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It's not how many warm business cards you collect at an exhibition, but how you turn them into cold cash.

For the sales team an exhibition can be hard work, on your feet the whole time, being monopolized by those who stop by your stand looking for a job or wanting help on their 'A' level marketing projects. You get a quick sense of whether a visitor wants to sell you something, or is just looking to win the iPod by dropping their business card in the fishbowl.

Hopefully, squeezed between these are some serious business leads requiring a fast customer follow up that will lead to successful appointment setting.

A common problem is that exhibition follow up becomes low priority after the event. Back in the office there is catch up-after all, you've been away for the last few days. Then there is the day job. The business leads picked up at the exhibition, start their journey from your briefcase, to your desk, into your to-do tray, and finally hidden at the back of your desk drawer.  At each degree of separation from the exhibition, the chance diminishes that customer follow up will actually happen.  And that means the chance of ever doing business becomes unlikely.

What is likely is that your competitors were also exhibiting and your prospect visited them as well. If they were on the ball with their exhibition follow up, by the time you jump in, it will be too late. If you wait for a slow day to call 6 weeks later, you'll be lucky if the prospect remembers you. Chances are they will be insulted that you only just got around to them.

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