Telemarketing Tradeshow Tips

What makes a successful marketing attack for a trade show?

There are 3 components to effective trade show marketing, pre-show, at-show and post-show. Without the post-show follow-up, the marketing strategy is not complete and often the sale is not made. So Follow-up might just be the most crucial part of the trade show marketing equation. True trade show success is not measured by the number of catalogs handed out or the number of business cards collected, it's the sales generated from the leads gathered at the show that make your participation in the show successful or not.

Pre-show: Send a pre-tradeshow mailer to all perspective clients know who, what and where of the show. You should be able to get the preregistered list from the show manager and either mail or email them. Then have someone make a phone call to personally invite them to your booth and set up a person appointment and demo. Decide if you will handle the leads in house or outsource to a telemarketing firm.  

At-show: Decide what you consider to be a qualified lead and have your staff accept business cards from future clients that meet all of your criteria. You need to be quick in the qualification process and not linger with people who are not potential clients. Get in and get out. It is not beneficial to accept 10,000 business cards and have only 45 of them turn into leads. You only have so much time and money for follow up. Have a info packet ready to go for immediately mailing out for hot prospects and list them as a priority lead on your calling list.  

Post show: Take the most qualified buyers that attended the tradeshow and add them to a telemarketing call list. Clean up your calling list. A clean list is crucial to a cost-effective telemarketing program. All prospects should be contacted within 1-2 weeks of the tradeshow. Companies need to move promptly and efficiently while the prospect's memory is fresh. Call the high potential prospects 1^st but then go back and fall the rest. There could be some sleepers in your list that did not seem like it on the show floor.

Follow-up is the key for a successful telemarketing program. The time, effort and work involved from start to finish with a tradeshow is a total waste if the final stage is not done. Handling of requests for additional information will show potential clients you value their time and provide quality customer service.  

Finally Close those sales. When it is all over, evaluate your success. Did you meet your goals? Were you able to reach the right prospects? What can I do next time to change my return? Brainstorm for next year while everything is fresh in your mind.

If you need help in the marketing coordination of your next tradeshow, contact us for more information 847-991-1294 or howard@larsonassociastes.ws

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account
acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
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P.S. We make teleprospecting for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 10 hours a week. Maybe you should add teleprospecting into your marketing mix call today and find out.