A comprehensive guide on Badge Scanning & Lead Retrieval

Lead retrieval involves collecting information from participants during a live event, and this data is subsequently utilized for post-event outreach to create potential new business connections. Specialized tools for lead retrieval link to a database containing the contact information of event attendees, which the attendees supplied during the event registration process. At the event, participants wear badges with QR codes, and exhibitors employ lead retrieval devices to scan these codes. The responsibility of selecting the lead retrieval provider usually falls on the event organizers, who then extend the service to sponsors and exhibitors through licensing arrangements.

Making the most of Lead Retrieval solutions offered by ExpoPlatform

Our key platform features include:

Our dashboard showing who is interacting with your company profile, products and team members.
Our event app which includes the ability to scan badges, categorize leads, rate leads and make notes, including offline scanning of badges.
Ability to download leads.
Ability to equip all of your stand personnel with lead retrieval.
Ability for visitors to request onsite meetings and send messages.
Ability for visitors to scan badges and scan company and product QR codes.
Ability for visitors to favourite companies and products.

A short video on Lead Retrieval

Licenses

What are, and which licenses do I need?

The Lead Retrieval functionality allows you to use the service on your own devices using the event’s Mobile app.

If preferred, we offer rental devices in Lead Retrieval if you do not wish to use the service on your own devices. We partner with Aditus and Klay Technologies.

The service gives you access to your account (back office) and to your scanning licenses.

Can various users share the Scanning Licenses?

Yes, the licenses are not nominal.

Devices

What type of device do I need to use the Lead Retrieval service?

You will need a mobile phone with back camera. The APP Works with Android 6.0 or more and iPhone from model 7 with IOS 13 or more. We recommend using a stable Wi-Fi connection or 4G/5G since the APP needs internet connection to use all its additional features.

Expoplatform currently supports 2 types of badges - Barcode based and QR based.

External QR or barcode comes into the picture when the registration is happening outside ExpoPlatform and organizers want to use the badge from the 3rd party platform to ExpoPlatform.

In such an event, the visitor details tagged to a particular badge on the 3rd party platform are passed to ExpoPlatform in the respective field via external_barcode or external_qr code. The badges on EP are configured using these values. Now, as these values exist in the ExpoPlatform database attached to a record, these values are recognized by the EP mobile application and can be used for scanning and lead generation.

An External Badge QR code should always belong to a single user and cannot be assigned to multiple users.

Here are some of the most frequently asked Scanning and Lead Retrieval questions:

Scanning and Managing leads through the web portal

Can I download leads as an exhibitor through my web profile?

Yes, leads can be downloaded from the website.

When accessed using the exhibitor profile, this download will include all web and all scanned leads for all team members. Because this file contains all leads, the downloaded spreadsheet will have an additional column for the ‘Lead Owner’.
When accessed using the team member profile, this download will include all web and all scanned leads for just that person.

I am not an Admin team member, can I still access the exhibitor profile to download all leads?

No, only Admin team members can switch to the company profile and download all leads. As a regular team member, you can only download the leads specific to your profile.

Can the leads still be accessed after the event is over?

Whether this feature is permitted depends on the discretion of the event organizer.

Can I generate leads pre-event or do i need to wait till the mobile app has been launched?

Pre-event networking leads to greater ROI with lead capture. When logged in with an exhibitor profile or as an admin team member accessing the company profile, this version of the Dashboard page is displayed.

At the bottom of the Dashboard page you will see a list of who has interacted with your profile and who your team has scanned onsite.

Interactions displayed are:
Company profile page viewed
Page favorited
Meeting requested
Product viewed
Product favorited
Scanned at stand

On this page you can:
Click into a person’s profile to see additional details about them
View all leads from both the website and mobile
Add a person to your favorites
Send a message
Send a meeting request

Can I browse through the list of all the delegates who would be attending the event onsite?

Depending on the event organizer’s discretion, the ‘Attendee List’ can be made available to all users accessing the web platform through which they can search for delegates, favorite, message and request a meeting with them. These would add on to the pre-event leads.

A Team Member was added by the company admin but they never received my login credentials. What do I do?

