5 Steps to Effective Lead Generation at Exhibitions and Trade Shows

Exhibition venues across London have exciting trade shows and events planned for the coming year and so it comes as no surprise that as YOUR customers are attending these events, that YOU want to exhibit there.

Turning up isn’t enough. Exhibition staff need to engage with people and qualify leads. This can be done successfully with 6 questions in 6 minutes. Here’s how.

STEP 1 – How are you finding the show?

Delegates are bombarded from every angle with sales patter and freebies. Be a breath of fresh air by being approachable and not leaping on them because they happen to be walking past you stand.

• Body language – be aware of what your body is saying.
• Confident and smiling – stay focussed
• Meaningful – from asking ‘how are you finding the show?’ to ‘how can I help you?’ are good questions to open to conversation.

STEP 2 – What has brought you to this exhibition?

You’ve greeted someone and they’ve stopped to engage in conversation – exhibition staff should now be asking themselves whether this person is a prospect or not.

Spend your second-minute of the conversation moulding it around the attendee. Ask them what brings them to this exhibition or have they come with something specific in mind (like finding a product or service like yours?)

STEP 3 – Do you have the buying power?

A chat with attendees is never wasted as such but if you talk to someone for 20 minutes to find that they have no buying power or are not interested in your products, you’ll feel your confidence and motivation slump.

Now is the time to ask direct questions to elicit the information you need to qualify the lead. In other words, are they the right people to be talking to?

To do this, bear four categories of questions in mind;

1. Buying authority – are they part of the buying team?
2. Problem – what are they looking to fix?
3. Timeframe – when are they looking to buy or find a solution by?
4. Budget – have they a budget or are they at the very start of the research process?

Not a lead? Draw the conversation to a close, thank them for visiting the booth, hand them information and always remain professional.

STEP 4 – Let me tell you more…?

This part is effectively split in two;

Person A – a lead at the start of the research process, not ready to buy imminently

Give them more information about who you are, what you do and, most important, how your business can solve their problem. Touch on cost. It will take a few minutes at most.

Person B – ready to buy/actively looking for solutions/has buying authority

This person is the most important prospect. Discuss their needs in detail, expand on your products or services, and how they can be tailored to meet their needs. This process can take upwards of 10 minutes.

STEP 5 – Taking it further

In terms of person A, ask them for their contact details and how best to stay in touch or when would be the best time for your sales team to call. Make sure they have your contact details and appropriate marketing information too.

For person B, you need to personalise this closing section. As well as gathering their contact information, give out yours or give them the name of the person most likely to contact them. If possible, arrange a time to call or send on an instant email so they have your contact details straight away.

After the show

With the booth packed away and the exhibition staff in London on their way home, it now falls to you to make the most of the qualified leads and information the team have gathered for you. And your strategy for post-trade show follow up is…?

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