 It's been a busy week on the trade show floor and all you want to do is take a couple of days off But unfortunately your work's not done yet. We're gonna talk about what to do after the trade show is over today Welcome to the pantry whether you attend exhibitions and trade shows as an exhibitor or an attendee There's a lot of follow-up that is required after the trade show to ensure that you're getting a good return on your investment Your investment being time spent on the trade show floor and of course the cost of exhibiting at a trade show So I have some tips and tricks coming up about following up after the trade show for both exhibitors themselves and for attendees as an attendee your ROI on a trade show is really a return on the investment of your time spent on the trade show floor with your different suppliers and vendors You're going to the trade show to learn about new things in the industry new services and products that are out there But if you don't bring that knowledge back to your office and start employing that knowledge into your day-to-day Practices then the return on your time spent on the trade show floor is going to be minimal So here are some things that I would love to see you do in the follow-up after a trade show number one Scan your business cards. I alluded to this in the post about getting ready to go to a trade show It's so important to ensure that the business cards you collect on the trade show floor are In a place where you can find the information easily afterwards. I like to scan my cards into Evernote However, people do use cam card and say great things about cam card if you still use a Rolodex That's fantastic as well But make sure that they're filed away in a place where you can find the information easily now It's day one after the trade show today And if you just don't have time to get those cards scanned not to worry But do what I do perhaps and put a binder clip around all of the cards and even a little sticky note on here that says What trade show you collected these cards at on the off chance? You can't get around to scanning all the cards at least you'll be able to find the card in this stack With the binder clip around it thrown in into one of your desk drawers Tip number two Catalog your notes into your CRM if you don't use a CRM or content relation manager system Maybe even just catalog them into some word document software that you have Getting your notes down does a few things It helps you retain the information from all the vendors that you learned over the week But it's easy then to access and even send to potential clients or colleagues If they need the information that you gathered when you were on the trade show floor so take 20 minutes today and jot all of your notes down into a Document retrieval system to ensure that you can find them easily Tip number three Create some content in the world of social media and every organization having some blogging platform of some sort It's so easy to create valuable content based on the things that you learned on the trade show floor So start creating some content that you can either get out to your customers be it via email or a blog post or a newsletter and little social media soundbites like tweets and Instagram posts Again, it reinforces the information with you and helps you retain the information But now you're seeing is kind of an industry expert because you're retaining all of this new knowledge And you are distributing it to your network So create content with all the information that you found this week Tip number four and this is my favorite one is to reach out to suppliers I know the reverse is usually true and the vendors do some follow-up with you as Their customer after the trade show is over But I encourage you to actually do the opposite and reach out to the vendors first number one Thank them for their time It's very time-consuming for them to be on the trade show floor and it likely cost them and their organization a lot of money So thank them from being on the trade show floor number two It keeps you top of mind with those particular suppliers So if you're in a product or service driven industry that has some financial incentives or promotions coming up When you reach out to them your top of mind so the next time they do have a promotion Perhaps you're one of the select few to receive that promotion number three. It's just good business Call it what you will career connections or social networking Being top of mind with your vendors is just as important as being a top of mind with your colleagues and your industry peers so reach out to them thank them for their time and Stay on top of the information that you receive from them as a trade show exhibitor The things I outlined for the attendees would be very very similar for you as well But there are some subtle differences So I'd love to go over some of the tips and tricks that would be a little bit different if you were an exhibitor versus a trade show attendee Number one and same with attendees Make sure you scan those cards get them into your system the binder clip idea If that's going to work for you over the next couple months don't lose this valuable pack of contact information Tip number two make sure that each of these guys has their own lead in your CRM So assuming that you're tracking down leads and prospects via an electronic content relation manager system Make sure they're in there and you've started a paper trail where you met that person What you talked about the next steps everything make sure it's in your system So that's going to be the time-consuming piece is going through this stack and making sure that all the information as it pertains to That person and the follow-up is in your CRM for the weeks ahead Tip number three Email them so follow up with them via email But the things you share with them in your email look a little bit different than the things perhaps an attendee would share with an exhibitor If number one restate, what's important to that particular client? Chances are you have a roster of services Within your organization, but you probably didn't address all of them with that particular contact So restate what was important to them the things that they found really interesting and valuable about your product or service and Make put it in writing make sure it's down in writing because who knows maybe your attendee didn't take good notes And now they're relying on you to take the good notes and send it to them in this follow-up email Number two let them know what sets you apart from your competition Chances are your competition was also at the same trade show Giving them the same song and dance and now they're see receiving the exact same follow-up email Make sure you set yourself apart from the competition Be it something in your product your service the way you deliver service and value Something that they know that they can remember you by and your booth Potentially by in the weeks ahead after the trade show is over Number three make sure your email has that follow-up action statement be it a follow-up phone call a follow-up email visit Make sure there's an action statement something that the contact needs to react to and let you know That they are aware that you're going to reach out again I did a blog post not too long ago about email tips and tricks and having an action statement is Definitely one of the top things you should have in every single email communication that you craft So those are the follow-up tips for your clients and prospects But there is one more thing that you can do as well as an exhibitor number four create content Chances are you got a lot of feedback from your clients and prospects About things that really work within your organization or perhaps things that don't work This is your chance to create improvements make improvements in your department or Create valuable content for your existing clients and prospects So take all of that feedback Create interesting sound bites emails newsletters get that information out to your existing client database and build on it for your Perspective client database as well the return on investment for you being at the trade show is only as good as your follow-up So, please do take some time in the next couple weeks to ensure that your follow-up is strong with your clients and Prospects and your follow-up is strong with the suppliers that you saw at the trade show For more productivity tips for a hotel and DMO sales professionals check out my website at productivity pantry.com There you can sign up for my newsletter, so you never have to miss a post Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time