Exhibitor Lead Retrieval

Do you use an Internet connection at your trade shows?  If you are paying more than $299, then EventConnect can save you money.  Typically the internet connection that you can rent for a trade show costs between $1000 and $3000.  Event Technologies has put together a package that allows our customers to use the Verizon Broadband Wireless Network to provide internet access in your trade show booth.  This service was originally created to help our customers with their trade show lead retrieval and lead management programs, but is now available for use on it's own.  Most trade show strategies these days are focused around saving money, and here is a product that can save you thousands of dollars. 
The two most asked questions we have heard since releasing this product are:

(1) How is this different than plugging a Verizon or Sprint Modem into my computer?
The Answer: Our system allows you to network (wireless or wired) four (4) computers in your booth.  In addition, we include a Wilson Electronics antenna that improves your signal strength and the speed of the service.

(2) Are we allowed to use a service for internet access that is not provided by the trade show.

The Answer: Yes.  100%.  The show can't stop you from accessing the internet on your phone, or with a wireless modem on your computer, and this is no different.  Here is one of the many laws that guarantee that you can not be told how to access the internet at your trade shows: Telecommunications Act of 1996: 

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 explicitly prohibits telecommunications carriers from entering into exclusive contracts with commercial building owners or their agents for the provision of interstate telephony and internet services. The FCC ruling explains that exclusive contracts prove detrimental to the consumer, provide an unfair monopoly to the telecommunications carrier, and stifle innovation and choice with respect to communications technologies and providers. Additionally, the Act grants tenants in multiple tenant environments (including temporary leaseholders) the ability to place antennas one meter or less in diameter used to receive or transmit any fixed wireless service.

Additionally, nobody is allowed to block the cell signal at the exhibit hall because it is illegal and punishable by up to a year in prison and/or an $11,000 fine.  Additionally, can you imagine how angry attendees and exhibitors would be if their cell coverage was interfered with.  And lastly, it would be extremely irresponsible of the trade show management to interfere with potential 9-1-1 calls that may need to be placed during the show.
For more information, or to place an order click here.

Three (3) of the many lead retrieval devices that an exhibitor may encounter at a tradeshow

“So how many leads did we get?” This is normally the first question everyone asks when gauging the success of a trade show. Unfortunately, if you are looking to increase trade show sales this is the wrong question. The question should be, “how many good leads did we get?”  

If you are giving away a trip to Hawaii, you will collect a ton of trade show leads. But how many of your 1,000 leads are interested in your company vs. interested in going to Hawaii? Unless you have a good trade show lead qualification process, you may never know.  

Regardless of your promotion (or lack thereof), it is imperative to qualify the leads onsite. There are a few different ways to accomplish this. One way is using the show provided exhibitor lead retrieval system. Most of the systems out there offer 20 custom qualifiers. For some companies, this is more than enough to determine which leads are good and which are looking for a freebie. If your needs are more robust, you can use third party trade show lead retrieval software. There are a few third party companies out there.  Most of them are very reliable and offer just about everything you could want to qualify leads. 

Once you qualify the leads you can implement a lead scoring system for lead rating and implement a good trade show lead management program. Then you can answer the more important question of how many good leads you collected at the show.  For more advice on how to better manage trade show leads, take a look at this article HERE.

There are 10,000 business to business trade shows [1] held annually in the US and Canada that are tracked by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). The 1,500,000 plus exhibiting companies at these events in 2007 rented over 1.5 million Net Square Feet (NSF) of exhibit space and spent an average of $216 [2] for every attendee with whom they had a face to face conversation in their booth. All of this activity and money, $15 billion in the USA in 2007, generates literally millions of trade show leads, which according to CEIR, upwards of 80% are never followed-up – Ever!
 

A significant percentage of trade show leads never make it from the booth to the sales organization because of trade show lead management issues. If and when they do arrive, sales people complain that either the leads are worthless because they have no qualification info, or they arrive so late that they are too cold to warrant any effort. In either case, they usually end up at the bottom of an already large stack of less than productive opportunities and with that goes all that hard work and money.
 

The reasons for undelivered leads or sales getting worthless or late arriving trade show leads vary by organization and industry but by far and away the major contributor to the problem is the fact that trade show leads are different from those generated by the Internet, direct mail and media advertising and far more difficult to handle. If you think you can simply take trade show leads from the exhibition booth and drop them into your CRM system for distribution to sales reps you are in for a big surprise! Trade show leads are square pegs – they do not easily fit into the round processing holes of your CRM system.
 

