Tools · Trade show marketing

What one real conversation is worth

Count real conversations, the ones with notes and a next step. Leave the badge scans out.

At the same numbers, cutting $3,000 from the booth budget saves $3,000, while five more real conversations booked before the doors open add about $16,250 of first-year gross profit. The program in this guide is built to add those conversations. Put your own numbers in below.

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What one real conversation is worth

Count real conversations, the ones with notes and a next step. Leave the badge scans out.

All-in cost of the show $15,000

Real conversations at the show 8

Conversations to win one client 12

One client, first-year gross profit $39,000

One client, over the relationship $150,000

Extra real conversations booked before the show 5

$3,250what one real conversation is worth in first-year gross profit

$1,875what each real conversation cost you at this show

$26,000first-year gross profit from your 8 conversations, against the $15,000 show

$16,250of first-year gross profit added by 5 pre-booked conversations

$12,500what one real conversation is worth over the whole relationship

At these numbers, one real conversation is worth about $3,250 in first-year gross profit and this show costs you $1,875 for each one. Your 8 conversations return about $26,000 of first-year gross profit against the $15,000 show. With 5 more booked before the show, that rises to about $42,250 and each conversation costs you $1,154. Over the whole relationship, one conversation is worth about $12,500.

First-year gross profit is conversations times what each one is worth in a client's first year at your close rate, before anyone signs. The pre-show line assumes the extra conversations close at the same rate. If you want the cost of the pre-show work counted, add it to the show's cost.

Trade show marketing