Posted by

Barry Siskind

Community Manager

A recent study by the US based Center for Exhibition Industry Research can only lead to one conclusion: exhibitors lead capture and follow-up practices are greatly in need of improvement. While 74% of exhibitors reported having used the organizers suppliers lead retrieval systems and 59% a paper based lead form. What’s most interesting is that less than 30% of exhibitors ask any further questions of their contacts that would lead to qualifying the visitor. Most exhibitors seem quite content gathering information that is product or service interest.

I am not sure any of your sales people would talk to an exhibitor or prospective exhibitor and not learn a bit about the decision maker and the company they represent yet, these same exhibitors seem content doing just that.

Imagine if they were able to embrace the need to engage attendees beyond a simple description of a product or service. Imagine how much more meaningful the post-fair conversations with these customers will become. Imaging the affect of increased sales on the exhibitors Rate of Return.

This is an old problem that organizers have faced for years and the CEIR study has reinforced that it hasn’t gone away.

www.ceir.org