Channel Blade helps Miami exhibitors capture thousands of leads

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Quicksteps tool offered by Channel Blade, a provider of online lead generation, lead management and sales education solutions in the marine, RV and powersports industries, captured, routed and responded to 6,127 sales leads for its clients at the 2009 Miami International Boat Show, Feb. 12-16, the company reported in a recent statement.

Quicksteps, a lead entry tool powered by Channel Blade’s lead management solution Footsteps, is designed to quickly and automatically capture, route and respond to leads in real time at boat shows and events, according to the company. It enables exhibitors to remotely enter, view and update customer and prospect information.

This year, Channel Blade said it enhanced Quicksteps to increase overall performance, security and functionality, adding the ability for OEMs to print sales worksheets about each customer at the booth.

Despite a drop of 26 percent in show attendance, Carver and Marquis Yachts experienced a lead increase of 16 percent compared to last year, according to Channel Blade. Both luxury yacht builders attribute their lead generation and capture success to Quicksteps, it reported.

“Quicksteps was an integral part of every sale,” said Dick Nocenti, director of marketing at Genmar Yacht Group, one of Channel Blade clients using Quicksteps at the show. “Our salespeople immediately received the leads which were generated at the Carver and Marquis greeting desks. They were able to locate their customer in the booth and take control of the product presentation in a very timely manner. Quicksteps eliminated the ‘shark tank’ situation where all the salespeople hover around the entry of the display looking for prospects from their territory. Quicksteps is a must if you want to have a seamless sales process for any show. We can’t do without it.”

Quicksteps enables users to securely recall complete contact information across the OEM’s entire pre-loaded database of customers and prospects. It works as an online reservation system for pre-registering customers and prospects attending the show.

Fountain Powerboats and Baja Marine also used Quicksteps at the Miami International Boat Show, generating a combined 1,391 leads in five days.

“Our boat show receptionists captured customers’ information as they came into the booth,” explains Tom Kosto, director of business development at Fountain Powerboats. “We were able to identify their local dealer as well as the closest dealer working the show, and capture critical information in a matter of minutes. Despite slower traffic at the show this year, Quicksteps helped us zero in on serious buyers. An efficient lead capturing system is necessary, especially in this economy, and Quicksteps is the way to go.”

“We’re very excited about these results and we look forward to helping our OEM clients capture more leads at upcoming shows,” said Chuck Lewis, president and founder of Channel Blade. “Quicksteps prevents lines outside of show booths or worse yet, mystery prospects that manufacturers and dealers lose the opportunity to engage with following the event. In today’s increasingly competitive and difficult environment, solutions like Quicksteps provide clients with an edge that enables them to increase sales.”

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