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Return To Trade Shows Article Archive   The Secrets of Trade Show Follow-Up By Marlys Arnold If preshow mailers are the equivalent of invitations to a party, then following up is the same as sending thank-you notes to your guests. Terri Crim of Modern Postcard says that follow up should be an automatic part of your marketing, just like preshow mailers. Or, as Lori Marshall from Wood Associates puts it, "Every prospect is important ... they took the time [to stop by the booth], so why shouldn't I take the time to thank them?" Not surprisingly, Marshall's follow up arrives in the form of a handwritten thank-you note. Here are some tips you can use to follow up after the trade show and stand out from the crowd. 1. Make your follow up timely. One exhibitor wondered why a prospect was being so evasive on the phone when she called to follow up. She later learned that her competitor was meeting with the prospect at the moment she called. Lesson learned: Be the first to follow up! 2. Use the notes captured on the leads to personalize the follow up. This doesn't mean personalizing a form letter like the sweepstakes companies do -- sprinkling the recipient's name throughout the letter. True personalization goes way beyond that! Use the information gathered on the lead form, such as where they are located or what their most important needs are. Incorporate items such as, "When Client XYZ was facing [the same problem the attendee indicated], we helped them find a way to ..." 3. Reinforce your exhibit theme in your follow up to help with recall. One exhibitor continued a food-themed booth by sending mailers that looked like recipe cards, along with a shopping list pad. 4. Always respond in the way the prospect told you to. Attendees are annoyed when they don't receive the information they were promised. This proves you weren't listening to their needs. If they want a catalog and you call them on the phone, they will just tell you again to please send a catalog. Get it right the first time! Hot prospects might buy within thirty days. Warm ones (which are the majority) may take much longer. Make sales reps accountable for the leads and monitor their progress for at least six months. Keep following up until they "buy or die" -- it can take several contacts to close a sale. Since most of your competitors will give up after one or two tries, you can win the sale by sheer persistence. Remember ... your job doesn't end the minute the trade show is over. Instead, the most important part begins! You have those leads -- now turn them into money in the bank! About the Author: Marlys Arnold is a trade show marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Missouri. She travels across the country working with exhibitors and show managers to help them maximize their trade show results. She is also the author of Build a Better Trade Show Image and host of the Trade Show Insights podcast. For more information or to sign up for her free online exhibitor tips, visit her Web site at: http://www.imagespecialist.com keywords: trade show | tradeshow | exhibit | expo | exhibitor | follow-up Booths Design

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