First is the data completeness – much of it lacks qualification information. It is commonplace for exhibiting companies to rent badge scanning equipment from the show organizer to read the demographic data contained on the attendee admission badges and record some simple, preprogrammed "qualifiers" such as "SEND INFO" or "ADD ME TO YOUR MAILING LIST" to help with trade show follow up. These trade show scanners usually print a paper record of the badge information on which notes about the attendee’s interests can be hand written. Unfortunately, the information collected is rarely adequate to determine which leads are "sales ready" and in most cases it is not formatted for easy analysis. Exhibitors who choose not to ask to have their rented scanners preprogrammed with customized qualification data or simply collect business cards and write the notes on the back face even larger issues going forward.
 

Second is the time factor – trade show leads age very quickly. Everyone knows that to get the most out of your trade show investment you must get to the "hot" prospects before your competition. Since all of your competitors emerge from a trade show with the same list of leads, the sales organization that can focus on the high priority leads immediately will have the first crack at the high priority opportunities. The sales rep going straight for the A leads will beat the rep working alphabetically every time but the trick is identifying who are the A leads.
 

Third is the data quality – it is not very clean. The lead data coming from a trade show is more complex, contains more errors and is in a different format than any of the other lead data generated by web based, email or direct mail campaigns. Each show employs a different lead retrieval system for collecting and storing lead data.
 

At the end of the show the trade show leads are commonly made available to the exhibitor on USB memory sticks or files downloadable from the show’s website. In addition, show organizers use different schemes and formats for storing the lead data. If a company exhibits at 15 shows annually they have a good chance of seeing a dozen different, yet equally challenging formats and many IT organizations are not staffed or motivated to effectively handle the data. Simply put, there is nothing simple about processing trade show leads.

For exhibiting companies trade shows are classic good news, bad news propositions. The good news is that you have the opportunity to set up a branch office in the middle of hundreds or even thousands of potential customers. The bad news is that your competitors have the same opportunity and the prospects will see them all. When the show is over the race for trade show sales is on and as was once said, "… winning isn't everything, It's the only thing!"[3]

[1] Events with 3,000 net square feet of exhibit space and 10 or more exhibiting companies

[2] Exhibit Surveys Inc. – Annual Trade Show TRENDS 2007

[3] Henry Russell ("Red") Sanders – UCLA Football coach 1956
 

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 against using the show provided system. 

While the trade show lead retrieval system provided at the show is the most commonly used trade show lead capture device, it has some drawbacks. The main drawbacks are customizability, scalability, and appearance. 

Customizability - The main argument against the trade show scanner is the limited custom features. Most offer 20 qualifiers, which is good, but what if you need more than that? Some of my clients have 20 products they want to record. That leaves no room for the real important qualifying info (budget, authority, need and time frame) for your trade show leads. Plus, sometimes you run into a system where they offer no qualifiers.  Trade show lead qualification is very important, and these systems can’t adequately meet many exhibitors’ needs. 

Scalability - If you exhibit at 15 shows per year, you could see 15 different lead retrieval systems with different qualification capabilities. Another issue is with each system you will receive your leads in a different file format.  This makes it very difficult to implement a solid and consistent lead management program. 

Appearance - When you have put a ton of work and resources into making your booth look perfect, the last thing you want to do is put a big ugly gray box on top of your counter. While some of the systems are small, you are ultimately at the mercy of the trade show scanner supplier. 

When you combine the limited custom features, scalability, and appearance of the show provided systems, you may want to look elsewhere for your trade show lead generation needs.  There are many different third party lead retrieval systems that have unlimited customizability and provide you a clean looking, consistent way to collect trade show leads. 

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

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 the show provided system. 

The trade show lead retrieval system provided at the show is the most commonly used trade show lead capture device. 3 reasons they are so popular are: convenience, reliability, and cost. 
 

Convenience - When you use the show provided lead retrieval system, all you have to do is go to their desk and pick it up. You don’t have to set anything up; you plug it in and it works. Another convenience is the minimal booth training. These boxes are very simple to use. 

Reliability – These systems are normally built well and rarely break on you. If they do break during the show, you can take it back to the desk and get a new one. On the other hand, if you own a 3^rd party lead retrieval software system to collect trade show leads and a reader breaks, there normally is no on site support unless you contracted it before the show.   

Cost - The show provided system is the cheapest lead retrieval system for most exhibitors. While some exhibitors can justify the cost of ownership for third party trade show software, most companies just don’t exhibit enough to make the numbers work. 
 

When you combine the convenience, reliability and cost of the show provided scanners, it is a pretty good deal as long as you use the custom qualifiers. You can get into trouble, however, if you only walk away from the show with a list of names and no trade show lead qualification information.

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

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 against using a third party exhibitor lead retrieval system. 

There are 4 main arguments against third party lead retrieval systems: compatibility, resources, expense, and improving technology.
 

