--- title: Don’t Make These Lead Follow-Up Mistakes After Cheese Tech Expo description: Attending the Cheese Tech Expo this week? Don’t make these critical lead follow-up errors with the quality leads and knowledge you’ve gained. image: https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/hubfs/Blog_Photos/shutterstock_154144136.jpg --- [![Trending Up - Logo - Horizontal - Color - Inverted copy](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logos/Trending%20Up%20-%20Logo%20-%20Horizontal%20-%20Color%20-%20Inverted%20copy.png?width=210&height=70&name=Trending%20Up%20-%20Logo%20-%20Horizontal%20-%20Color%20-%20Inverted%20copy.png "Trending Up - Logo - Horizontal - Color - Inverted copy")](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/) - [SALES-READY WEBSITES](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/automated-sales-machine) - [SALES & MARKETING STRATEGY](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/marketing-strategy-for-specialty-manufacturers) - RESOURCES - [BLOG](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/manufacturing-blog) - [FREE RESOURCES](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/manufacturing-marketing-resource-center) - [MARKETING ROI CALCULATOR](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/roi-calculator) - [CASE STUDY](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/conveyor-system-manufacturer-case-study) - CONTACT - [CONTACT US](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/contact) - [CAREER CENTER](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/career-center) - [FREE MARKETING ANALYSIS](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/personalized-marketing-analysis-video) ## Smarketing Blog ## Don’t Make These Lead Follow-Up Mistakes After Cheese Tech Expo by [Benjamin Engel](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/author/benjamin-engel)![](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Ben%20Author.png?width=35&name=Ben%20Author.png) April 13, 2016 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) I had four things on my to-do list today: 1. Eat cheese 2. Smell cheese 3. Do some cheesy networking 4. **Follow up on cheesy leads** Our home-base of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is hosting the [International Cheese Technology Expo](http://www.cheeseexpo.org/) just up the road from our office this week. Our strategist has written about [prepping for tradeshows the inbound way](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/trade-shows-are-showrooms-for-your-website), but how are you planning to conduct lead follow up post-show? Or, better yet, during the show? With inbound, the final to-do item on my list isn't disa-**brie**-able at all (see what I did there?).  Don’t make these critical errors when following up on qualified leads.  ## ![Don't make these cheesy lead follow-up mistakes.](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Photos/Cheese_Tech_Expo_post_banner_800x400.png?width=750&name=Cheese_Tech_Expo_post_banner_800x400.png "Don't make these cheesy lead follow-up mistakes.") ## Mistake #1: Following Up Too Late Whether you’re part of a team managing a booth at Cheese Tech Expo or an attendee interacting with potential leads, following up is essential to the successful close of these leads. But there is a very short window in which it makes sense to do your follow-up. They will either forget that they talked to you, or move on to solve another problem, if you wait too long. After all, they've given you **parmesan** (oh yeah, they keep getting better) to follow-up with them - why wait? Here’s what I recommend: - **Follow them on social media** like Twitter immediately (same day, preferably within the first four hours of meeting them). - **Send a follow-up email** immediately (preferably the same day, but at the very least, within the first two days after the show ends). - If they gave you their phone number, **call them** (any time in  the first four days after the trade show has ended). ## Mistake #2: Assuming Everyone Wants a Demo Just because a qualified lead (in your mind) stopped by your booth to talk, it doesn’t mean they’re ready to see a demonstration of your product at first sign of follow-up. They may still be at the very top of the buyer’s journey, in research mode - not yet ready to consider your solution or make a decision on a provider. Make sure you’re doing **grate** consultative work, asking the right questions both at the booth and in your follow-up call, to help you determine this: - When did you start researching potential solutions? - What have you been learning so far about solutions to your problem, X? - What is it costing you right now to not have a solution in place? - Do other people in the company feel the pain of not having a solution, or is your team the main one affected right now? ## Mistake #3: No Plan in Place for Continuing Communication with Qualified Leads ![Youve gouda brie kidding me.](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Photos/tumblr_static_8cp0mpganfokkk0sgo4os0gsg_640_v2.png?width=300&name=tumblr_static_8cp0mpganfokkk0sgo4os0gsg_640_v2.png "Youve gouda brie kidding me.")If you’re walking away from a trade show like Cheese Tech Expo with some great leads but no plan in place to follow-up, you’re likely to fail at closing them. They're **nachos** yet! You need a communication plan for follow-up. Typically, it’ll look something like this: - Immediately follow the lead on Twitter - Email them within 2-3 days of the initial contact. - Follow up with a phone call in 2 days - how did they like the piece? Do they have any questions? Schedule a discovery call. - Email them confirming the next scheduled call. Offer a recent related blog post. - At the discovery call, **ask many, many questions**. You get the picture. Planning out your tactics for closing the lead make it a much more likely possibility. I wrote a blog post recently about [nurturing leads and how a lead-nurturing strategy works](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/b2b-construction-companies-use-lead-nurturing-to-stay-top-of-mind). I hope you’ll check it out for more specifics. In addition, I've written about how a manufacturing company can use our proven [empowered sales methodology](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/focus-on-buyer-part-2-why-manufacturing-needs-inbound-sales-enablement) to close quality leads that have been nurtured - very related to this topic. ## Mistake #4: Not Offering Additional Educational Information ![All I wanted was INFO!](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Photos/shutterstock_154144136.jpg?width=320&name=shutterstock_154144136.jpg "All I wanted was INFO!")The last thing you want to do is continually email or call a lead but have nothing to offer them to further their research. If you’re offering a demonstration of your product, that’s great - but what if they’re just not ready to make a decision yet? You’ll end up with a quality lead and nothing to contact them about for the next six months to keep them warm. Consider working together with your marketing team to [create relevant content](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/create-relevant-content-for-measurable-marketing-strategy-results) for those quality leads that you can offer them, both at Cheese Tech Expo and beyond, such as: - Relevant blog posts - A related ebook - A problem-solving spreadsheet   **If you’re experiencing pain points related to [aligning your sales and marketing efforts](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/smarketing) when it comes to trade shows, content marketing, or anything else, we’d love to help. [Download this free ebook](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/educational-resources/b2b-inbound-marketing-secrets-revealed) on how to make your outbound marketing efforts more efficient through inbound methods.** **If you’re ready to make a change yesterday, [contact us for a free assessment today!](https://www.julcreative.com/sign-up-free-digital-inbound-marketing-assessment?utm_campaign=cheesetechexpo&utm_source=tradeshow)** Topics: [Marketing for B2B](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/topic/marketing-for-b2b) [Improving Close Ratio](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/topic/improving-close-ratio) ### About the Author: ### [Benjamin Engel](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/blog/author/benjamin-engel) ![](https://www.trendingupstrategy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Ben%20Author.png?width=100&name=Ben%20Author.png) Benjamin Y. Engel is the president and founder of Trending Up. His past experience includes the co-ownership and presidency of an overhead door, loading dock and window distributer, and portfolio company management and financial modeling with a private equity fund focused on buyouts and providing growth capital to small business and low middle market companies. He is a lifelong learner, lover of music, and coach to his kids and other business professionals, especially entrepreneurs. Benjamin is also a focused volunteer, focused on promoting, organizing and assisting with work that furthers entrepreneurship, financial literacy and homeownership in the Milwaukee community. [LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminengel) [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/benjaminengel) ## Something Powerful ### Tell The Reader More The headline and subheader tells us what you're offering, and the form header closes the deal. Over here you can explain why your offer is so great it's worth filling out a form for. 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