The most tried and true method of gathering leads at your trade show or special event is the business-card-in-the-fish-bowl method. Place a container such as a box or "fish bowl" somewhere near the entrance or exit point of your trade show display area. Clearly mark it "Add your Business Card for More Information on our Products", or something like that, and you're in business. [ http://www.tradeshow-display-experts.com/trade-show-displays.html]
All the most commonly used lead generating systems are variations of the business-card-in-the-fish-bowl method. Your specific "system of choice" for generating trade show leads [ http://www.tradeshow-display-experts.com/trade-show-leads.html] will depend on these two factors:
1. How do you filter out "garbage leads"?
2. How do you encourage your "most wanted leads" - the people most likely to buy your product - to register?
"Garbage Leads"
So-called "garbage leads" are always a concern in any lead generating effort. You don't want to waste time and money contacting people who have no real interest in your product/service.
The negative value of garbage leads will depend on your follow up strategy. If you plan to enter each contact name in a database and then pursue a systematic follow up strategy that includes telephone, email, and snail mail, then the cost of garbage leads gets magnified. On the other hand, if your plan doesn't go beyond a one-step follow up (email, snail mail, or phone call), then the negative value of garbage leads is not a major concern.
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The easiest way to filter garbage leads is to ask people to fill out a simple "Yes I am interested" form. So instead of them throwing a business card in your fish bowl, you're asking them to stop, fill out a form, and place it in a kind of "registration box". You can make your form as brief or as complicated as you like. Obviously the briefest form will get the highest response.
Just the act of having to write something down will be a deterrent to many show surfers. If it seems like it would be too negative (resulting in you filtering out leads you really want), then you could simplify the system by attaching a stapler to a chain(!) and asking interested people to just staple a copy of their business card to the registration form. This has several important advantages:
1. You get the contact information you want. 2. You filter out those with absolutely no interest. 3. You catch the maximum number of prospects by reducing the hassle of registering. 4. You get people without business cards
Providing Incentives to "Register"
Sometimes you want the maximum number of prospect leads possible. "Qualification" is not so important because either you have the "system" to handle extra garbage leads, or your garbage quotient is very low. What does that mean? Simply that your product has a very broad appeal, and that virtually everyone is a prospect. Obviously no product is completely untargeted; but equally obviously, some products (e.g., many consumer goods) have a much broader target group than, for instance, specialized industrial goods.
In the case of broadly targeted goods, you may want to get the maximum number of leads so you can send your sales team to work on them - especially if there is no major cost or downside in doing this. (But beware, there's always a cost of some sort!) This is when you should provide an "incentive" to get people to "sign up".
What kind of incentive? Usually it will be some sort of giveaway: "Sign up and we'll send you a valuable X." Where "X" is your premium of choice: pen, hat, balloon, bag, etc, etc. Of course you don't have to send it after the show, either. You can have a "info for hat/pen/bag" trade right there at the show, if you think you can tactfully manage it ("Give me your name, and I'll give you a hat." Hmmmm.)
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Another type of premium rapidly gaining popularity is the "digital" item: software, music, "e-books", digital services of one kind or another. The nice thing about these is that they can be delivered online via your website (or special event website)- so there is no significant cost. For example, you could say "Register and we'll send you 5 free e-books." (a popular tactic used for internet sales). Then your follow up can consist of an email greeting-plus-pitch along with the link to their premium. Pretty painless. And there are lots of free e-books out there just crying out to be given away (because they have subtle embedded links and promos in them). Or you can create your own, and embed your own promotions.
The other popular incentive is a "draw", where you give away something of perceived value: a vacuum cleaner, a bicycle, a gas barbecue, a computer, etc., etc. Or if you have some high margin products of your own (e.g., the wedding photographer), you can give away some of your own products or services as an incentive for trade show leads.
This can get expensive, but only you know how much you should be "paying" for trade show leads. If your product has no built-in premium space, and if your conversion rate increase (by giving a premium rather than not), is negligible, then obviously you should not give premiums.
Find more resources at TradeShow-Display-Experts [ http://www.tradeshow-display-experts.com] and America-Banners [ http://www.america-banners.com].
About the Author
Rick Hendershot is a marketing consultant operating out of Conestogo, Ontario, Canada. He publishes several websites and blogs, including Web Traffic Resources [ http://www.small-business-online.com], Marketing Bites [ http://marketingbs.blogspot.com], SuperCharge Your Website with Power Linking [ http://www.sob-linknet.com], and many more.