Tool · trade-show ROI
What does your stand cost per meeting, and how many orders pay for it?
Enter the costs of the show and what you expect from it. The calculator gives cost per conversation, cost per meeting and the orders you need to break even, and shows what's lost when conversations aren't followed up within 48 hours.
- Drg no
- KSM-TL-03
- Sector
- ALL SECTORS
- Rev
- 1.0
- Date
- Status
- ISSUED FOR USE
Schedules 01 and 02
Cost your stand
| Ref | Input | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| I1 | Stand space and build, £ | £8,000 | Example: replace with your own |
| I2 | Show fees, power, furniture and graphics, £ | £2,000 | Example: replace with your own |
| I3 | Staff days on the stand | 6 | Example: replace with your own |
| I4 | Cost per staff day, £ | £300 | Example: replace with your own |
| I5 | Travel and hotels, £ | £1,500 | Example: replace with your own |
| I6 | Conversations at the stand | 60 | Example: replace with your own |
| I7 | Conversations worth following up | 40% | Example: replace with your own |
| I8 | Followed up within 48 hours | 50% | Example: replace with your own |
| I9 | Follow-ups that become a meeting | 30% | Example: replace with your own |
| I10 | Win rate from meetings | 15% | Example: replace with your own |
| I11 | Average order value, £ | £40,000 | Example: replace with your own |
Cost per meeting
£3,694
from 3.6 meetings.
Orders needed to break even
0.33orders
against 0.54 orders expected.
Value left on the table
£21,600
from 12 conversations worth following up that weren't. A ceiling, not a forecast.
| Ref | Output | Value |
|---|---|---|
| O1 | Total cost of the show | £13,300 |
| O2 | Cost per conversation | £222 |
| O3 | Meetings | 3.6 |
| O4 | Cost per meeting | £3,694 |
| O5 | Orders | 0.54 |
| O6 | Orders needed to break even | 0.33 |
| O7 | The follow-up gap, conversations | 12 |
| O8 | Value left on the table | £21,600 |
The link holds your inputs, nothing else.
Worked example at the example inputs: total £13,300. £222 per conversation. 60 × 40% × 50% × 30% = 3.6 meetings, £3,694 each. 0.54 orders. Break-even at 0.33 orders. Follow-up gap: 12 conversations worth following up that weren't. Value left on the table: 12 × 30% × 15% × £40,000 = £21,600.
Method
How to read it
Every input is yours to change, and the examples are there only to show the arithmetic. The follow-up gap assumes a conversation that isn't followed up within 48 hours produces nothing; some do, so treat the value left on the table as a ceiling. Break-even counts orders against the show's cost only, not the margin on them.
Trade show follow-up for engineering exhibitors
The Pipeline Engine
Exhibiting in the next six months?
In a show month the Pipeline Engine books meetings before the show and follows up within 48 hours of it.