Digital lead recording at the trade fair—with Opt-In function, OCR business card scan, multilingual, online/offline, GDRP compliant

There are many mobile apps for capturing leads, but few good ones and even fewer superb ones. But what distinguishes an excellent trade fair lead app? We have summarized the most important 6 points for you. Not without reason. We are convinced that the Lead App SIMLEA is a must for professional sales at trade fairs!

1. consistency—from the exhibition to CRM, e-mail marketing or marketing automation

Of course, a mobile app should play your valuable leads into the respective end systems in real time. Just where they are needed quickly. For example, into CRM, into an e-mailing tool or into marketing automation. The interfaces must not become an obstacle, but rather must support fast transfer. It is essential that a data checking mechanism installed before the transfer, so that no data junk or data duplicates land in the connected system. At the very least, it should be checked whether a data record already exists and whether the e-mail address and telephone number have entered correctly for new data records. Finally, the app should also be able to be used offline in case there is no internet nearby.

Excellent trade fair lead apps

• transmit data in real time,
• have preset interfaces to all common CRM and automation systems
• synchronize existing data in the backend,
• have a checking mechanism to ensure that data has entered correctly,
• can also process data offline

2. completeness—business cards, contact data, notes, sketches, multilingual

The paper form for the lead registration is 'old fashion'! And now? A digital lead version must not be just a copy of a paper form. Rather, it must ensure that all contact data, everything that has discussed and discussed and everything that has drawn up recorded quickly and in the highest quality. This requires that the app offers corresponding fields and functions. For example, that business cards can be scanned and processed on site or that notes and sketches (e.g., technical drawings) can be documented. Especially when used at international trade fairs, the app should take the respective national language of your contact into account when entering data.

Excellent trade fair lead apps

• have an excellent OCR recognition of business cards in many languages,
• allow voice input and analysis in many languages,
• can record and file sketches with the camera

3. GDPR—consent, Opt In, SSL encryption

A GDPR-compliant data processing of personal data is the basis of every direct contact with your contacts and customers. Data processing permitted if an explicit, voluntary and purpose-related consent has obtained from the person concerned. So much for the law. But how can this be implemented at a trade fair? In the past, you would have had the data noted down on the lead sheet signed. That's how it should be done today—but only with a digital signature of the person you are talking to. However, beware: consent to data processing does not yet give you complete freedom to use the data for advertising purposes (e.g., newsletters, e-mailings or telemarketing). For this, the interlocutor must separately and expressly agree with the so-called Opt In. Finally, SSL-encrypted data transmission and synchronization is an absolute must for compliance with the GDPR.

Superb trade fair lead apps

• have signature functions,
  • e.g., for the consent to process the data in accordance with the GDPR
  • and consent to the use of data (newsletter, e-mails etc.)
• transmit data SSL encoded within seconds

4. follow-up—information material, personal e-mail after visiting the fair

Imagine that your customer had a conversation with you at the trade fair and receives exactly THE information you promised him by e-mail that very evening. If that doesn't contribute to customer loyalty, then what? A follow-up process should definitely be included in the planning of the lead capture. Especially if it is not just 1 lead, but maybe 20 or more leads per day that need to be provided with information. This requires the corresponding fields in the exhibition lead APP and a downstream process for sending e-mails.

Perfect exhibition lead Apps allow automated e-mail dispatch as a personal e-mail with 'recipient-related' information material.

5. usability/customizability—One-Page Layout, individual fields

Who hasn't experienced this with paper forms: a sales employee has to fill in 50 fields, tick them, answer them? There is hardly any time left for the customer conversation. With so many options available, a digital lead recording should not be designed in such a way that it distracts from the most important things. This is not only a question of the design of the lead capture itself, but also the task of the app. It must already be programmed in the core setting—i.e., in the basic concept—in such a way that a good overview and operability provided by themselves and this is also maintained with additional fields and individual settings.

Perfect trade fair lead apps

• are already programmed by the basic layout so that they can be operated quickly and easily,
• offer many possibilities for individual adjustments and configurations (field settings, new fields, data reconciliation routines, etc.),
• allow you to make adjustments easily, quickly and without complications.

6. information hub—product information, pictures, videos, calculations

Not many years ago, the PowerPoint presentation from the laptop and the brochure next to it were still serving as good, helpful support in trade fair discussions. Today, most sales-supporting documents digitalized in the form of PDFs, videos or images, for example. But what does it look like when you have a tablet on one side for capturing leads and a laptop next to it to illustrate product information? Not very professional!

Excellent trade fair lead apps serve as information turntables and combine lead capture and information material in one application and on one device.

As written in the introduction: these were the 6 most important points that we believe an exquisite trade fair lead app must have—apart from standards such as evaluations or form adaptations.

Do you want to learn more about how SIMLEA can support your sales at trade fairs?

Oliver Edinger

Managing Director and founder of simlea GmbH

phone +49 (0) 6203 6799 870 | email: oliver.edinger@simlea.com