Trade Show Leads - Garbage In, Garbage Out

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This past Tuesday I went to the Women’s Leadership Exchange Conference in Dallas. I met lots of fascinating women there - one of whom was Joyce McKee of McKinney, TX. Her website isn’t live yet, but she’s planning something exciting for those of you who exhibit at trade shows. She told me that 80% of trade show leads are never followed up. At first that seems shocking, but after I thought about it a bit, it made sense.

Most people who plan trade show booths aren’t the people who are going to follow up with the leads. They go for quantity, not quality. By offering something free to those who put a card in their jar, they attract a LOT of people. People who want the free thing that is in the jar - not necessarily people who want what the salespeople are selling.

Certainly there is a balance to be struck here, but as Stephen Covey points out, you must start with the end in mind. If you are going for quantity of leads, you must either accept that you are going to go through a lot of useless leads in following up. If you only want to follow up with quality leads, then you might rethink who you want to attract to your booth and whether or not an empty fishbowl is the best bait to use.

Garbage in, garbage out!