While setting up an exhibition booth at a trade show or establishing up the tactics to acquire leads, we often ask a question: “What is Our Return on Investment?” The answer to this question is essential as it affects your future endeavors based on the budget.
While the trade show companies handle everything from the booth design, modular display to even making a customized booth. Companies taking part in the upcoming trade show have work beyond the event, from getting leads, making sales. Exhibit systems measure their success with the exhibition ROI.
Here are 3 major categories are clinical to calculating exhibition ROI which are:
- Qualify/ Track Leads
- Accurate Report from Sales Team
- Tracking revenue
Now calculating the first one is quite simple. When your team handles the visitors at the show booth, make sure you collect all the relevant information and contact details of the visitors. Most of the companies use a Customer Relationship Management(CRM) tool which allows the team to know what contacts were made. At this point, teamwork between the sales and marketing team is very much required. As the marketing team uses tools to capture leads at the trade show exhibit, the sales team should follow up timely and adequately.
Now with the lead contact information, it’s time for step 2. You have to start following up with the leads within 2-3 days after the trade show ends. At this point, the sales team should not just worry about making sales. Rather, they must know the extent of the relationship between the brand and the customer. The marketing team should be transparent during the whole process done by the sales team. They should take note of any sales in actuality and the work done by the team. They have to make sure that the sales team is reporting the revenue from the trade show exhibit on a timely basis. Now you can easily calculate the net revenue made from it.
However, sometimes it might be quite difficult for you to calculate and find out the exhibition ROI using such a process. That’s why it’s suggested that you use the popular technique wherein you take the overall cost of the show and divide it by the number of leads generated which would be the cost per lead.
Calculating and comparing the numbers will help you draw up an idea about whether your exhibition booth was a success or not. In the end, the best thing you can do is develop a strategy, be consistent with it. Keep your sales team accountable to track timely and accurate revenue.