Compatibility - Third party lead retrieval systems can read most of the badges out there. Most isn’t all. Some companies encrypt their badge so these systems can’t read them. Some have proprietary badges that enable the exhibitor to use their own software as long as they rent the show box. While these shows are not common, they do exist.

Resources - While most of the third party systems are not horribly difficult to setup once you’ve been trained, there still is a setup process. You need to figure out who is providing the trade show scanner at the show (to make sure there are no compatibility issues), obtain a sample badge for setup, import your company logos, and type in your survey questions. While it doesn’t take too long to get the lead retrieval system setup, if you have 40 shows per year finding any free time can be difficult. 

Expense - Trade show software is more expensive than the systems provided onsite. If you exhibit at enough shows it makes sense on the surface, but when you put other costs into the equation you really have to use the system at a lot of shows to make it the same price as the show system. The sample badge I mentioned above normally doesn’t come free; companies normally charge $100-500 for it. The setup time isn’t a cost out of your budget, but your time comes at a price. Another cost is shipping the unit from show to show. When everything is factored in it is difficult to do enough shows to make the cost of these systems comparable to the cost of the trade show scanner offered by show management. 

Technology - The scanners offered by the shows have improved over the years. Using the show system to collect trade show leads is a very good option in some cases. Some companies even offer a lead retrieval software system that has many of the same custom features as the third party systems. Depending on your trade show lead qualification needs, some of the more basic systems can often get the job done as well. 

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

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.

Pre Show

When thinking about collecting leads at a trade show, the main goal should be to collect as many qualified leads as possible. There is a lot of planning and training that goes into trade show lead qualification. 

The first task is figuring out what information you want to gather. It is imperative to involve both sales and marketing in this process. Once everyone agrees on what information to collect, it is up to marketing to figure out how to collect that information. 

Choosing the appropriate exhibitor lead retrieval system to use on site hinges on the amount of information you want to gather, and your budget constraints. If you only need to collect a little bit of information and you have severe budget constraints, you can use the show sponsored trade show scanner with custom qualifiers. If you need to collect a lot of very specific information, you will want to look into third party trade show software for lead collection. The third party trade show lead capture systems are more expensive, but provide very thorough and customizable qualification options. 

To go to part 3 (on site trade show leads responsibilities), please click HERE.

To go back to part 1 (introduction), please click HERE.

Every time I go to a trade show with a client I see exhibitors with really nice giveaways. They want to increase traffic to their booth, and it works. These booths are normally packed with people wanting to be scanned so they have a shot at winning. Having a giveaway or promotion isn’t a bad idea; everyone wants to draw traffic to their booth. But if you do this you have to remember your ultimate goal: trade show ROI. 

Simply scanning everyone that comes by the booth only gives you a huge list of names. Case in point, I (a vendor) end up being one of those names. After these shows I receive a wide range of trade show lead follow up: post show mailers, emails and calls from sales reps. It’s all a huge waste of time, effort and resources because I am simply not a lead for these companies. I even tell them that as they scan my badge, but because they just keep scanning the conversation is never recorded. 

So what’s an exhibitor to do? If you have a popular giveaway, you will probably see a lot of traffic which makes trade show lead qualification at the first point of contact difficult (usually the information counter). What you can do is have a few different trade show lead retrieval systems throughout the booth. At the main counter, you can just have the trade show scanner offered by the show. This system will be for people coming up inquiring how to enter the contest. If you get a real prospect asking questions about your company, you can hand them off to a sales rep who will walk them around the booth, identify their needs and eventually scan them at another exhibitor lead retrieval system. At these other stations you will want to utilize either custom qualifiers with the show provided system or third party lead retrieval software. At the end of the show you can combine all of the leads to do the drawing. Then after the show you can send out only the qualified leads to the reps so they don’t waste their time on someone like me. For more trade show tips, please click HERE.

Trade show lead generation is the reason most exhibitors go to their shows. Many companies struggle with adequate trade show lead qualification. Some ask too many questions, some too few and some just ask the wrong questions altogether. Proper lead qualification is a very important step in any lead management system. 

Most exhibitor lead retrieval systems offer standard lead qualifiers. These vary from show to show and system to system. The good news is most trade show scanners also offer custom qualifiers. They will give you 10 to 20 customized responses for each lead you collect. It is imperative for marketing and sales to work together on determining the qualifiers. Remember, these are sales leads so obtaining marketing driven responses is not the best trade show strategy here. Unfortunately, the sales department doesn’t always know what they want.

Think of the 10 to 20 custom qualifiers as responses to questions like: What is your timeframe to purchase? How much budget do you have for this project? I recommend starting with a set of BANT “questions” – Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe. This will give you a good place to begin the conversation and you can brainstorm with sales from there.  If you can implement a good trade show lead qualification process, you will be able to apply lead scoring, lead rating, improve sales lead distribution and ultimately increase trade show sales. For additional trade show advice, click HERE.

