You’ve exhibited at a convention, trade show, or expo and expect that the phone will be ringing off the hook with new clients any minute now, right? I wish this were true! The truth is that most of the attendees from that event, even if it was only a few days ago, have long forgotten that they were even there. Those business cards and brochures they picked up with the best of intentions (or maybe just to be polite) are sitting in a bag in the back seat of their car, probably never to be seen again until the next clean up, along with the remnants of fast food drive-thru lunches of days gone by.

Does that mean all your hard work and investment of time and money associated with exhibiting was for naught? ABSOLUTELY NOT! You just need to employ the last step of the Exhibitor Success Program: the all-important proactive follow-up. It’s the key to achieving a positive ROI on your participation and converting prospects into loyal customers for weeks, months, and years to come. It’s also the step that, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, gets skipped over. Eighty percent of trade show leads receive no follow-up. Don’t be one of those businesses that swear “trade shows don’t work” and “we’ll never do THAT again!” Trade shows DO work IF you take the time to work them after they’re over! It’s really as easy as 1-2-3.

Within 72 to 96 Hours of Exhibiting
Create a database from your ranked leads based on their likelihood of patronizing your business: hot (30–90 days), warm (3–6 months), or cold (6 months or beyond… or never). Where do you get this information? You jotted it down on the attendees’ “enter to win” slip or business card based on the discussion you had with them at your booth (refer to last month’s Pet Boarding and Daycare article). Be sure to separate the fields to include as much of the attendees’ information as possible so you can personalize future communications. For example, include first name, last name, e-mail, phone number, pet’s name(s) and breeds, and any specifics, such as how often they groom, where they purchase their toys, etc. By the way, expensive or fancy shmancy database programs are not necessary. Excel or the spreadsheet program included in your basic software package will do just fine, as will Constant Contact or your newsletter program of choice.

Within One Week of Exhibiting
Make your first contact to the attendees, letting them know that you enjoyed meeting them at the XYZ Trade Show. Stealthily incorporate a piece of information from the database, which indicates you really do remember who they are (e.g. “I hope you and Scruffy [dog’s name] had a great time; he’s such a cute Shih Tzu! [dog’s breed]”) Remind them who you are: your company name, what your business is/does, and something that will jog their memory (e.g. the booth that provided the free toenail trims, the first booth to the right when you walked into the show, the only company that offers completely organic pet treats, etc.) Ask them if they have any questions about your company, product, or service. Last but not least, make them an irresistible, limited-time offer such as a free product or service, a huge discount, a buy one/get one deal, etc.

“Touch” The Attendees Regularly Over the Next 6 – 12 Months
This does not mean physical touch, although once a prospect is converted to a customer, it very well could! Always include a different irresistible, limited-time offer, and track which one(s) each prospect responds to so you can fine-tune future touches to them. Because not all people respond to the same type of interactions, employ a variety of outreach techniques: e-mail, direct mail, phone calls, social media, blogs, newsletters. Make it a point to update your database to indicate which method seems to appeal to each individual based on their response to the various types of touches. Hone their touches accordingly. Frequency of touches should be based on their original probability-of-purchase temperature level (e.g. hot = monthly, warm = every two months, cold = quarterly or biannually) and stepped up when the prospect is ultimately converted to customer status. Important: don’t ignore those cold prospects! Their circumstances may change, and if nothing else, they may become one of your best “ruff”eral sources!

Chomping at the bit to learn more? I’ll be presenting a comprehensive, fun and fur-filled Tools for Trade Show Success workshop at the Barkleigh Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo (Tuesday, November 12, 1–5 PM). Hope to see you there, bright eyed and bushy tailed!

One of the country’s most accomplished and respected pet lifestyle and industry experts, Top Dog Eileen Proctor is renowned for helping U.S. PetrepreneursTM “get the ‘leg up’ on the competition” by sharing her proven, street-savvy strategies and tools through her strategic marketing/business development company, Top Dog Business Boosters. In 2013, she em”bark”ed on an alliance with Amazing Pet Expos, developing and delivering a game-changing training initiative called the Exhibitor Success Program (ESP) for their thousands of petcentric exhibitors. To sniff out more about the Top Dog, visit www.TopDogEileenProctor.com.

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