A Standard Lead Survey That Sales Will Actually Use
No single tool collects every lead at every show, and that will probably stay true. Each organiser uses a different registration company, and the devices and data formats differ. So the best bet is to standardise the part you can control: your questions, your fields and what happens next.
Start with the sales team
Ask the people who will make the calls what they need to decide whether a lead deserves one. Usually it comes down to a handful of things: what the visitor is interested in, when they might buy and what part they play in the decision. Everything else is curiosity, and curiosity costs booth time.
A simple question set
| Question | Answer type |
|---|---|
| Product interest | Pick from four or five |
| Timeframe | This quarter, this year, later, none |
| Role | Decides, influences, researches |
| Follow-up wanted | Call, email, nothing |
| Note | One line, free text |
Match your fields to your CRM
Use the same field names and the same answer values as your CRM. Export a test file from the device before the show and try an import. Almost every lead device can export a comma-separated file that opens in a spreadsheet, and that plain format is your friend. Decide on the mapping once, and you will not repeat the work after every event.
Set the post-show process now
Write down who receives the file, who cleans it and how quickly the first message goes out. Agree a target such as 48 hours for your top-rated leads, and report on it. People tend to do what gets measured.
Keep ratings simple
Staff are busy and tired by the second afternoon, so ask for one quick rating. Our article on poker odds and lead value explains why a simple grade, given in the moment, beats a long form filled in later. A card player's habit of noting how often a judgement proved right is also worth adopting. Review the grades against actual orders after a year and adjust your definitions.
Once the same survey runs across all your events, you can finally compare one show with another on equal terms, which is the point of the whole exercise.