Turn Prospects Into Deals
Use these tips to turn conference attendees into customers.
by Custom Media Solutions

In a perfect world, every attendee who ever stepped into your booth would make your pockets jingle and your cash register go ka-ching! But as you well know that is not the case. A sales process is nothing more than converting suspects to prospects, prospects to leads, and leads to customers.

A growing trend and much easier way of targeting your customers is via relationship networking. This new technology nips the #1 complaint of customers in the bud: exhibitors not following up on booth meetings once the conference ends.

San Francisco-based Leverage Software, has a service called Active Relationship Network. This service is launched several months in advance of conferences and allows attendees to create profiles of themselves and enter the types of information they are seeking. This allows for buyer-seller communication to go on for weeks.

“It enabled us to immediately contact the people who were target markets for us and all those 5,000-plus attendants received twice-a-week information on our company,” pointed out Barbara Andrews, V.P., Putt-Pal, USA, in BtoBonline.com. “The advance work paid off with 219 booth appointments and a 300% increase in show-related sales from the prior year,” she added.

Active Relationship Network isn’t the only service out in the market to help you reel in your target customers. Laguna Beach, Calif.-based EventMingle by Specialty Match Network, also allows attendees to meet, interact, plan and engage prior to arriving to the actual event. They walk into your booth knowing exactly who they plan to see because have already set up appointments in advance. With EventMingle, attendees, exhibitors and vendors can introduce and interact with event participants prior to the event; perform effective pre-event marketing and inquiries; schedule appointments and meet with other event participants; and market goods and services to other event participants. With this unique tool, exhibitors, sponsors and attendees are all able to take control of their business development strategies in advance of the event, justify the value of participation and close more deals.

The costs for both services vary. The payment can be made by either the show’s exhibitor or the event producer. A.J. Panosko, vice president, Telecommunications Industry Association believes that the service is beneficial for both exhibitors and attendees. Even though the technology is relatively new, “attendee usage averages 60 percent,” pointed out Rick Geritz, CEO of Leverage Software in btobonline.com.

So what are you waiting for? Surf’s up. Zoom onto the information highway and see how technology can work the numbers for you.