Often, a lot of trade show commentators claim that following up is the most important factor in determining a success of the event, however this is missing out on an important part of the equation. It is better to follow up with 20 hot leads, rather than go through the dubious tedium of following up on 200 lukewarm prospects. So what makes the difference to be more successful? The answer is simple – it is the quality of the leads that are generated at the arena floor that ultimately counts.
Fairs and exhibitions are fantastic to bring together both buyers and sellers, no other media can bring targeted prospects together in one place better than a show. They offer companies with the opportunity to engage prospects in their target market, as well as the ability to demonstrate how good your company’s products and services are, and to place a very human face on your organization.
This is a common sight in the exhibition show floor to see the exhibitor staff talking to the attendees of and try to sell the products or services at every opportunity. This is what generates a large amount of lukewarm prospects and that makes life so hard to conduct an effective follow-up. The important missing ingredient is that the booth staff is not performing a proper qualification of attendees and only collect contact information. . If your employees focuses on collecting names and phone numbers, they do not do their job properly – a hot lead should not only identify names and numbers, but what the specific interests is, what problems do the attendee have and what they are looking for the solution, what is the sales potential of the prospects, budget, timescales. In other words, it is enough information for a meaningful conversation to take place and a positive assessment of the value of prospects.
Qualifying prospects include establishing three important pieces of information:
Facilities – this includes establishing the prospect’s ability to pay for goods and services. This is important – you perhaps have someone who really want your product, but if they do not have the budget to back that up, you are just spinning the windmills.
Authority - many attendee have a direct input into the selection of new suppliers both product and service. This does not mean that they always have the final authority however, so it is important to try to determine what the bounds of the attendee’s authority really are and who can take the final decision making.
Need - a common mistake among the sales amateur is to tell not sell. Telling the attendee what your products is, for example, a feature list and technical specifications. Buyers make decisions primarily on how well a product or service meets their needs – which means the booth staff must listening far more than they are talking. Your employees need to learn what drives buying decision making, and this means extracting that information from these attendee.