The exhibition space at the trade fair is well attended, the discussions are promising - and yet the commitment at the trade fair does not result in a higher turnover? Companies that have recognised the importance of a trade fair appearance often forget that they also have to invest in an efficient lead registration process at the trade fair. An important step here is capturing all leads, which can now also be conveniently carried out with the iPad during a conversation. In the following blog article, we have summarized how the capture process via iPad with snapADDY works and which advantages and disadvantages arise compared to the classic paper sheet.
The trade fair as a important touch point to the customer
Despite the significant increase in the importance of online communication and business, visiting a trade fair is still very relevant for many companies. A study conducted by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry AUMA in 2016 showed that an average of 18% of new customers of the companies surveyed were acquired through a trade fair appearance. If one structures the companies according to size, the representatives from the SME sector are the most successful - around one in five customers here comes from a trade fair. It can therefore be said that even in today's online age, the trade fair still plays an important role - personal contact is an enormous help in concluding business deals.
Trade fair preparation for lead management
Many companies are still represented at many trade fairs. Once the decision has been made to attend a trade fair, the management workflow begins. Stand construction, staff organisation or the planning of special customer acquisition campaigns are just a few examples of the preparatory phase. One point is often ignored here: How can lead capture be designed efficiently? After all, the generation of leads is the main goal of most companies - the question is how the capture process can function as smoothly and cost-effectively as possible. In the following sections we will take a look at the two different methods that are relevant today when capturing leads at trade fairs.
Classic lead extraction with paper based visit reports
The classic process at the fair with paper-based sheets looks like this: The sheets created in advance are printed out and transported to the fair. The paper sheets are then filled out manually and the business card is physically attached to it. This lead is then stored during the trade fair and returned to the company, where the paper sheets are all entered manually into the CRM system or an Excel contact list. The problems become apparent from this process description:
- Transmission errors due to illegible writing or lost sheets
- Higher costs due to transport and storage of the sheets
- Duration until the data is stored in the CRM system.
- Unnecessary costs due to typing
Modern lead extraction with the iPad via snapADDY VisitReport
One way to capture leads more cost-effectively and conveniently is to capture leads with an iPad. The entire recording of a conversation is documented on the iPad and only one business card is scanned with a simple photo. Everything else is done for you if you digitally capture the leads with the iPad.
The first step in using the iPad lead caption is also to analyze possible customer groups and the most important information that can be used to classify them for follow-up purposes. As an example, a question about customer size is always relevant, which is used in different versions. Number of employees, sales potential or a scoring system that divides customers into A,B,C categories are just a few examples.
The questionnaire for the selected trade fair is then created when the lead is entered via the iPad. The different question types in snapADDY VisitReport are used for this purpose, which offer a range of different options (date field, signature field, single selection, multiple selection, each with search, etc.). The questionnaire created in this way is automatically available to all employees who have logged into your account.
This way, important information can be captured during a trade fair meeting. The touch input ensures that you can take even more care of the customer and can concentrate more on the conversation with the customer in contrast to the classic recording with pen and paper. After the conversation, the contact data of the conversation partner is captured with a photo of the camera. The snapADDY parser recognizes the text on the business card and uses it to determine the contact data, which is then automatically assigned to the correct fields and exported to the CRM system. At the end of the capture process, the information that is important for your company is stored in the CRM system without transmission errors or time expenditure - just like the contact data.
Trade fair follow-up is highly relevant
Follow-up to the trade fair is indispensable for success. Many companies have already recognized this, others are lagging behind in this process step. After all, trade fair follow-up usually decides whether a possible deal is going to be made. The customer must be reminded proactively of the discussion and possible results so that our company does not get lost in the mass of all exhibitors. According to a 2008 study by the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, only 48% of visitors to a trade fair are satisfied with the contact approaches made by the exhibitors after the trade fair. In contrast, 66% of the surveyed trade visitors were satisfied with the quality of the discussions at the exhibition stands.
The snapADDY VisitReport post-processing offers you many possibilities to efficiently and quickly re-establish contact with the visitors of the exhibition stand. Through integration with various mail providers (Rapidmail, Mailchimp), a personalized thank you e-mail can be sent directly from the trade fair to potential customers. Rules can also be defined via a mapping in order to send certain questionnaires to a specific employee in-house as a notification.
Summary: Lead caption process with the iPad
Before a fair:
- Analysis of potential visitors
- Creation of the template report for each individual trade fair
At the fair:
- Leader entry with the iPad: Filling in the visit reports in conversation
- Scanning the business card
- Export of visit forms
- Optional: Follow-Up Mail
After the fair:
- Optional: Follow-Up Mail
- Compare trade fair use and results
Advantages of the lead caption process with an Ipad
- Contemporary presentation of your company
- Transparent results
- No more transmission errors
- Measurable success
- Automated post-processing
- More ways to capture photos, notes, etc.
By the way: the snapADDY VisitReport is also available for your Android colleagues 😉