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Industrial trade show leads remain an important part of B2B marketing and sales. Trade shows offer invaluable opportunities for face-to-face interaction, product demonstrations, and a first hand account for competitive analysis. However, the significant investment required for exhibiting means success isn't just about booth traffic; it's about effectively capturing, qualifying, and converting interactions into valuable industrial trade show leads. Simply collecting scans is no longer sufficient to maximize the return on investment for the industrial marketplace.
Preparing for an industrial trade show is as important as the interactions on the floor. To begin, develop a pre-trade show strategy. Know who the participants are - ask the organizers beforehand for a list of attendees. Have a plan ready before going on the show floor. How will you retrieve sales leads? What description of the company and products / services will you and the team consistently explain? What questions will you or your staff ask to hook the sales lead? How will you get the sales lead’s information in order to contact them after the show? These are just a few questions you should cover before attending a trade show.
Effective capture of industrial trade show leads begins long before the event show floor opens. Strategic pre-show planning is essential. This involves clearly defining goals for the show, identifying the specific types of companies and job titles that constitute a high-quality lead for your business, and designing targeted qualification questions. Booth staff must be trained on product features and on how to engage sales prospects, such as qualifying questions.
Lead retrieval, on the other hand, is searching and finding lead data that has been provided before the event. These tools rely on scanning badges to get information about the leads. If your trade show provides these tools, it’s recommended to take advantage of them. However, after the scan, if possible, take a look to ensure all data has been provided. Sometimes, the phone number is missing, or the email address. If it’s left off, be sure to ask for it.
Marketers oftentimes put a lot of work into the trade show itself, but forget the most important part: after event lead nurturing. Make a list of who is ready to buy, what leads need nurturing or further development, and what benefits you can provide to what leads. From there, create a strategy that ensures your services stays top of mind. Be sure your trade show leads are entered into your CRM, as the follow-up process can begin automatically.
Prompt and personalized follow-up is critical after a trade show. Your sales leads will quickly forget about you after leaving the show. The CRM allow sales and marketing teams to access detailed notes and qualification data. This enables highly relevant, personalized follow-up messages that reference the specific conversation held at the booth, demonstrating attentiveness and professionalism. Instead of a generic "Thanks for stopping by," a follow-up can address the prospect's shared technical challenges or project interests directly.
After the first or second tie sales reaches out to the prospect, the follow up begins to drop off. What can you do then?
Sales needs to constantly move on to find those interested in the product and/or service in order to keep the pipeline full and the closing coming. Marketing will continue to send an email maybe once a month, but that’s the extent. Prospecting Services can do the follow up for you to nurture, qualify and set the appointment for the sales team. This is a great way to take those sales leads that stopped by your booth, or attended your presentation and move them along to an appointment. Contact us today to find out how you can maximize your investment in industrial trade show leads.