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Greetings,
This month we take a look at one of the simplest, yet most powerful, ways to manage your show leads. Given the cost of taking part in a major trade show event, there is tremendous pressure on exhibit marketers to achieve demonstrable results in every outing. By creating an effective and focused lead card, you can bring order out of the chaos of lead generation at the show. Read on to see how it’s done.
We also offer you a chance to let us know how things are going for your marketing programs and what issues matter to you. Take a few moments to answer our Readers’ Survey and we’ll enter you in a drawing to win an iPod Nano. Give us one of your favorite trade show tips and we will publish all that we can over the coming year.
Sincerely,
Marc Phibbs - Vice President, Marketing
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5 Ways A Lead Card Can Boost Your Exhibit Success
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A friend of ours tells a story of his early days in trade show exhibiting. As the tale goes, he and his partner were exhibiting at their first show. Their strategy was simple, just take along a few samples of their products, talk to the attendees and collect business cards in a fishbowl that placed on the table at the front of their booth.
The show drew a large crowd; the fishbowl was nearly filled with business cards. They went home feeling that they had completed their mission. They returned to work and contacted the people who had dropped off business cards. The problem became apparent immediately. There was no way from business cards alone to re-connect with the needs of the prospects without starting over at square one.
The first step in preventing your leads from dying of loneliness is to create a lead card. This simple communication device will accomplish five goals that all point toward a much more successful trade show program. Devote serious time and attention to what goes on the card. The information must be complete, concise and easily understood by the people who receive the leads after the show is over.
Here are a few ways a well thought-out lead card can add strength to your trade show program:
- The content can focus the information gathering on your current marketing goals.
- Provide a clear and actionable description of the contact to those who must provide follow-up (even if it’s you). You cannot accurately recall the dozens of contacts that come at you during the show.
- Help to give a standardized structure to the booth staffers’ communications with guests.
- Generate immediate ROI measurement with daily results.
- Assess booth staff performance with objective, quantified data.
Click on the image below to download the Lead Card File
As soon as possible after each show go over what worked and what needs improvement to make the card a better, easier-to-use tool. Be sure to review the lead card periodically to be sure that it stays relevant to your exhibiting mission and goals. Finally, don’t forget to provide a means to quickly deliver the leads to those in charge of follow-up.
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| Your Readers’ Survey |
Each year we conduct this short study to help us to present the kind of content that you need most. Please take a few moments to complete the survey and tell us what you think. If you do submit a response you will be entered into a drawing to win an iPod Nano.
You can also take advantage of the opportunity to submit a tip, or two, of your own. You will also double your chances to win the iPod – one entry for the survey and one for the tip(s) you submit. We will run these readers’ tips from time to time throughout the year. Please keep your tips short (about a paragraph or two) and focus on exhibiting knowledge.
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| Trade Show and Event Calculator |
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To keep your trade show budget, you must prove your program's success. Before you can prove it, you must first measure it.
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"Calculating Your Measure of Success" is a computer program CD that helps you understand, calculate, measure and report the success of your trade shows and events. There are 4 planning templates and 9 calculators built into the program.
Click to receive your copy. |
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Adapt to Industry Changes:
White Papers On Exhibition Trends For
4 Key Vertical Markets
To help exhibitors better understand the market forces and significant trends affecting their trade show program, Skyline commissioned Tradeshow Week to write 4 White Papers that cover 4 key industries:
Manufacturing & Industrial
Medical & Healthcare
Information Technology
Professional & Business Services
These 16-page White Papers provide insight for each industry on the primary challenges facing these exhibitors, and the key themes for success in their changing trade show environment.
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Skyline Exhibits
3355 Discovery Rd
St. Paul, MN 55121
Phone: 800-328-2725
www.skyline.com
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© Copyright 2006 Skyline Exhibits. All rights reserved.
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