Exhibitors and attendees value the breadth, depth and quality of interaction found only at large conventions or tradeshows.

With an economic impact of $120 billion in the United States and Canada alone, the international tradeshow industry is big business. Not surprisingly, in the past 15 years, innovations in technology have profoundly impacted the growth of the industry and transformed it for the better.

In a myriad number of ways, technological innovation allows sponsors, exhibitors and attendees to organize, travel to and conduct business at an event with increasing ease and efficiency. From budgeting, online registration, hotel reservations, travel arrangements, badge printing, back-end financial analysis, accounting, compliance-related reporting and so much more, it is one of the reasons why the industry has continued to maintain a steady growth rate.

Exhibitors and attendees value the breadth, depth and quality of interaction found only at large conventions or tradeshows. Companies have the opportunity to present a human face and meet thousands of interested, motivated potential customers. For top corporations, hundreds of millions of dollars in sales can be won at a single important convention. For smaller or start-up firms, it is a chance to gain priceless exposure at a fraction of the cost of an expensive ad campaign.

Technology Captures Sales Leads
Exhibitors measure success at conventions by the number and quality of potential sales leads they gain. But here’s an astonishing fact from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, a nonprofit research organization: more than 75 percent of all tradeshow sales leads are never followed up – even one time. Think of it: corporations spend millions of dollars participating in tradeshows – where they actually meet interested, potential customers – and three-quarters of those sales leads are simply never followed up, for a variety of all-too-human reasons. The number of potential sales lost each year in this manner is incalculable.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem. A variety of innovative, web-portal lead tracking solutions now enable exhibitors to manage and concentrate their tradeshow strategies down to the individual attendee level. The data can be sorted, filtered and analyzed on the spot, helping exhibitors drill down quickly to the select group of primary prospects where their efforts are best focused.

Show exhibitors can now collect detailed, customizable demographic profiles of every attendee, using hardware and software products such as:

• Web-based lead retrieval solutions: Exhibitors can immediately access sales leads through online web portals. As trade show lead information is gathered, it can be immediately exported to an exhibitor’s PC in the sales booth, home office or any other location. Reports and charts (in a variety of layouts and presentation formats) can be generated, allowing exhibitors to further customize and analyze their sales leads. Real-time technology means that attendee data can be gathered, sorted and filtered while prospects are still in the sales booth.
• Handheld lead-retrieval technology: A wide range of handheld terminals is available to capture sales leads anywhere. Voice notes and images can be attached to lead records, making it easy to qualify and personalize lead records as they’re created. Sales and demonstration videos and photos can also be displayed, turning these units into mobile tradeshow booths.
• Online attendee registration and badge printing: Easy-to-use badge design and printing programs are available to capture the registration data of every attendee and integrate it with other retrieval products.

In order to maximize the marketing opportunities that come from technology, it also is important for tradeshow exhibitors to do some advance planning. Here are some suggestions that can help companies maximize the return on their tradeshow investments.

Before the event, set objectives. Tradeshow planning should begin months ahead of time. Quantify how much new business must be generated to cover one’s total tradeshow investment. Identify key target sales prospects. Determine which products should be promoted and how avidly. Assign specific people to follow up leads that are generated, and set deadlines for them. Finally, establish a system to chart and report progress (or lack of it).

Optimize training. Training is a key differentiator. Make sure sales and marketing staff know how to operate tradeshow technology efficiently and effectively. Explain why the system has been selected for use. Schedule practice time on the system, and take advantage of training offered by the vendor. Try to foresee potential problems and rehearse the appropriate ways to address them. Booth staffers should be comfortable with the technology so that they can maintain eye contact with sales prospects. When tradeshows or events run smoothly, without glitches or downtime, salespeople can focus on what they do best.

During the event, collect leads and qualify them. Optimize this process with an electronic lead retrieval system that easily allows attachment of custom qualifiers to each lead, such as: “makes final decision,” “purchases more than 100,000 widgets annually” or “plans to purchase within 90 days.” Some systems can also append free form text and/or voice notes. Using database filters, lead lists can be narrowed down to the select group of attendees one wants to concentrate on.

Here’s how this works. Say, for example, that the Widget Co. booth had 800 leads generated in one day. That data could be filtered to reveal the 150 who were purchase managers. That group could then be narrowed down to show who planned on purchasing a widget within the next three months. The next filter could then show how many work for companies with annual sales in excess of X dollars a year. The Widget company now has a list of nine people that warrant immediate sales calls, and it only took a matter of minutes to produce it.

Turn over collected and qualified data to appropriate sales, marketing or management staff. This could be on a real-time basis, several times daily, at the end of each day or on a pre-determined date immediately after the event. This is critical. The No. 1 reason why 75 percent of all tradeshow sales leads are never followed up is that salespeople become frustrated when forced to slog through piles of unqualified, unproductive leads. They typically abandon the project within one or two days, or perhaps after the 50th telephone call. What no one knows, however, is that the 56th company on the list is the jackpot. A dynamic filtering feature is one of the most powerful tools a company can employ in the battle against dropped sales leads.

Serendipity happens. Many of life’s best opportunities occur in an unpredictable fashion, and tradeshows are specifically designed to provide plentiful opportunities for such “happy accidents.” Seminars, special events and coffee breaks are wonderful occasions for meeting other attendees and exhibitors – opportunities that could occur nowhere else. This is particularly true for smaller or start-up businesses that lack the resources for more traditional means of exposure.

Where does technology fit into the serendipity picture? In the past 15 years, technology has introduced a multitude of ways to make tradeshows more efficient and effective – from online registration to sales lead gathering/retrieval and follow-up. It allows attendees and exhibitors more time to take advantage of the thousands of person-to-person opportunities show organizers work so hard to provide.