly can take a bite out of the bitterness in the event your show doesn't go perfectly.
