The ELRIG Drug Discovery: A festival of life science conference in Liverpool UK was one of the most lively conferences I’ve seen post-pandemic. There was a literal buzz on the exhibit floor. The aisles were awash with scientists and vendors interacting, trading ideas and connecting for future business.
When we asked over 100 of the exhibitors (life science reagents, life science tools, automation, CRO/CDMO, automation) attending the show why they came, the top answer was to acquire new customers, followed by relationship building with existing customers, brand building and new product/services promotion.
Here is the twist. If acquisition is the goal, why were most booths/stands not built for it? What we saw and what we measured reveal three avoidable blind spots.
There seemed to be little effort in ensuring that an exhibitor’s brand stood out. Sure, there were the usual giveaways of plush toys and stickers (some even branded), but that wasn’t overtly memorable. Nor did that effort connect the symbolic dots between the brand value and the giveaway.
Most booths looked like their strategy was on rinse and repeat … similar talking points, similar collateral, the same follow-up email templates landing in everyone’s inbox after the show.
Exhibitors need to own answers around what “valuable and memorable” booth experience means for their products or capabilities, brand recognition, and services.
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Action Tip: If you want net-new customers, the booth has to show the one thing only you can do, and it has to do it in a way a buyer will photograph and share. Design one memorable micro-proof. Pick a non-obvious claim that matters in your segment, show it in 60 seconds, and place a simple comparison card beside it. Then train the team to ask one question that makes the proof personal, for example, “What would make this acceptable evidence in your lab?” |
This is your chance to show the prospect what the experience will be like when they become a customer. Perceptions are everything, especially on a trade show floor with thousands of people.
Across sectors, the top two challenges were generating high-quality leads and acquiring new customers. Yet many booth chats began with a features monologue. Few started with curiosity.
Questions like “What are you using now,” “What do you like about it,” and “What would you need to see to consider a change” were the exception, not the rule. Being curious and setting that context from the outset of the conversation is invaluable in showing your interest in the prospective customer, and being human! Not to mention, this provides the necessary information for a personalized follow-up message. Having a clear understanding of the prospect’s context is the equivalent of a superpower for driving brand awareness, product positioning, differentiation and potentially converting the lead (additional challenges noted by exhibitors).
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Action Tip: Ditch jumping into spec-speak, and instead ask about the prospect’s perspectives, pain points and lead to their buying intention: You’ll likely find that the prospect will share lots of insights about their current situation and desired state, leading to much higher quality follow-up and the start of building a stronger business relationship. |
Most booths were staffed by a Sales and/or Field Applications Scientists (FAS). Marketers and Product Managers were scarce. That means the people who shape the marketing story, codify objections, and turn raw conversations into scalable assets were not present when prospects handed over the exact phrases and proof criteria that would later improve conversion.
And then, everyone sent the same post-show email message, generic and no reference to the conversation at the booth. If the goal is acquisition, that is self-sabotage.
The fastest path to differentiation is to reference the buyer’s exact problem in their own words (“I heard you” is what that says), map it to a specific proof, and connect them with a named human who can help.
Why does this rinse and repeat approach fail when the goal is acquisition?
Acquisition is not just a volume game. It is probability times proof.
A booth that looks like everyone else, with follow-ups that read like everyone else, lowers both numbers. Your data shows the consequence: high pressure on lead quality and acquisition, and conversion drag.
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Action Tip: Think of the booth as top-of-funnel plus user learning lab. Sales and FAS run the demos and conversations. A Marketing Manager or Product Manager is a “floater” in the booth where this person captures structured notes about booth conversations, and also focuses on competitor intelligence. End each day with a 15-minute huddle to pick the five highest-value insights.
These insights form part of the post-conference debrief and a 5-day sprint that produces assets buyers actually asked for, personalized post-show emails and stronger sales follow-up. |
Flip the pattern. Make one claim unforgettable. Put Marketing and Product Managers in the conversation with a mission. Capture what buyers actually said and turn it into assets inside five days. Then send follow-ups that prove you listened.
Done well, this flips trade-show spend from “expensive presence” to “accelerant for the next 60 days of pipeline.” Get the full report: