Lead capture is likely one of your company’s main objectives when exhibiting at a trade show.

Despite this, some organizations – particularly first-time exhibitors and small and medium-sized enterprises – fail to optimize their lead generation processes. These firms may lose out on opportunities to make sales as a result.

If you have prepared well in advance and executed your plan during the show, then many of your generated leads will result in sales, or better yet, in decade-plus customers. Here’s five tips to try:

1) Make sure booth staff brings their A-game

Booth staff should be trained with talking points and sales messages and be informed of objectives. For example: to introduce a new product or get new orders for existing products. Booth staff should be able to demo your product – effortlessly. Don't skimp on numbers. Be realistic about how many people you'll need to staff your booth at any one time, and don't forget to factor in shifts and breaks.

2) Set goals

Going into a show you must have written goals. Showing the flag is not a goal. (“We’ve got to be there: all our competitors will be attending, and people will think something is wrong if we don’t show up.”) Acquiring new customers is. Regaining lost customers is a good goal. Retaining current customers is as well. We can apply quantifiable measures to each of these goals, such as sales revenues from new sources over “x” number of months after the show.

3) Define your target customer

Define who you want to come to your exhibit and target them specifically.  At a busy trade show, you may not have a lot of time to spend with each person who comes by your booth. At large events, hundreds of potential leads will be vying for your attention, and each one could be the connection needed to capture a big sale. If you keep attendees waiting too long, they will leave, causing you to miss what could have been a great opportunity. This makes it vital that you maximize the value of your conversation with each person to qualify as many leads as possible during the short time you are able to devote to them.

4) Consult the experts

Trade shows can be excellent lead generation opportunities, so it could be helpful for managers to invest part of their budget toward the design of an eye-catching exhibit. Hiring a professional booth designer rather than an ad agency can help businesses to better ensure that their displays will grab visitors' attention.

5) Use technology to gather your leads

Don’t blow your budget on tschotskes before getting lead retrieval – you exhibit at shows to gather leads, not giveaway pens. Using scanners at your booth automates the process of adding prospects’ information to your database, which will help expedite your post-show follow-up efforts and ultimately result in more business for your company.

We've compiled the best tips for lead generation at tradeshows. Transform your lead generation with this free 33-page Ebook, The Ultimate Guide to Tradeshow Lead Generation