One of the most important components of a successful trade show marketing program is lead management. By all means...you must:

• Develop a program between marketing and sales that will train your trade show staff to recognize the importance of quality over quantity when generating leads at the show.
• Take a look at your in-house resources. Before the show, put the necessary resources ... whether they are in-house or contracted ... into place for follow up after the show, so your plan can spring to action as soon as the leads hit home.
• Put together a lead retrieval program that will ensure your trade show staff comes home with all the information they worked so hard to gather. Create a specific procedure for gathering leads and make it one person's responsibility to transmit the data back to headquarters.

DON'T collect every passerby as a lead. They are just attendees. Think about how you want to qualify and collect your data.

Your exhibit supplier should have tips for you on this. Customize for each show. Talk to the professionals at ExhibitCraft who have done this with their clients thousands of times.