How to follow up sales leads following IFSEC and FIREX International

Less than 70% of exhibitors have any kind of formalised plan or process in place for following up leads following a trade show or other live event.

That’s a pretty alarming oversight given the time, effort and resource committed to such endeavours – and the enormous rewards if they’re exploited to the fullest.

Of course, trade shows benefit your brand in multiple other – albeit more difficult to measure – ways.

Those who stopped by your stand or listened to a presentation delivered by one of your representatives will leave the show knowing a bit more about what you do and (hopefully) be impressed with your products and/or expertise. They may have even been introduced to your brand for the very first time.

And that’s great. But it’s not enough – especially given the digital tools now available that can yield more concrete, quantifiable returns on your investment.

The hard work doesn’t end on 5pm of the final day of the show. Indeed: what, when and how you communicate to prospects that you met at the show in the following days, weeks and months can really make the difference.

Here are some tips to make the most of your time at IFSEC International, FIREX International or other trade shows.

1. Time is of the essence

Get your follow-up strategy and campaign materials as ready as possible in advance of the event. You’ve a greater chance of impressing and securing the custom of prospects if you follow up days or weeks faster than your competitors.

2. Prioritise your leads

Grade your leads – ranging from the hottest prospects, where someone requested a follow up and seemed keen on working with you, down to those who merely submitted their email address as part of a raffle you held on your stand.

Then prioritise your responses accordingly. This means not only contacting high priority leads more urgently but also tailoring your communications more extensively. Lower priority prospects might be sent a standard email en masse, while the hottest leads will warrant a tailored email or – depending on the preference expressed – a phone call.

3. Customise your call to action

Your first follow up needn’t be a hard sell. It all depends where the lead is in the sales funnel.

You could instead send them a piece of content like a video, case study, white paper or blog post.

And make your call to action descriptive of the benefit the prospect will actually get by clicking. So do say: ‘Download white paper’, ‘request a personal demo’, or ‘join us for a free networking lunch’; don’t say: ‘Find out more’ or ‘click here for more information’.

A single call to action is often said to be best marketing practice. However, don’t be afraid to offer 2-3 alternatives if your target data is sufficiently diverse in its preferences and stage of the buying journey to warrant it. For instance, you could offer the following options: ‘request a demo’, ‘watch our video’ or ‘sign up to our newsletter’.

4. Jog the prospect’s memory

Remind the prospect of the product launches, integrations, partnerships and other announcements you made during the show. There’s so much going on at IFSEC, it’s perfectly possible that they won’t recall all relevant details.

5. Include visuals in your emails

A photo of your IFSEC stand – busy with lots of people, ideally! – is usually a strong image, though you may instead use a picture of a product they declared an interest in.

6. Personalise each email

People like to know they’re dealing with an individual not a company, so sign off with the relevant salesperson’s name and, crucially, their phone number and personal email.

7. Don’t rely on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets

Microsoft Excel is useful for financial accounts but a chaotic nightmare – and terrible for collaboration – when applied to customer relationship management (CRM). Automated lead nurturing tools make building on your conversations at the trade show easier, less time-consuming and, on average, more fruitful.

There are countless platforms out there, some of which are free, with others charging a monthly subscription. Just to give three examples, Communigator, tray.io and – run by SalesForce, the most popular CRM by far – Pardot are all highly effective lead nurturing tools.

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