Immediate Steps: Marketing After The Conference

Keep the momentum going after a conference by getting in contact with the leads you've collected. Usually when collecting business cards, the information on the cards is current. So, why not contact your prospects immediately after the day's event? A simple, 'thanks for coming by the booth,' or 'good to meet you,' will suffice. You should include a link to information on the Web, or attach marketing documents. Immediate follow up tends to make a good impression on your prospects.

If the person you met didn't offer an email address, you should mail a similar message in the post. Also send post message to those who you've already emailed. When considering that about 70% of emails are screened by spam filtering software, you can't be sure that your email message has reached your prospect. A second message by another message may increase your odds of reaching the intended recipient.

When preparing to go to a conference, bring along some pre-addressed overnight mailers. Then you can send your leads directly back to the office each night. Next it's time to do the data entry work. If the people at your home office are too busy with other tasks, you may want to contact a temp agency to find someone with appropriate skills who's ready to report to the job within an hour or two.

Once you have the new prospects entered into the CRM system, set a time to call them. Give prospects a few days to return home and get back to work. You can maximize the productivity of these calls by scheduling them in a set of around ten calls, keeping distractions at a minimum. Scheduling the time in the middle of the morning tends to work best. The best part is that these aren't cold calls; instead, they are follow up calls to prospects who have already exhibited a prerequisite interest in your product or service.

When making the calls, be sure to introduce yourself by stating your full name and company. Ask if you've reached them at a good time; this is courteous and by this you can determine if you've reached them at a time that is good for them. If you haven't, you can just ask the prospect when would be a better time to get in touch with them. The purpose of the call is to realize the prospect's motivation for attending the conference and stopping by your booth. The answers you receive could help you realize the prospect's situation, and their likelihood of making a purchase in the future.

Research indicates that only about 25% of purchases happen within the first six months after making contact. About 50% take a year or more. By staying in contact with your prospects by relatively inexpensive methods such as postcards or email, you could save on expenses; save the marketing calls for your most qualified leads alone.

When creating a marketing communications campaign, you should be able to answer some basic questions such as, 'Why do I need your services?,' 'Why should I select your company over some of your competitors?,' and 'What are the primary reasons why I should make a purchase from your company?'

It will be possible for you to reach success in your sales goals by reaching the right prospects with the right offer at the right time. This can be attained by maintaining ongoing follow up communications on a consistent schedule of follow up.

Article Source: http://www.contentspool.com

M. H. "Mac" McIntosh is described by many as one of America's leading business-to-business marketing and sales consultants and an expert on sales leads. www.sales-lead-experts.com.

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