Posts Tagged ‘lead follow up’
Written by Ken Newman on 20 September 2011
They’re at it again. I can personally report from a recent large and well-known trade show that this time they’re armed with massive mounted RFID auto-scan receivers. Yes. It seems that many trade show exhibitors are still on that ill-fated mission to capture the details of EVERY attendee at the show. Sure, right now they’re “only” capturing every attendee in the vicinity of their booth … but why stop there? Just a little more wattage—a little more juice—and you can return to Headquarters touting 40,000 leads from your last show. You. Can. Have. Them. ALL. (Insert diabolical laughter, here.)
Coming Soon: Attack of the RFID Scanners!
The only problem, as we know, is these are light-years from true qualified leads. Sure, you can make yourself a nice little certificate touting your lead total, print it out, frame it and mount it on the wall. Sure, you can win the pissing contest with your other scan-crazy colleagues. But what are they planning to do with all those names, and better yet, WHO’S going to sift through them all, if at all? It’s the trade-show equivalent of those sadly horrifying “Hoarders” reality shows. Too much “stuff” is just as paralyzing as having nothing at all.
And like any sickness, you begin to experience unwanted side effects. All that emphasis on acquisition (and theoretically on processing) leaves a vacuum in corporate intelligence. Say your company makes a multimillion-dollar sale. Well, where did that sale originate? If you can’t answer THAT, then how can you be sure to do more of what worked? Most companies do not have sophisticated mechanisms for connecting those dots and tracking all the way from “lead” to “sale” years later. In fact, bringing home 40,000 names from a trade show only pollutes the quality of that data. At that point, you may have the right name buried on a list, but did you do anything with it? What happened after that trade show? Did someone actually find that needle in the haystack, or is it mere coincidence while something or someone else entirely initiated conversations with that client?
Ultimately, beyond the manpower and brainpower needed to make sense of all that auto-scan data, what happens when everyone jumps on the bandwagon? One suit pushes a button, and a massive RFID shockwave roars through the entire show floor. Seconds later, the details of every attendee are transmitted to every exhibitor. It’s Minute 1 of Day 1 of your trade show, and you and everyone else already has “all” the leads. Based on that line of thinking, you might as well all just pack up and go home.
Tags: auto-scan, corporate intelligence, lead acquisition, lead follow up, qualified leads
Posted in Booth design, Booth staff, Lead generation & follow up, Trade show news & trends | 4 Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 17 March 2011
What do your customers really want? If you hesitated for even a second before answering, we’ve got a problem. And what do your customers think about you in relation to that? If you don’t know, it can really hurt you.
Any trade show exhibitor should be able to instantly spit out 20 things that are driving their attendees (their potential leads and customers) crazy. I’m talking about real pain points, real needs and real solutions. It’s simple enough, but it’s shocking how difficult it is for many trade show exhibitors to respond.
The problem often is a disconnect between the people running the trade show and the sale personnel in the trenches who find out what people really want. Exhibitors know what the latest, greatest product on the floor does, but what is the relationship between that and the actual needs of the audience? And how can you know for sure?
The reality is, many companies’ trade show presentations never really get at what people are actually thinking.
What if every time a professional or product expert took to the trade show stage, they presented with the consumer instead of at the consumer? What if we dynamically gauged and engaged the audience to gain real knowledge and real market research data? What if we actually asked the important questions: Why are you here? What do you want? What do you really need? And what’s making your life miserable? What if we let the responses drive the presentation and post-show follow up?
It’s always more engaging to ask, “What do you think?” instead of “Here’s what we have.” People like to talk about themselves and express their needs. And the more you ask, the more you’ll be surprised by the answers. From there, you can begin to develop a marketing strategy that’s really based on what people want rather than what you’re trying to sell.
The bottom line is, attendees go to trade shows to find solutions for the things making their lives difficult. What better opportunity to really find out what they want!
Now, it’s not realistic to get up on stage and ask a million questions while taking notes and then go back to the office to tabulate it. But it’s very possible to take 3-4 key questions and get responses that will not only help you now, but also help you follow up later. Rather than cold calls and general pitches, you’re talking to consumers about their specific needs and offering specific solutions.
