CHICAGO — One of the hottest buzzwords of 2025 and so far in 2026 has been “proving ROI” in the trade show industry. But what do exhibitors need to actually prove ROI, and how can event organizers provide support and solutions that really make a difference?
In order to better understand the challenges and opportunities that exist for exhibitors looking to prove ROI from events and improve their lead follow-up — and find out how show organizers can support those efforts — Trade Show Executive connected with Robyn Davis, CPTD, CEM, Owner of Exhibitors WINH.
MADDY: In your work with exhibitors, what do you find to be the biggest challenges they have around lead qualification and follow up?
ROBYN: Qualifying conversations should be structured differently at trade shows, in comparison to what you’d expect in “the real world,” and many exhibitors aren’t prepared properly for that. In my observation, one of the biggest challenges that trips exhibitors up in qualifying is that they’ll rate an attendee higher based on enthusiasm, rather than facts. Just because someone’s excited to talk with you doesn’t mean they’re a hot lead. Exhibitors need clearly defined categories for leads and a simple process for booth staffers to follow consistently for qualifying and note taking.
For follow up, the biggest challenge is typically bandwidth. Exhibitors are running from one show to the next and trying to manage all of their other ongoing responsibilities at the same time. As a result, they often delegate follow up, and their team members follow their regular outreach processes instead of a trade-show-specific sequence. Instead, I recommend exhibitors take responsibility for leading their follow up process, as they did for pre-show marketing, and then delegate ongoing communications after following up is complete. This way, exhibitors ensure they’re taking full advantage of the momentum they built before and during their trade show, rather than cutting their opportunity short.
MADDY: How do these challenges impact how exhibitors view the show they’re participating in?
ROBYN: A lot of exhibitors don’t realize other types of value, beyond sales or leads, are available to them, let alone how to quantify that value, so they judge the worth of their participation on those easy-to-count metrics, like sales and leads, plus any warm, fuzzy feelings. This means they aren’t getting a true picture on-site and will likely struggle to make decisions related to satisfaction and retention in the timely manner that’s expected by organizers.
The bigger problem, in my opinion, is many exhibitors aren’t clear on which parts of the process are their responsibility vs. their organizer’s. So, instead of feeling empowered to do their best and then continue to do even better, they feel helpless and guess that the show just wasn’t a good fit — or worse, complain that the show is “dying” and the organizer is bad at their job.
For example, if exhibitors are expecting sales or leads that turn into sales, but they don’t get them, they may think it’s because the show didn’t attract the right buyers. Exhibitors often don’t realize the real problem is that they didn’t qualify their booth visitors properly, so their expectations were off. Exhibitors might blame the show for low attendance when there wasn’t enough quality traffic; but the real problem may be that the exhibitors don’t know there’s a difference between attendee acquisition and quality traffic generation. The right people were at the event, but the exhibitor didn’t do their part to get those attendees into their booth.
Exhibitors aren’t blaming the show maliciously. They just don’t know any better.
A lot of exhibitors at the shows I support have longer sales cycles, so sales isn’t as much of an immediate issue, but if they can’t tell they’re making progress show-after-show and they don’t have any other value types to justify their participation, that’s a problem.
MADDY: You also work with organizers and have a good understanding of the full ecosystem. When you’re thinking about this issue around lead follow-up, what do exhibitors think organizers should help them more with? And what can organizers actually do to make a difference for their exhibitors in this area?
ROBYN: Some exhibitors think their organizers will give them a complete attendee list, along with the registration data and other insights about the attendees. I’ve seen this happen at smaller events on occasion, so maybe that’s where the exhibitors are coming from, but hardly ever at large trade shows.
The problem with this expectation, aside from their disappointment when exhibitors learn that’s not happening at your trade show, is that scammers swoop in to offer “the list” when the show doesn’t. We all know it isn’t the real list. How could it be when registration hasn’t even opened? And there are good legal/privacy-related reasons why the organizer doesn’t share theirs, but exhibitors feel desperate, so they get scammed.
Fortunately, there are a bunch of things organizers can do to help their exhibitors well in advance.
First, empower exhibitors to make smart choices. Be transparent about what’s available and what isn’t, including why it isn’t. That way, exhibitors can adjust their plans accordingly. Some organizers have started setting up digital badges for their official suppliers; that can help exhibitors feel more confident in any services they are considering. Other organizers do offer ways for exhibitors to communicate with attendees through an e-blast, postcard or advertisement. While still more don’t offer any of that, they do take the time to educate their exhibitors on what attendees expect and simple, cost-effective ways exhibitors can provide that.