There could be multiple reasons:

The email was sent to the Spam folder. Please check the Spam folder and change it to your inbox.
Most probably we have the wrong e-mail for the team member or for some reason the e-mail did not get through. Please reconfirm the team member email and resend the email.

Scanning and Managing leads through the Mobile App

How can I scan and capture a lead using the event's Mobile app?

Step 1: Download the event mobile app and log in using your exhibitor or team member credentials.

These are the same credentials that you use to log into the web platform.

Step 2: To scan a badge, choose Scan Badges from the menu or tap the scan icon on the bottom right.

This will open your camera so you can scan the badge. When the camera is pointed at the badge, it will automatically scan. (Note- depending on your permission settings you may be asked to give the app permission to use the camera or may need to tap within the scan window to grant permission)

Step 3: After scanning add details and notes on the next screen.

On this screen, you can add:
What type of lead they are (Potential Partner, Potential Client, Supplier, Other)
What type of client they are (New/Old)
If they’ve been contacted (Yes/No)
Lead Rating (1-5 stars)
Any notes about the lead

Depending on how the organizer has configured visitor registration and configured the event app, you may also be able to see the lead’s interest categories, purchasing power and other details.

Step 4: Click Save

Can I export all my scanned leads through the Mobile app?

Yes, each person can view the badges that they’ve scanned by navigating to Scan Badges in the app.

On this screen, there is an Export link in the upper right that can be used to export the leads.

This will trigger an email to the user with an attached spreadsheet of leads which includes (depending on organizer configuration):
Name
Email
Company
Position
Address
Phone
Star Rating
Notes added
Products the lead was interested in
Type of client (new/old)
Time of scan

Can I see a list of all the users who scanned me onsite?

The Mobile App has a ‘Scanned me list’ that shows the details of all the users who have scanned my badge. Both I Scanned and Scanned Me screens are accessible through the “Scanned Badges/QR Codes” button.

I scanned a visitor's badge but forgot to save. Have I lost that lead?

No, this data is also automatically saved to the EP database at the same time, eliminating the possibility of any lost leads.

Is it possible to scan a badge outside of the Event Mobile app?

Yes, it is possible to scan a badge outside of the event mobile app, for example with a phone camera or QR code scanning app based on the following conditions:

When a badge is scanned and the user has our app installed, the app is launched, prompting the user to log in if they haven't already. Subsequently, the app opens the "Scan Badges" page, and the usual process of scanning badges continues.
If the badge is scanned and the user hasn't installed our app, the event is opened in the mobile browser. The user is then prompted to log in if they are not already logged in and is redirected to the public page of the scanned user.
If the badge has an external QR code and the user hasn't installed our app, no action is taken.

Can I scan badges offline?

Scanning works both online and offline. When scanning offline, data is saved locally until a connection is established.

There are 3 co-located shows, can I scan a badge from another show using the existing mobile app?

Yes, such scans will be sent, saved, and stored in my scan list as usual scans from current event but with an indication on card, that will mention that this scan is from the other event.

Please note: - There won’t be any networking options just, but it will be just capturing in scanned list & export of leads. Please refer to this article for more information.

Will I be able to scan an external badge from a co-located show not hosted in ExpoPlatform?

Yes, such scanned codes that have no relation to platform data will be just saved and stored in database, without any additional information like account info and/or additional questions from lead retrieval functionality. Please refer to this article for more information.

The exhibitors are not able to capture leads onsite.

Please ensure that the ‘Lead capture is enabled for all’ by default under Exhibitor Manual >>> Global settings.

Maximizing Leads and Success

Leading up to the event consider:
- Opening the platform in advance of the physical event so visitors can browse the exhibitor list and set up onsite meetings
- Offering exhibitor events
- Promoting the mobile app on your home page
- Encouraging exhibitors to check their dashboard and engage with leads in advance of the event
- Educating exhibitors about the app, making the most of lead retrieval and how to download leads
Onsite considerations:
- Displaying QR codes for companies, products, content and people as outlined here
After the event consider:
- Using the Request for Proposal and Request for Sample features
- Encouraging exhibitors to check their dashboard to continue to engage with leads