I have some ideas about how to do this in an affordable, elegant and fun way. In fact, the trade show world is my laboratory right now. I’ll have much more to say about this in the future. But for now, let me know what you think. Would you be interested in a process or technology that would help you poll or survey your audience in real-time from the trade show stage? Can you really be sure you know what your customers are thinking without one? I’ll be reading and responding to all your comments.
Tags: audience polling, lead follow up, needs, surverys, trade show opportunities
Posted in Booth staff, Going green at trade shows, Lead generation & follow up, Trade show news & trends, Trade show presentations, Trade shows & social media | No Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 07 May 2010
1) Realize smaller can be better
When selecting your booth size, keep in mind that investing in a 20×40 might not guarantee you a more successful show. A smaller booth that is constantly packed is a lot less expensive than a large half-empty booth and will generate much more excitement. Think of your last dinner party. Doesn’t everyone seem to congregate in the smallest room in the house?
2) Make sure your booth staff is ready to talk to attendees
That means don’t sit down. Avoid standing in groups of two or more fellow staffers. Stand near the aisles. Look out at the crowd and make eye contact. Smile. Don’t say, “Can I help you?” They’ll say, “NO.” Instead, look at their name tags. Use their name. Ask them what their company does. Invite them into the booth. Now you’re getting somewhere.
3) Quickly follow up on leads
Three-quarters of the leads generated at trade shows are never followed up on … and when they are followed up, it tends to be way too late. Those 2,000 leads you got don’t mean anything if you don’t do something with them. You need a way to categorize your leads as “HOT,” “warm” and “cold” — and with hot leads, there’s no such thing as getting in touch too soon. First contact should come within days of the trade show’s end. When weeks or months go by, you just end up lumped together with all the other SPAM.
4) Use giveaways to build booth traffic
BUT, don’t just give stuff away. USE that giveaway item to quiz the audience on what they’ve just heard. Use it to get them to ask questions. You can also use higher-priced giveaways (from thumb drives to HD TVs to wads of cash) as an incentive to get people to the demo stations and get them into the booth. And consider “green” giveaways. Cheaply made swag just ends up in the trash and then in landfills. You want your giveaways to last … so that attendees hold onto your branded item as long as possible.
5) Keep product demos short
Seven minutes is ideal. Ten minutes is the limit. Fifteen minutes … Get the hook! Trade show attendees have a lot of real estate to cover. Don’t feel you have to tell them your entire story. Pique their interest. Get them to want to know more. Get them into the booth.
6) Limit your seating
A seating area with 50 chairs is intimidating. Few people want to be the first to sit down. Also, if you have an audience of 25 people, it still looks half empty. But with a dozen or so seats, you’re looking at a standing-room-only crowd. People walking by will be more interested in what’s going on if all the seats are full. It’s only natural to wonder what could be going on over there.
7) Have at least one crowd gatherer
We are not talking about scantily clad eye candy for your booth. We’re talking about warm, engaging, gregarious greeters. We’re talking about men and women who know how to chat up people in the aisles, ask them questions, invite them into your booth, introduce them to your knowledgeable (and well-trained) staff. These crowd gatherers will continue to invite people to stop and listen even after the presentation has begun. If you skip the crowd gatherers because of the stereotypes, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
8 ) Insist on an “open” booth design
Think about the lines. Think about the traffic flow. And think about how much you enjoyed the last time you couldn’t find your car in a parking garage. Try to design your booth in a way where there are virtually no impediments in any direction for someone coming in or someone going out. Make the booth’s architecture as open as possible to create maximum flow. You want people to just stroll through and almost accidentally find themselves in the booth. Booth layout and thoughtfulness has much more to do with success than booth size and “impressiveness.”
9) Do your pre-show work!
