The Show is Over… Or IS IT?
Posted by poorrichardspromos on April 18, 2008

This entry is from Part #6 of the 7 Deadly Mistakes Exhibitors Make When Purchasing Promotional Products For Trade Shows - “No Follow Up”

The Show is Over… Or IS IT?

Hall of Famer Yogi Berra was talking about baseball when made the famous statement, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” but he could have easily been talking about trade show promotions.

You know feeling at the final hour, right? Phewfff… it’s over. If you are like most exhibitors, you pack up your booth and your leftover trade show giveaways and wait until the next show to market again. But here’s the truth - companies that get the BEST results will market continuously to the contacts they met at the show until the start of the next show the following year.

I’ll rephrase Yogi for trade show purposes. “It ain’t over till… next year’s show starts!”

Don’t Drop The Ball

If you think it’s nothing, think again. The most successful exhibitors continue to build on their original presentation with consistent follow up. And they do it along many different channels.

Picture it like this. Have you ever spun a basketball on your index finger? Well, when you leave the show the ball is spinning and the momentum from that first contact will keep the ball on your finger for a short time.

But remember - in order to keep that momentum, you must tap the ball or it will fall off your finger. Just little taps every so often will help the ball spin forever. The same goes for your prospects.

Don’t forget - once you lose momentum and the ball falls off – you’re back to starting from scratch.

Post show follow up is essential to maximizing results. It makes all the difference between a successful show and a mediocre show. Thinking last year’s show was a bust? Asking yourself if you should even bother doing it again this year? Well before you answer, take a hard look at how your follow up was. If you didn’t get the results you were looking for, there’s a good chance the ball was dropped in your post show follow up.