And keep the booth open to encourage attendees to ask the item, or better yet, send it before the show. Here's a secret for obtaining better lead information at trade shows. Most sales people at trade shows accept a business card and believe they will remember the conversation they had with the prospect some weeks later. With this approach, it is not surprising that trade show leads have poor follow-up track records. Most leads provide little more than a visitor's name and address, along with a vague request for information or to have a respresentative call.
Sketchy information comes from poor planning.
Before the show you should determine the questions you want to ask booth visitors. Doctors, lawyers and journalists all spend many hours preparing key questions they want to ask. And when they ask questions, they record the answers on a legal pad, chart or reporters notepad. You should do the same thing at a trade show. Use a card as a prompter and you will achieve a very organized method of acquiring information that is vital for following-up on each lead.