If you own or consistently rent a third party lead retrieval system you have probably come across an encrypted badge. Many exhibitors use lead retrieval software to ensure proper trade show lead qualification as a part of their trade show lead management program. Since you have made such a large investment in implementing your lead management system, don’t sit back and let the show encrypt the badge on you. 

The bottom line here is the show organization chooses who the trade show scanner vendor is. It is the show organizer’s responsibility to ensure that you, their client, are happy. Much of the time show management isn’t aware that their badge is encrypted, so I recommend starting at the top. Call the manager of the show and express your displeasure with the decision to encrypt the badge. Ultimately, you have a system in place that works for you and the lead retrieval system vendor is making it impossible for you to accomplish your goals at the show. You are outraged that the organization is putting one of their vendor’s needs in front of yours.

Depending on your presence at the show, you may want to involve other exhibitors. If you don’t know who else uses trade show lead capture software, contact your trade show software vendor and they will be happy to help you (this is something they deal with constantly and are willing to fight for). This is a winnable battle if you start early enough. I’ve actually taken part in a number of successful campaigns where show management removed the badge encryption.       

 

In today’s economic climate, increasing trade show sales is as important as ever. While we can get very in depth on how to do this, I’d like to throw out a few quick trade show strategies that can help you close more deals from your trade show leads.

Trade Show Lead Qualification – Being face to face with prospects is the main benefit of exhibiting at a trade show. The conversations that take place on the show floor weed out the good leads from the bad. The challenge is recording that conversation. Just scanning their badge with an exhibitor lead retrieval system doesn’t cut it. You need to either have a paper lead form, use a trade show scanner with custom qualifiers, or use lead retrieval software.

Lead Rating – Once you have the trade show leads qualified you can use a lead scoring system to rate the leads (hot, warm or cold – A, B, or C, etc.). There is no need to waste the sales reps’ time with the cold leads, so only send out the good leads. This will keep the reps engaged in your program, save them time, allow them to put more energy into the quality leads and increase trade show ROI.

Sales Lead Distribution – With each day that passes, the trade show leads get colder and colder. You ideally want to get the leads to the reps within 2 or 3 days after the show. This gives the reps a week or so to contact all of their leads before they turn cold. Rapid sales lead distribution will increase your sales reps’ success rates.

Trade Show Lead Follow Up – As I just mentioned, the leads get cold quickly after a show. Trade show lead follow up needs to happen while the show (your company) is fresh in the prospect’s mind. Industry studies show that the leads are cold about 2 weeks after the show ends. A good idea is to send out an email immediately after the show to every lead saying “thank you.” This will keep your message fresh in their mind while you go through your lead rating and distribution processes.
 

I hope this trade show advice will help you rethink your trade show strategy. While these trade show tips will take a little of your time to implement, they will reap rewards in the form of trade show ROI. For additional useful trade show tips, click HERE. 

At trade shows there are many different exhibitor lead retrieval options. While trade show lead capture is one of the most important aspects of exhibiting, there is no single right answer as to how your company should collect trade show leads. Exhibiting frequency, quantity of leads, type of show badge and trade show lead qualification requirements are a few things to think about when evaluating your trade show lead retrieval system options.

Below are a few trade show lead retrieval options with an explanation of what type of exhibitor will benefit from each.
 

I hope this trade show advice will help you rethink your trade show strategies. No matter which system you choose, remember that you are spending a lot of money to exhibit, and trade show lead generation is one of your main goals. Put some thought into how you are going to qualify each lead, and then deliver them to sales immediately after the show. For additional useful trade show tips, click HERE.

Using the show provided exhibitor lead retrieval system can make it challenging to collect qualified trade show leads. However, with a little bit of planning, you can make this system work for you, almost as well as the expensive lead retrieval software systems. The key to improving the exhibitor lead retrieval system is to use the custom qualifiers. In theory, this is as easy as filling out the form provided by the trade show lead retrieval company. However, figuring out what to put on the custom qualifiers sheet isn’t that easy.
 

You could start with a list your products, but if you only have one sales force, this info really doesn’t help your reps. Your sales people would be much happier if you figured out which attendees have a need for your products, and when they are going to make a buying decision. With that in mind, you want to create custom qualifiers that allow you to determine if an attendee is ready to buy. 

Most exhibitor lead retrieval systems allow 20 custom qualifiers, and it is usually inexpensive to add them to your lead retrieval system order. At your next show, use the custom qualifiers. For the sales rep that does the trade show follow up, it will make a world of difference. Once you have this part down, the next step is creating a lead rating system.