Schedule Post-Trade Show Follow Up On Your Calendar. Make immediate contact your HIGHEST priority when you return to the office. Use your calendar to block out the morning you return to the office to complete sales follow up. Think of new contacts like really good French baguettes. By tomorrow they’re stale. Before going through the mountain of mail, the volumes of voicemail or the never ending email, tackle your trade show follow up. You may need to hang a sign on your office door saying you are unavailable (just as you would be if you were out at a meeting). Hire a temp (or have an assistant on hand) to help you handle the extra workload. Sound expensive? Compare it against the lost Disney opportunity…enough said. There is a flow to new business development and new business relationships. Keeping the momentum going and delivering what you promised, when you promised it, is a critical component to successfully adding new clients to your roster. If, for some reason, you cannot send the information, the samples or execute the phone call when you promised, make sure to COMMUNICATE. A simple email letting someone know when you will fulfill your promise fills the bill. Then, be sure to adhere to your promised timeline.

Some people tell me they think following up quickly is a sign of desperation. Not true! There’s a difference between Please meet with me…please, please, please!!!! (desperation) and I am calling to follow up on our conversation this past Monday. Here is an example of how we can help you to achieve your goals (buttoned up). Prompt response and follow up is respected by decision makers. It conveys that you are interested in their businesses and lays the foundation for relationships of trust. In a detail oriented business, demonstrating your ability to deliver the details matters. This is not the time to play hard to get.

Some people want to wait for a few days to give the decision maker time to “dig out from under”. Why? Isn’t that one of the best times to catch the prospect at his/her desk? The long discussion may need to wait for a few days but you can certainly ask for a time on the calendar for a meeting or conference call.

A few people tell me they strategically lump trade show contacts with other prospects they are pursuing and then call in priority order. With this line of thinking it could take weeks to follow up with a new contact. Revisit the French baguette analogy. What will it look like weeks later?

In the course of your many conversations at a trade show, you may uncover an opportunity for another person in your company. Apply the Golden Rule. Treat this as you would want a co-worker to treat an opportunity of yours. Immediately communicate all details to your colleague, as if it were a job share. Include information about the opportunity, the level of priority and when the prospect is expecting follow up to occur.

Update: Join Pat Iyer and Gary Bronga for a stimulating webinar on getting the most from exhibiting at trade shows: Time Tested Tips for Tradeshow Exhibiting.. This webinar is part of our all new Marketing Course . Take advantage of our Early Bird Discount by enrolling before January 2, 2011.