Event Technologies

When talking about trade show lead capture, exhibitors have two viable options: the trade show scanner offered by the show or third party trade show software. Let’s explore the argument for using a third party exhibitor lead retrieval system. 

Third party trade show lead retrieval solutions are software based and normally run on a laptop or a handheld device (they can also run on tablets, kiosks and other PC based computers). They vary in capabilities, but for the most part they enable you to customize a survey with as many questions as you need, put your company or product logos on every screen and customize an export file format. They also can read just about any trade show badge out there. Some systems are available for purchase and some work on yearly license agreements. 

This all adds up to a system that you can use at just about every show, customize for perfect trade show lead qualification and create an export file that will be the same at every show. Having this data opens up a world of opportunities for trade show follow up. You can electronically fulfill information requests immediately, easily upload leads into your CRM with custom tabs for your qualification data and provide reports to management letting them know how the trade show leads were. Because this is a consistent process at every show, implementing a lead management system becomes much easier. No more typing in leads from paper or dealing with different formats from the different boxes you use at every show. 

While the sticker shock for these systems throws off a lot of exhibitors, if you sit down and crunch the numbers it can actually save you money. If you purchase a system it will eventually pay for itself (it’s just a matter of how many shows you do). For the systems you lease on yearly agreements, as long as you exhibit at enough shows it will either be the same price as the trade show lead retrieval system or cheaper. 

Even if you don’t exhibit at enough shows for the cost to be the same as the show system, these lead retrieval systems are also available for rent. While the rental price is normally more expensive than the show system, their capabilities are so far superior it’s worth it. In fact, because they are so different, it really doesn’t make sense to compare the cost of these systems vs. the cost of the show system. The question is: what is it worth to your organization to collect highly qualified trade show leads (vs. just the contact info you get from the show system). Ultimately, if you exhibit to collect trade show leads, you should be willing to pay a premium for your lead retrieval system.

If you would like a free consultation to help you determine the best system for you, please click HERE.