How to Manage Leads and Achieve Lead Targets at Exhibitions

Once you have set your objectives for your show and have a great stand design to make you stand out at the show, you need to make sure you communicate your expectations to your stand staff to ensure success!

Your show objectives need to be measurable so think about setting targets for each day, each person and for the overall show.  This way everyone knows what is needed to get the all-important, return on investment.  Exhibitions can be a large part of your marketing budget so make sure you make it work for you and your company.

How you set targets will depend upon your overall show objectives. For example, if you are attending a show to take orders, your targets may be geared around a number of orders per person per day and so on.  If it is about gathering leads to follow up after the show you may set out a lead generation target like the example below:

Encourage staff to exceed these targets by offering incentives for different categories i.e. the person who achieves the highest number of leads in a shift, the highest number of leads per team, the overall show best for an individual or team etc.

Keep targets straightforward, easy to measure and realistic to achieve depending on the type of event, audience and your objectives.

Lead Taking and Management

It’s really important to train your staff and consider how the stand will be managed on each day of the show and by whom.  You may want to take a look at our blog Exhibition Stand Management: How to be prepared.

Then think about the type of information you want to take from prospects at the show and how you need to use it after the show.

• For just names and addresses use a data capture pen/scanner to quickly and efficiently take information directly from the delegate’s badge.
• If you require more specific information then devise your own Lead Form for doing this either on a tablet or paper format

Bear in mind the following:

• Leave space to attach a prospect’s business card to save time writing details.
• Keep information as short and simple as possible – some visitors may not welcome going through a lengthy and detailed questionnaire just so that they can receive a brochure in future.
• Design the lead form so you can prioritise leads efficiently after the show.
• Make sure all staff are aware of the importance of filling in the form accurately and in full.
• Make it the responsibility of the Team Leader and Stand Manager to ensure all leads are stored and taken for processing in an efficient manner at the end of each day.
• Leads must be followed up in a timely and effective manner

Access to diaries may be useful if your objectives are to make an appointment after the show.

Stand Literature

The objective of your show may determine the way you use literature on your stand. If the event is essentially a sales exercise then the general rule is do not give out any substantial literature on the day.

The reasons for this are:

• Literature collected by visitors on the day will just go into the ‘show bag’ and it will get lost amongst everything else.
• Your literature will make a much greater impact if it is sent out after the show and lands on the prospect’s desk in the days after or attached to a personal email.
• Sending out literature after the event also gives you a good opportunity to follow up with a call within a few days.

However, opportunities may be missed if you have absolutely nothing to give away on the day. You could take supplies of flyers, samples or giveaways instead. Consider printing a flyer or ‘short form’ brochure, especially for your events and if you are exhibiting abroad then you may need to have copies printed in different languages.