Rarely do we take an article direct from another source, however I think this information is very important to all exhibitors and I do not know how many of you read Exhibit City News online, www.exhibitcitynews.com. Please take a minute to read this.
Written by Exhibit City News

Tradeshow attendees are frustrated with the lack of follow up at tradeshows, according to a Bartizan Connects LinkedIn poll recently made public. The poll asked, "As a tradeshow attendee, what is your reaction when an exhibitor fails to follow up with you?”

Of the 337 respondents, the majority said they were left with negative feelings after an exhibitor failed to follow up with them post show. Additionally, 9 percent were negative toward both the exhibitor and the event and a whopping 31 percent of those negative respondents qualified themselves as having a very negative reaction to the lack of follow up.

Of the attendees, 38 percent said they were "Somewhat negative toward the exhibitor" and 26 percent were "Very negative toward the exhibitor." Another 9 percent were "Negative toward the exhibitor and the event" and 5 percent were "Very negative to exhibitor and event." Only 22 percent answered "I don’t give it a thought."

By a huge margin, the overall results mark the expectation that when the public attends a show, exhibitors will follow up with them, particularly if they have expressed an interest in their offering.

"The survey reveals that attendees are irritated by lack of follow up," said Lew Hoff, president, Bartizan Connects. "This reflects the importance of gathering qualified leads at tradeshows in a more simplified way. Tradeshow organizers need to facilitate better follow up for their exhibitors."

Bartizan Connects’ team continually seeks feedback from users to improve its lead retrieval products, including iLeads, the breakthrough lead retrieval app for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and the Android OS. iLeads makes it easy to add notes, surveys and qualifiers to leads collected at tradeshows, making the leads more valuable for sales.

"As a tradeshow attendee you make the time to gather information at a show and to meet new vendors," said Elizabeth Mazei, executive vice president & COO, Bartizan Connects. "When an exhibitor fails to follow up with you, they are missing an opportunity to make a sale and lowering their ROI at the show. At our very first iLeads event, nearly 80 percent of the leads gathered had notes attached to them. Simply stated, a prioritized lead improves exhibitor follow up."