Tradeshows are expensive. Between the booth, travel, materials, and your team’s time, you’re making a real investment before anyone walks onto the show floor.

So here’s the question I would ask: What are you doing before the show to make sure the right people come see you?

I’ve watched teams put a lot of energy into the booth and very little into the conversations they want to have there. Then they arrive, hope people stop by, scan a lot of badges, and try to figure out afterward which contacts were actually interested.

There’s a better way to approach it. Start your sales process before the event.

(At Least) Three weeks before: Give them a reason to care

Send an email introducing your company, but don’t make it a list of everything you sell. Lead with a problem your audience recognizes.

A relevant, credible statistic can help you open that conversation. Use one that connects directly to the challenge your solution addresses, and cite where it came from. Then explain why it matters to the person reading.

You don’t need to tell them your entire story yet. You’re helping them recognize a problem that may be worth discussing.

Two weeks before: Pick up the phone

Some people will see your email. Many won’t. Make a call and be prepared to leave a voicemail.

This is your chance to share a different insight and let them know you’ll be at the show. Keep it brief. The goal is for them to recognize your name when they see your next email, not to squeeze a full presentation into a voicemail.

One week before: Show them what they’ll get

Your second email should answer a simple question: Why should I spend time at your booth?

Tell them what you’ll demonstrate and what they can expect to learn in 10 minutes. Connect that to an outcome they care about. If you can, offer two specific meeting times. “Stop by if you have a chance” is easy to forget. A calendar invitation is a plan.

Three days before: Make it easy to find you

Call again before people begin traveling. Remind them where your booth is and what they can see there. If you have a show promotion, this is a good time to mention it.

But a promotion alone won’t create a good sales conversation. You still need to understand what the visitor is trying to solve.

The work doesn’t end when they reach the booth

Once someone arrives, ask questions before launching into a demo. Learn about their role, what they’re doing today, and what prompted their interest. Then show the part of your solution that relates to their answer. )Don't show up and throw up everything about your product or service). 

Before they leave, agree on a clear next step with a date, time, and purpose. Take notes while the conversation is fresh and follow up quickly. A badge scan tells you who visited. Your notes tell you whether there’s an opportunity.

That is how you start to measure whether the show worked. Look at the meetings you booked, the conversations you had, the opportunities you created or moved forward, and eventually the revenue that came from them.

A successful tradeshow doesn’t start when the doors open. It starts weeks earlier, when you decide who you want to meet and why they should want to meet you.

Before you leave the show floor, prioritize your leads

You had the conversations. Now, while they’re still fresh, decide what happens next.

Don’t wait for the badge scan list to arrive and try to remember who was who a week later. Put your contacts into three groups before you leave the show floor:

• A: Follow up immediately. They have a clear need, there’s a good fit, and you’ve agreed on the next step.
• B: Follow up shortly. They’re warm and interested, but you need another conversation to understand their timing or needs.
• C: Start the sales process. There may be an opportunity, but you still need to learn more about their business and who is involved in the decision.

And here’s the step I see people forget: connect while they still remember your conversation.

Send a personal follow-up email that evening. Yes, you might be a little late to dinner! Reference what they told you, confirm any next step you agreed on, and connect with them on LinkedIn. A quick, relevant message will mean more than the generic “Great meeting you at the show” email they’ll get from everyone else next week.

Then get those notes into your CRM and follow through. The value of a tradeshow isn’t the number of badges you scanned. It’s the conversations you turn into opportunities.

Need help preparing for your next tradeshow? Connect with me. I’d love to help you build a strategy that starts before the show and continues long after the booth comes down.

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