For many companies registered with DOTmed, attending healthcare trade shows such as the AHRMM, AHRA and RSNA - either as exhibitors or visitors - is a key part of their marketing efforts.

Going to the shows can be expensive, especially as an exhibitor. There's the booth space, airfare, hotel rooms, meals, and more to pay.

One way to make it payoff is to have a follow-up plan of action. All the contacts you make need to be contacted post-show. You can do it by phone, by email, by direct mail, or a combination of any of the three. So be prepared -- go to the show organized and ready to capture all your contact information in an easy-to-use post-show format.
Take someone's business card if you must, but badge scanners are really good for this, because they spit out all the contact information you want in a nice clean format. There's no copying info off business cards when you're back home.

And, as you know, the people you want to meet often travel in packs, you can zap a whole group without a lot of effort or awkward biz card passing.

Have your post-show message ready to go before you leave, and get it out as soon as you can. Getting a quick follow-up from you while you're still fresh in the mind of an important contact makes the best impression. Personalize these messages as needed, and tweak them based on any specifics you developed during the show.

A fast, focused post-show response shows your prospects you're interested, you're aggressive, you're organized and you're someone they should seriously consider doing business with. And it will help you turn the cost of going to the show into an investment that can really payoff handsomely.