You’ve probably spent lots of time putting together and executing on your trade show plan and you’re now back at the office with that “post trade show glow”.  You’ve got tons of leads, met some really interesting business development prospects, and are really excited about the outcome of your show.

 That’s the good news.  The bad news is that work has piled up in the office while you were away and you’re really tempted to switch gears and put the trade show leads on the back burner.

 Although you’ll certainly need to address the most burning issues in the office, it’s also critical to capitalize on all the great leads you generated at the show and turn them into sales!  So here are a few tips to help get through the crisis:

 PREPARE.  By pre-writing a follow-up letter and email and having fullfillment packets (if any) ready to go, you can make the initial follow-up step really easy!  This is even easier if you’ve paid the small fee for a lead collection system at the show and have a comma delimited file you can input into your database system for tracking and mailing.  You should check with the lead collection system supplier ahead of time to understand the file format and make sure you know exactly how to upload the leads into whatever lead tracking and email system your using.  This will also save a lot of time after the show.

 TAKE NOTES.  If you take detailed notes regarding follow-up actions and priorities at the show, then you’ll be organized and ready to go when you get home.  I recommend categorizing leads as “hot”, “warm”, “long term”, “discard” to ensure that you give them the proper priority.

MOVE FAST.  The faster you get back in contact with your prospects, the more likely you are to win their future business.   So, above all, be sure to contact those “hot” prospects within two days of your return, and the “warm” and “long term” within 1 week max. 

OUTSOURCE.  If you absolutely know you won’t be able to handle the follow-up yourself when you return, then make sure you have a plan in place BEFORE the show, to have someone else take on the follow-up and tracking tasks after the show ends.