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Lead retrieval app for exhibitors: what it does and how to choose

Lead retrieval is how an exhibitor records who visited the stand. A lead retrieval app does it on your phone: you scan a badge or a business card, add a note, and export the contact afterwards. This guide explains the options and where Followbooth fits.

What lead retrieval means

At a trade show, lead retrieval means capturing the contact details of the people who stop at your stand, together with what you learned about them. The term is often used for the system the organizer offers to exhibitors: visitors wear a badge with a code, and you scan it with a rented scanner or a licensed app.

A lead retrieval system can also be a tool you choose yourself. It is not tied to one show, so it works wherever you exhibit.

An organizer system or an app you choose

The organizer's lead retrieval system

  • Reads the code on the visitor's badge and returns the details they gave when they registered.
  • Usually sold or rented per device for one show.
  • Only available at shows that offer it; the leads are often exported from the organizer's portal.

An app you choose yourself

  • Works at any show, including shows with no lead retrieval.
  • Reads a business card or the text printed on a badge, so the contact details come from the visitor.
  • You decide the notes, the follow-up and the price model: per show, per year or per user.

What to check before you choose one

  • What it captures: the badge code, the business card, or both.
  • What you can add to a lead: a typed or spoken note, a rating, your own questions.
  • What happens after the scan: whether anything is sent to the visitor, and when your team sees the lead.
  • How leads leave the app: a CSV export, a CRM connector, or only a list from the organizer after the show.
  • Whether it works without a signal on the show floor, and what is saved if the connection drops.
  • The price model and who needs a licence: per device, per person, per show or per year.
  • Where the data is stored, how consent is recorded, and whether you can delete a lead on request.

Where Followbooth fits

Followbooth is a lead retrieval app that works from the business card and from what you say. At the stand it works in four steps.

  1. Scan the card

    Point the phone camera at the card. AI reads name, company, email and phone. Printed name badges work too.

  2. Say what you talked about

    Hold a button and speak for a few seconds. The note is transcribed and saved with the lead.

  3. It goes out

    If the number is on WhatsApp, the brochures go there. If not, they go by email. Files are picked by the visitor's language.

  4. Call the right people first

    Each lead gets a short company brief, an A, B or C grade and a suggested way to open the call.

Demo data

Followbooth app on an iPhone: the scanner screen with a camera frame, a switch between business card and QR code, and a Card scanner button. Demo data.
Scan a card or a QR code
Followbooth app on an iPhone: the list of leads on the phone, each with the event, the time and whether it is on the server or its materials were delivered. Demo data.
Leads on the phone, with delivery status
Followbooth app on an iPhone: the My business card screen with a name, a job title, a company and a QR code to show to the visitor. Demo data.
Your business card as a QR code

Followbooth does not replace the organizer's system if you need the registration data behind the badge code. Many teams use both: the organizer's scanner for the badge data, and Followbooth for the conversation and the follow-up.

What Followbooth does not do today

No native CRM connectors yet (CSV export, an API, webhooks and Zapier instead), no badge barcode scanning, and the native apps are not in the stores yet: the iPhone app, which works without signal, is in testing, and the Android app is coming to Google Play. In the browser, reading a card needs a connection. WhatsApp messages go out from your team's own linked number; an official WhatsApp Business route is planned.

Prices

Start free with 10 business card scans, no card needed. Prices exclude VAT.

Event Pass: €149 per show
Up to 3 people and 300 leads, with access for 30 days after the show. For teams that exhibit a few times a year.
Team Annual: €790 per year
Up to 5 people, unlimited shows and 1,500 leads a year, then €0.30 per lead. Includes QR file groups for every show and a data processing agreement.

Questions about lead retrieval

What is the difference between lead retrieval and lead capture?

In practice they describe the same job: recording who visited the stand. Lead retrieval is the trade-show term and often means the organizer's badge-scanning system. Lead capture also covers apps you choose yourself.

Do I need the organizer's lead retrieval if I use another app?

Not always. If you only need the people you actually talk to, an app that reads business cards is enough. If you want the registration data attached to each badge, use the organizer's system. You can also use both.

Can a lead retrieval app work without internet at the stand?

Some can, so ask the vendor and test it in the hall. The Followbooth iPhone app, which is in testing now, reads the card on the phone and saves the lead without signal, and sends it when the connection returns. In the browser, reading a card needs a connection.

How much does lead retrieval cost?

Organizers set their own prices, so the cost depends on the show. Followbooth costs €149 for one show or €790 for a year, excluding VAT, and you can start free.

Related pages

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