The badge scan is the most awkward five seconds on a stand. The visitor knows what it means: they are about to be added to a list. So they step back a little, and the rep, sensing it, mumbles "can I just grab your details" and scans quickly, and the conversation that was going somewhere ends right there.
It does not have to. The scan is a natural pause, and what you say around it decides whether the visitor leaves as a lead or as a badge number.
Before the scan: earn it
Do not scan first and talk afterwards. Scan after you know one thing about why they stopped. One question does it:
"What brought you over?"
Not "can I help you", which gets "just looking". Not "are you familiar with us", which gets "no" and a lecture. "What brought you over" gets a reason, and the reason is the whole lead: a problem, a curiosity, a colleague's recommendation, or "the coffee". All four are useful to know, and the fourth saves you both time.
Then listen for the three things that decide the rating: a problem, a date, and a supplier. The guide on qualifying in twenty seconds is about exactly that.
At the scan: say what it is for
People do not mind being scanned. They mind not knowing what happens next. So say it:
"Let me scan you so I can send you the retrofit brochure tomorrow, rather than a general one."
That sentence does three things. It asks permission without asking. It names the promise, which is specific to what they said. And it sets a date, tomorrow, which you are now going to keep. The visitor hears "this person listened and is going to send me the thing I actually want" instead of "I am on a list".
If there is nothing specific to promise yet, ask for it:
"What would be most useful for me to send you after the show?"
The answer is the promise. Write it down, or say it into the phone, before they have walked away.
After the scan: say the rating out loud
This is the part almost nobody does, and it is the part that matters.
When the visitor has moved on, before the next one arrives, say what you just learned. Twenty seconds. Rating, reason, next step, date:
"Warm. Three lines up for review next year, wants the retrofit brochure, send tomorrow."
Say it into a phone, to a colleague, onto the back of a card. It does not matter where it goes, as long as it goes somewhere the team can see it. What matters is that you say it now. An hour and six visitors later, the conversation is gone, and every lead from the afternoon becomes "seemed interested".
The lines that work
Some sentences that do more than they look like they do.
- "What would need to happen for this to be a project this year?" For the visitor who is leaving and has told you nothing. The answer is the problem, the date and the budget in one breath.
- "Who else would be involved in a decision like that?" Tells you whether you are talking to the decider, without asking "are you the decision maker", which nobody answers honestly.
- "What are you using for this today?" Finds the incumbent. "Nothing" is a different sale from "a supplier we are not happy with".
- "Shall I send that Tuesday, or is there a better day?" Turns the vague follow-up into a date, and lets them pick it, which means they will expect it.
- "Good to meet you. I will send the brochure tomorrow, and I will not send anything else unless you ask." For the early lead. It is a promise not to spam, and it is remembered.
The lines that do not
- "Can I just grab your details?" Makes the scan the point. It is not.
- "Let me tell you a bit about what we do." They are standing at your stand. They know roughly what you do. Ask what they do.
- "I'll be in touch." With what, when? Neither of you knows.
- "Are you the decision maker?" Everybody says yes.
- "Do you have any projects coming up?" Everybody says "maybe".
For the visitor with no badge
Business card: photograph it, then the same sentence. "Let me take your card so I can send you X tomorrow." No card, no badge: "What is the best email for the brochure?" and type it while they spell it. The words are the same; only the capture changes.
Why this works
The scan on its own is a transaction: your details for my list. Wrapped in a promise and a date, it becomes the first step of a follow-up the visitor is expecting. They remember you as the one who is sending the thing tomorrow. When it arrives, tomorrow, the reply rate is nothing like a cold follow-up, because it is not one.
Then the next visitor. "What brought you over?"