It really isn’t as final as it sounds. But it is one of the final things you do after you return from a show.
You need to look back and assess the show so you have some lessons learned for future shows.
The basic elements of a postmortem to consider are:
- Call a meeting of key participants in the process: the marketing manager, the sales manager, the key tech guy, possibly your exhibit supplier.
- Make it a one-hour meeting.
- Plan on reporting performance (expenses versus plan, lead count, key events)
- Before the meeting (which should be within a week of the ending of the show; no more than two weeks), set an agenda and ask some key questions, including:
- What worked?
- What didn’t?
- Would you go again?
- Did you meet any key customers?
Roll this up at the end of the meeting with action items (if any) for the participants.
Apply the lessons to the next show on the schedule or the next year’s show.
TTSG
