Playbook
The operating model for bringing qualified buyers to your exhibition, managing their schedule, and converting meetings into post-show pipeline.
Step 1
Buyer qualification criteria determine the program's commercial yield more than any other factor. Define: minimum spend authority, relevant procurement window, geographic market priority, and category fit. Inviting unqualified buyers costs money and dilutes exhibitor enthusiasm. A smaller list of well-qualified buyers consistently outperforms a large list of generic contacts.
Step 2
The invitation and confirmation flow must position the hosted buyer program as a premium, selective opportunity — not a free trip. Positioning: you have been selected based on your procurement profile. The program covers travel, accommodation, and access. In return, we ask for confirmed attendance at five scheduled meetings. Declining requires explicit opt-out. Silence is treated as acceptance.
Step 3
Travel and hotel management for hosted buyers follows the same discipline as VIP delegate travel: named ownership, direct contact, arrival confirmation, and room readiness on arrival. Buyers who experience friction in travel become commercially distracted. The hosted buyer program begins in the transport, not at the booth.
Step 4
Meeting schedule design should be collaborative and confirmed in advance. Send each buyer their schedule 48 hours before arrival. Meetings should be 20–30 minutes, separated by 10-minute buffers. Cluster meetings by category adjacency where possible. The buyer should leave each meeting knowing what the next step is.
Step 5
On-floor buyer management requires a dedicated buyer concierge function: one person who knows every buyer by name, holds the schedule, escorts buyers between meetings, handles any changes in real time, and ensures exhibitor hosts are briefed and present at each meeting start. This concierge function is the difference between a hosted buyer program and a list of names on a spreadsheet.
Step 6
Post-show conversion tracking closes the commercial loop. Within 72 hours: a personalised follow-up message to each buyer from the program host, a conversion data request to each exhibitor (first follow-up done? meeting booked? proposal submitted?), and a consolidated commercial pipeline report to the program sponsor. Set a 90-day pipeline review date at this stage.
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