# How to follow up trade show leads in the week after the event Get leads into the CRM within the first 48 hours, segment them by project stage and scale, and send a first email that refers to the demo they saw. Ask for permission to send commercial information right there on the booth. The more days go by, the less the contact remembers the conversation and the more your email looks like everyone else's. [Web version](https://www.crida.studio/en/insights/guides/trade-show-lead-follow-up-week-after/) By David Monje, crida studio · Published 2026-06-11 · Updated 2026-06-11 ## Why follow-up has to happen the same week AUMA, the German trade fair industry association, says the success of a show depends on how quickly and specifically leads are followed up. It also notes that a visitor can hold up to 13 meetings in a single day. Your booth is one of those conversations, and the email you send afterwards competes with all the others. In bioprocessing, the sales cycle is also long and several people have a say. If the first follow-up arrives late or reads like a template, your contact is unlikely to forward it to quality, engineering or procurement. Good follow-up gives them something useful to pass on to the rest of their team. ## What to decide before you go to the show AUMA recommends defining lead criteria before the show and using one standard capture process on the booth. In practice that means a short form in the app or on a tablet, with the same fields for every conversation and a clear checkbox for permission to send information. Article 13(1) of the GDPR says people must be informed at the moment their data is collected. Article 7(1) says that when processing is based on consent, you must be able to demonstrate that it was given. That is why the checkbox and the privacy notice belong in the booth form. - Company, role and country. - Contact type, such as end user, distributor, engineering firm or other. - Project stage, from research to an open tender. - Scale, whether lab, pilot plant or production. - What they saw on the booth and what they asked. - Whether they agree to receive commercial information. ![Two hands exchanging a business card in front of a window with a city in the background](https://www.crida.studio/recursos/assets/intercanvi-de-targeta-de-visita.f0f3797005e8.webp) Two people swap business cards. On the booth, every contact should go into the form with the same fields and the permission checkbox. Van Tay Media / Unsplash — https://unsplash.com/photos/chyT9XPAdcg ### Can I send marketing emails to every badge I scanned at the show? In Spain, Article 21 of the LSSI only allows commercial emails if the person requested or expressly authorised them beforehand, or if there is a prior contractual relationship and the email is about products or services similar to those already bought. That is why your booth form should collect permission clearly and keep a record of it. Rules differ by country, so if in doubt, ask your data protection adviser. ## The first 48 hours, from badge scanner to CRM A badge scan gives you a name and a company, but not the context. The context is in the booth notes. On the first day after the show, export the scans and the notes, merge them, remove duplicates and assign each contact to a salesperson or a distributor. Then segment them. A production manager with a pilot plant project this year cannot get the same email as a researcher who was looking at lab equipment. Three tags, for stage, scale and contact type, are enough to run different follow-ups without writing a hundred emails by hand. ### When should I send the first email after a trade show? Within the same week, ideally in the first 48 hours. The contact still remembers the conversation and the demo they saw. If the show ends on a Friday, have the leads in the CRM that weekend or first thing on Monday. ## A follow-up email about what they saw on the booth The first email should bring the conversation back. Mention the demo or the scale they saw, attach the material that fits, such as the bioreactor datasheet, the animation video or a render at their scale, and suggest a concrete next step, such as a call with the application engineer. It works better if it comes from the person they spoke to. In Spain, Article 21(1) of the LSSI bans commercial emails that the recipient has not requested or expressly authorised beforehand. Article 21(2) exempts cases with a prior contractual relationship, provided the contact details were obtained lawfully and the email is about the company's own products or services similar to those the customer originally bought. In every case, the same article requires a simple, free procedure to object to the use of their data for promotional purposes, both when it is collected and in every commercial communication. Article 21(4) of the GDPR adds that the right to object must be explicitly brought to the person's attention at the latest at the time of the first communication. Other countries have their own rules, so check before each campaign. ### What do I do with contacts who are not potential customers? Tag them separately and keep them out of the sales sequence. Students, suppliers, competitors or job candidates can be useful for other things, such as hiring or market insight, but if they get the same emails as a buyer they pollute your data and waste your sales team's time. ## What to automate and what needs a person AUMA mentions digital and AI-based tools to capture and prioritise leads, and automated follow-ups tied into the CRM. Automate the import, the deduplication, the tagging, the tasks for each salesperson and an email sequence for contacts who are still far from buying. Hot leads are not automated. A pilot plant project with budget deserves an email written by the person who met them and a call that same week. Automation makes sure nobody is lost, and people close the conversations that are worth it. David Monje, founder of crida studio, led marketing at TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions for four and a half years. He built B2B funnels there with SEO, paid search and automation, and international trade shows were his test bench. ## References - [AUMA, trade fair lead management](https://www.auma.de/en/exhibit/tips-for-trade-fair-participation/3-trade-fair-lead-management/) - [AUMA, advantages of trade fairs](https://www.auma.de/en/exhibit/advantages-of-trade-fairs/) - [Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Spanish text at the BOE (DOUE-L-2016-80807)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=DOUE-L-2016-80807) - [BOE, Spanish Law 34/2002 on information society services (LSSI)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2002-13758) ## The crida perspective We are a marketing, brand and technology studio based in Girona. We bring identity, content and development together so a digital experience makes sense from beginning to end. crida studio, Caldes de Malavella (Girona, Spain). David Monje, founder and director. ## Want your next show's leads to go somewhere? Tell us how you capture leads today, which CRM you use and how many shows you do a year. We will tell you what we would automate and what your team should handle. 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