I Did Something Different Today for Lead Generation

At 8 AM, I found myself extremely far south in one of our open territories for an appointment. The appointment went well with a net new prospect that is having a terrible time with their existing vendor. Yes, it was a Xerox, and yes, the service and support were terrible.

When the meeting ended, I found myself an hour away from Atlantic City in New Jersey. Just so happens there was an AEC trade show event there at the Hard Rock Casino. Since the AEC (Architects, Engineers, and Construction) is in my wheelhouse for hunting wide format opportunities.

While I was in the parking lot of my net new prospect, I accessed the trade show's website and purchased admission for $50. A few days ago, I visited their site and reviewed the list of 100 plus vendors, also known as exhibitors. I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some booth-to-booth prospecting, especially since it was a cold day in March.

The Plan

I had some interest in knowing more about this event and if it might be a good fit for Stratix next year to exhibit our wide format MFPs. I really didn't want to hand out brochures or business cards because I thought that would be unprofessional since they were looking for leads.

I walked the show floor three or four times until I decided on the pitch I would use. The pitch was rather simple as I asked those in the booth how the show was going for them. My next question asked if they've attended this event before and if so, how many times. I then followed with telling them that I'm interested in attending next year with a booth. In most cases, I was then asked what I sell? Thus, the talk track went to a conversation about the services that we offered that then opened me up to ask them about types of devices that they have and who the contact person would be.

Walk Away

Out of the 100 or so vendors, I walked away with 15 decent contacts with DMs, devices they have, contact people, and where they are located. A few of these prospects I was never able to get the right time of day with cold calls or emails.

The end result was the four hours I spent at the show and the three hours of driving were well worth the time and the effort. Keep in mind that all of this work will be worthless if I don't follow up in a timely manner.