1. Use Appropriate Size

9. Find the Decision Maker

2. Use Appropriate Material

10. Know the Purchasing Window

11. Find out the Budget

4. Use a Priority Check Box

5. Always List the Show Name and Event

13. Use a "Key" Box

Tip 1  Use Appropriate Size

The card should be easy to handle, but big enough to capture key information. 5 ½ x 8 ½ (or half of a regular page) is a good size. Use a clip board to hold the cards, or have them pre-printed and bound together on tear sheets.

Card stock is preferred over plain paper. For maximum efficiency, consider using carbonless copy paper, so that multiple copies are generated simultaneously.

Leads are the "gold" of trade shows. Always keep them in a single secure central location, and never leave them unattended, even during short breaks. Do not allow salesmen to "pocket" the leads, since that makes tracking and measurement of goals more difficult. Instead, promise to return copies to the salesman after the show.

Allow the salesman to quickly identify the lead as high, medium, or low priority. Put the priority box in an upper corner for maximum visibility when following up after the show.

Months after the show passes, it may be difficult to remember the event where the lead was first contacted. By filling out the show name in advance on all lead sheets, you will prevent mistakes in handling, when prospects are routed to sales staff.

 

Every card will ask for company name, client name, title, address, phone, fax and email. You can staple business cards, or use an electronic card reader for this task. Just remember: The vitals are only the beginning!

Depending on the type of visitors expected, you can use check boxes to identify key products or services you offer. Always allow the visitor to respond "just wandered in," or "just interested in the giveaway." This will save time in the qualifying the prospect. Usually this section will bring the prospect into a discussion about new services or products, or about the prospect’s particular needs.

Tip 8  Profile Your Visitors

Use demographics on your visitor, such as whether the person is in operations, sales, purchasing, accounting, etc. to help customize your presentation to the prospect. Operations people are more interested in how your product works, while purchasing and accounting people are more interested in life-cycle cost, savings, and issues of economics. Also, by knowing whether the prospect is a senior or junior level employee, you can route the lead appropriately.

Tip 9  Find the Decision Maker

Many companies use buying teams now, which means you need to sell to operations, purchasing, and senior level staff. Find out if your prospect makes the final decision, recommends, specifies, or has no influence. Always ask who the decision maker is, so that sales staff can follow up with that person as well.

By knowing when the prospect plans to buy, you can time your sales presentations to come at a time when the buyer is receptive to your message. Also, for immediate window buyers, you know that the client is a high priority lead. This prevents the salesman from being greeted with "I just bought this product from your competition."

By knowing whether the client has $10, $10,000, or $10,000,000 to spend on the project, you can tailor your presentation and prioritize follow-up. Don’t be afraid to ask this question. In order to properly sell, you need to know roughly how much the prospect is willing or able to spend.

Ask the prospect how they would like to proceed. Would they like a sales presentation, or would they rather review literature. Decide the best person to assign the follow-up duty to, give them their action items, and assign a deadline. All of this can be completed after the show, if consultations are necessary.

Give your booth staffers a few words to prompt them in the conversation with the prospect. Use phrases like "competitors," "concerns," "personal," etc. to help the staffer phrase questions when qualifying leads. By just using key words, the staffer can phrase the questions in their own words, and not sound so "scripted." Also, as the day wears on, studies have shown that tired staffers can forget to gather important information. Having a "Key" box helps prevent burnout.

After a full day on the show floor, all the names start to run together. By having the booth staffer initial the card after meeting a prospect, it is easier for the booth manager to get additional information not on the card. When even three staffers are working a booth, it becomes very difficult to keep track of who met who.

Prompt the staffers by telling them at the bottom of the card to use the back side for additional comments. Sometimes just a little reminder might get the staffer to list some critical piece of information that was not covered by the survey. For example, if the customer had some criticism about a product, or if they had previously met other employees, use the back side to list that information.

Ask a trade show consultant for examples of successful lead cards.