Following up on Your Trade Shows
After spending valuable time and resources showing at or attending a trade show, what’s next? I’ve read many articles that discuss how people don’t follow up after trade shows. As we start another trade show season, you need to review your plan for attending before the next one.
Vendor Perspective
From the vendor’s point of view, we always say that the real work starts when you return to the office. Do you have a plan to follow up? Who will follow up? How will you follow up?
A good start would be to email all the leads you collected, thanking them for stopping by and asking if they would like a follow-up from you. Then, lead them to your website or a conversation with their local salesperson. Next, I would sort out the leads, customers wanting literature, specific product information or personal follow-ups, and assign them to specific people or departments.
It’s always hard to evaluate the return on investment of trade shows. That’s why you must have a goal in mind. Did you attend to gain visibility and show you are a good corporate citizen by supporting your local or national associations? Were you launching a new product? Looking for new customers or making corporate announcements about future plans? Evaluating the competition or seeking new products and vendors that could help your business?
You always want to designate a person to walk the show and report back on some of these issues, how people attending thought it went, attendance and the state of the market in their areas. The best time to decide if you want to attend next year is right after you return when everything is fresh in your mind.
Attendee Perspective
As an attendee, it’s important that you also have a plan for the show and follow-up. I always ask attendees stopping by our booth if they are looking for anything specific and if they have seen anything new or exciting as they walk the aisles.
You should assign the members you send to bring back a list of new products they saw and the dominant products featured at the show. Was it hardware, sealants, tools, machinery, etc.? This will give you a good idea of industry trends. They should also pick up show books, agendas and schedules that you can use to evaluate the show.
When you return, the most important thing to do is unpack the bag full of literature you thought was important enough to lug back on the plane. Sort it out and get it to the people in your organization who can use it to impact your business. I suggest keeping a file of literature and showing information on all the shows you attend so you can refer to it when a job comes up six months from now and you remember a vendor you saw at a show that could help you but forgot their name. Include the business cards you collected. You may even want to put some contacts in your phone for future reference or look them up on LinkedIn and become a follower.
Remember, a trade show takes a few days of our time, but we make our living every day. I want to thank everyone who attended the Glass Expo West™ 2025 in Ontario, California. I hope you will have a successful follow-up.