Next, seek out the benchmarking data your organization can share. Not every organizer can share everything, but surely there’s some data you can provide. Even if it’s just the media approved attendance data or your own observations, that can give exhibitors a better sense of where they stand. If you survey your attendees (or receive unsolicited feedback from your attendees), pass that along to exhibitors when appropriate. Exhibitors want to do a good job, but with so many competing priorities, they need more motivation to do the right things now. Hearing from attendees directly, on a panel, or indirectly through an organizer’s story, may give exhibitors just enough encouragement to make time now vs. later.
Finally, just as organizers create logos, templates and social sharing graphics for use before the show, they could also be doing the same after and, for that matter, year-round. I don’t see this often, but I do think it could be beneficial for everyone. When we start thinking about audience interaction as something we’re doing together as organizers, exhibitors, etc., we can create a bigger impact. It’s especially important that any support whether it’s assets or advice starts before your trade show begins.
Sometimes, it’s the shift in timing — thinking about follow up before a show vs. waiting until after — that makes all the difference. That way, exhibitors aren’t already behind when they remember they’re supposed to follow up; they have time to be proactive and doing the right things feels attainable.
MADDY: What are some of the best tools that have been provided to exhibitors by organizers that you’ve seen that relate to lead capture, qualification/scoring and follow up?
ROBYN: Some of the shows I work with include a complimentary activation of lead retrieval for certain exhibitors, like new exhibitors or members of their organization. That said, some lead retrieval services are more helpful than others. The most important part is ensuring exhibitors can take notes quickly and clearly; if notetaking isn’t an option, scanning badges becomes more like buying a list. I prefer the services that include an option to set up surveys or custom qualifiers, as exhibitors who understand that process can expedite their notetaking, and help their team stay on track during their interactions.
I know some shows that offer tools to automate these processes (e.g. recording conversations for AI-generated notes or sending collateral through lead retrieval as soon as an attendee is scanned), but personally, I don’t recommend those solutions as broadly as others do.
That said, there is a new-ish tool where organizers can send attendees a list of the exhibitors they visited. Doing so is a big help to attendees, and it puts a little extra positive pressure on exhibitors to follow up. I’d like to see this at more trade shows.
Plus, just like the pre-show marketing e-blasts, postcards and advertising options, offering similar services post-show can be very helpful to exhibitors, especially those who joined late and didn’t get to take advantage of all of the earlier offerings. They’re even more helpful when exhibitors receive good advice on how to best utilize these communications, based on their unique situation and audience segment.
Speaking of earlier offerings, another type of tool that an organizer can offer is strategic training and consulting, whether it’s through someone like me or even within their own team, if they have the bandwidth/expertise.
Training sessions that teach exhibitors what to do, when and how can be a great starting point. In those sessions, don’t forget to include notes on how to justify the cost, in time and money, with their internal team and any other little extra tips for where exhibitors often get stuck, especially on the logistics side. I think the logistics should feel like the easy part. Strategy is where exhibitors should spend more of their time and attention.
Then, consulting sessions are a great time to work with exhibitors on applying what they’ve learned. When organizers gift my services to exhibitors, exhibitors will share their screen with me so we can make sure their lead retrieval is set up properly. Or, they’ll send me the templates they’re planning to use for their follow up and we’ll tweak them together.
It’s pretty cool to see the difference we can make with just 20 minutes together!
MADDY: When it comes to exhibitor education around following up with leads after events, what would you say are the top three tips or steps they need to take to be successful post-show?
ROBYN: Exhibitors should finalize their follow up plan before they leave the trade show to go home, and ideally, before they arrive in the convention city. If they don’t have a plan before their show is over, it will be practically impossible to do their follow up properly, in a timely manner.
Another important task is to schedule the initial touch point with every booth visitor within 24-48 hours after the show is over. I know this can feel pushy to some exhibitors, but it’s actually helpful. If you wait until sometime after that, your visitors will have to wonder if you’re going to follow up and, in some cases, go out of their way to follow up with you first. When you send a text message, LinkedIn connection request, or video message right after your show, your new connection can choose to open and respond to that whenever they’d like, but they don’t have to wait or wonder how to get in touch when they’re ready.
Finally, I recommend a “value add” approach to all trade show-related communications. This means, especially with your subsequent touch points, instead of “just checking in,” you’ll focus on creating a natural progression from adding value before and during your show to whatever your long-term process is. Follow up is an exhibitor’s last chance to take advantage of the momentum they created for their trade show, so you don’t want to waste it being a pest. Anticipating attendee needs and fulfilling them proactively is a great differentiator and way to strengthen your reputation.
To learn more about the lead follow-up problem, click here.
