You may be tempted to take a breather when you are done with your show. But in reality, your show is not yet complete. For you to get the most out of your trade show investment, there are several post-show items that need your attention Here are the top three things to put on your “To Do” list to complete your show, and prepare yourself for the next one.
To Do #1: Review your show for failures and successes: While your show experience is fresh in your mind, review and reflect on the show to see what went well, in order to repeat it, and what did not, so you can learn from it. Ask you booth staff for their input too. Areas to review include:
- Working with the convention center staff
- Booth installation and dismantle
- Booth training
- Lead capture and attendee engagement in booth
- Demonstration execution and engagement
It is easy to only focus on the failures since those will stand out the most. However, identifying successes gives you experiences to repeat and reminds you and your staff about what went well. Document your notes so that you are able to review them easily before the next show.
To Do #2: Lead follow up: It is staggering to think that as much as 50% of sales go to the party that contacts the lead first. And leads need several follow up attempts to see a conversion. You do not want to allow too much time to elapse between the show closing and your first follow up attempt – your attendee has to remember your booth and the conversation. Take the time during the show to label your leads as high (need to follow up before the show even closes), medium (good chance of conversion, but needing more nurturing) and low (still gathering information and should be followed up with requested material). Be sure also to use the notes section of your lead scanner to document key points of the conversation, so you are not starting over with discovery. Your first contact attempt for medium and low should be completed within one week of returning from the show, so mark that in your calendar to be ready to go.
To Do #3: Review your ROI: Tracking ROI for individual shows helps you to put data against shows so you know which shows are successful. When calculating ROI, you need to track expenses first, and also clearly mark show sales against the show itself. Depending on your sales cycle, you may be able to do a few iterations of the ROI as time elapses. Typically, ROI from a show includes sales up to 90 days from the show close. However, you can modify this, depending on your company situation. Many CRM systems will calculate ROI for you, as you can add in expenses for a show and link a show campaign to sales. If you wish to determine this “old school”, simply divide the return (net profit) by the investment (cost of show). A positive ROI is one that it greater than 1.
Use the show close as the trigger for the next round of tasks to complete, and keep your show momentum going.