Promote in advance using social media. Send e-blasts to prospective attendees. Offer up a promotional tease to get people into the booth before the show even starts. Tweet from the trade show floor with your latest news and special offers. Utilize video. Do a “Live from the Trade Show Floor” spot and a daily wrap-up. Announce news and promotions with all the fanfare a live recording can offer. Make it short, interesting and something to get people excited in anticipation of your event.
10) Utilize a professional presenter
Bippy the Mime making a workstation out of balloons may be impressive, but it’s not likely to ensure you qualified leads. Have someone represent your company who is engaging, knowledgeable and will interact with the audience. Most trade show demos seem to be staged readings of marketing white papers. Whether you hire a professional presenter or not, don’t do this … under any circumstances. Everyone talks about “24/7, valued-added solutions.” Your audience will tune out. Say it in layman’s terms, and say it with passion. Find a reason to truly care about your subject matter.
This article originally appeared as a guest contribution on the ChoiceVendor.com blog. We’ll return next week to the usual Q&A format. If you have an industry-related question, send “Newman” an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: Booth design, Booth staff, crowd gathering, lead follow up, targeted giveaways
Posted in Booth design, Booth staff, Going green at trade shows, Lead generation & follow up, Trade show giveaways, Trade show news & trends, Trade show presentations, Trade shows & social media | 1 Comment »
Written by Ken Newman on 04 August 2009
Hey Newman, how long is too long before following up on trade show leads? Something tells me I’m not going to like the answer. -Robert in Palo Alto
Robert, three-quarters of the leads generated at trade shows are never followed up on … and when they are followed up, it tends to be way too late. So, what does that mean for you? It means don’t bother to spend the money on lead generation if you’re just trying to impress the people in the next booth with a big statistic. Those 2,000 leads you got don’t mean anything if you don’t do something with them.
It’s essential you have a mechanism in place for when you’re receiving the leads, whether that’s using barcode scanners or a little Q&A afterward to ascertain if this lead is something worth pursuing over the next week, two weeks, month or year. You need some way of categorizing your leads as “HOT,” “warm,” “cold” and “dead fish.” (Well, maybe not the last one.)
Take those leads and, for example, send each one a postcard with a funny photograph from your presentation. People aren’t very accustomed to getting real mail anymore, and sometimes that can be far more attention-grabbing than just seeing another e-mail in the inbox. But at least promptly send an e-mail with a memorable photograph in it. Thank that potential customer for coming by the booth. Tell them you really appreciate it—and have that note waiting for them Monday when they get back from the trade show.
First contact should come within days of the trade show’s end. When two or three weeks or God forbid a month goes by without contact, you just end up lumped together with all the other SPAM.
I use a postcard as an example of something that makes people stop and take notice. When I get a postcard I say, “Wow, that’s amazing. I haven’t gotten a postcard in a long time.” It will make me not want to throw it out, particularly if it’s a funny image that makes me laugh. And when it’s flipped over, there’s just a quick note:
“Thank you for stopping by the booth. We’ll get in touch within a week or so to follow up.”
It’s just a warm way to reach out to people. Warm is good. Prompt is even better.
People go to such lengths to get traffic in their booth—renting the leading scanning devices and hiring crowd gatherers … and then it either all sits untouched in a database or collects dust as a stack of business cards or filled-out lead cards. Somehow, nobody does anything with them after putting in all that initial effort. Worse, they’ll group them by territory and send the info out to their sales staff, who expect these to be qualified leads. But after a few phone calls those salespeople realize these were just a bunch of people who stopped by to get a T-shirt. They’ll quickly feel like they’re wasting their time and stop making attempts, which ultimately throws out the good with the bad.
That’s why they need to be categorized as real leads, as opposed to just inflating the body count. Sometimes you’ll know immediately when you have a hot lead. In those cases, there’s no such thing as getting hold of somebody too soon. (Well, let them de-board the plane and get home first.) But there’s nothing better than arriving and finding a note waiting for you.
Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: lead follow up, lead generation, qualified leads, trade show opportunities, trade shows
Posted in Booth staff, Lead generation & follow up, Trade show news & trends, Trade show presentations | 7 Comments »
