A lead capture routine for the whole stand team
Eight steps to agree before the doors open: what counts as a lead, how to capture it in a minute, how to grade it and when to follow up.
Most leads from a trade show are lost in two places: before the show, when nobody agreed how to capture them, and after it, when the list sits in someone’s pocket for two weeks. The conversation at the stand is the part teams already do well.
This is a routine you can agree in thirty minutes, before the doors open, and write on one sheet for everyone on the stand.
1. Decide what a lead is
Write the rule down. A lead is a person with a need, a say in the decision and a next step. Everyone else is a contact: worth a thank-you, not a phone call.
Without this rule, a team of three produces three different lists. One person records everybody who took a pen. Another records only the people they want to call.
2. Prepare the material
Have the brochures or datasheets ready in the languages your visitors speak. If you exhibit at an international show, that is usually more than one. The point is to be able to send the right file at once instead of promising to “send something later”.
3. Agree one routine
Pick one way to capture, one grade rule and one list for the whole team. A shared list matters more than a clever one. If two people use two tools, someone will have to merge them in the hotel room.
4. Capture within a minute
Record the lead while the visitor is still standing there, not in the evening. By evening you remember who you spoke to and forget what they said.
A business card scan takes seconds. A paper form works too, if somebody types it in within a day. What does not work is a stack of cards in a jacket pocket.
5. Write down the one thing that matters
One sentence: the need, the timing or the promise you made. “Needs 40 units by March, wants a quote with delivery” is more useful on the first day back than a perfect company record.
6. Grade on the spot
Give every lead an A, B or C while the conversation is fresh. A rule that works for many teams:
- A: a need now or within six months, the person decides or has a say, and you agreed a next step. Call within two days.
- B: the need is later, or there is no budget yet. Send material and follow up in one to two weeks.
- C: only looking. Say thank you and nothing more.
It is a starting point, not a standard. Change the limits to fit your sales cycle, but write them down so everyone grades the same way.
7. Follow up within two days
Send the material and a short message at once. Call the A leads first. The first message can go out at the stand; the others should leave within one to two working days. The follow-up timing post has the templates.
8. Review after 30 days
Count the replies, the meetings and the deals, by show. Keep or drop the show on that evidence, and keep the same measure from one show to the next. How to count the return covers what to include.
Before and during the show: a one-sheet briefing
Print this for the team:
- What counts as a lead, in one line.
- The two or three questions to ask before pitching.
- How to capture: tool, one sentence, grade.
- What happens after the stand closes: who sends what, who calls the A leads, by when.
- Where the single list lives.
Also use the weeks before the show. Invite customers and prospects you already know, and book meetings for the accounts that would be A leads. Tell people on your website, in your email signature and on LinkedIn where you will be. Have a reason to stop at the stand, such as a demo, a sample or a question. A bowl of sweets alone gives you contacts, not leads.
Where Followbooth fits
Followbooth covers steps 4 to 7. You scan the card with the phone camera, hold a button and say the one sentence, and the brochure goes to the visitor by WhatsApp or email, in their language, while they are still at the stand. Each lead gets a short company brief and an A, B or C grade.
Some limits to know: in the browser, reading a card needs a connection. The iPhone app, which is on the App Store, saves leads on the phone without signal and sends them later. The Android app is not in Google Play yet. WhatsApp messages go out from your team’s own linked number. There are no one-click CRM connectors yet; leads leave through CSV export, an API, webhooks or Zapier (see getting trade show leads into your CRM).
Event Pass costs €149 per show (up to 3 people and 300 leads, access for 30 days after the show). Team Annual costs €790 per year (up to 5 people, unlimited shows, 1,500 leads a year). Prices exclude VAT. Where the free plan is available, you can start with 10 business card scans and no card.