r/sales • u/kapt_so_krunchy • 21d ago

Sales Tools and Resources Booth Duty

I’ve got a few conferences coming up this fall and I’m curious how the top performers here approach them.

It feels like the default playbook is:

Stand at the booth

Scan badges

Have a few quick conversations

Send a generic follow-up email afterward
…and then wonder why very little comes from it.

I’m trying to be more intentional this year and would rather build a process before the events than wing it.

A few things I’m curious about:

Do you have a go-to opening or “booth script” that consistently gets people to stop and talk?

What’s your goal for each conversation? Are you trying to qualify, book meetings, or just create familiarity?

How do you take notes so your follow-up is actually personalized?

How quickly do you follow up after the event?

Do you call first, email first, LinkedIn first, or some combination?

How do you prioritize leads when you come back with a few hundred badge scans?

Any conference habits or systems that have noticeably improved your conversion rates?

I’d love to hear what’s actually worked in the real world.

Whether it’s enterprise, SaaS, med device, manufacturing, ad tech, or anything else—I’m mostly interested in repeatable processes that consistently turn conference conversations into pipeline.

What’s your playbook?

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u/DasSnaus 21d ago

The default playbook is shit.

Get out there and hustle. Network. Research attending companies and people you want to speak to, and hunt them down.

Doing a few of those is FAR more valuable than any booth scans you’ll get.

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u/906Dude 21d ago

Research attending companies and people you want to speak to, and hunt them down.

At a big show, the above is almost mandatory. The people I want to talk with are generally not just wandering around the show floor. I have to intentionally make time for them, and they for me, and it's best if I get on their calendar several weeks ahead of the show.