Resources

Most booth lead sheets are messy. That’s normal. The goal isn’t perfect data — it’s getting a message out fast with enough context to feel personal.

Start free Email templates

The “minimum viable lead” fields

For follow-up, you usually only need:

  • Name (or company)
  • Email or phone (one is enough)
  • One note (“wants quote”, “asked about pricing”, “next month”)

If you have those three, you can follow up.

Step 1: Photograph the sheet so OCR has a chance

Good photos reduce the amount of “manual cleanup” you’ll need later.

Checklist:

  • Lay the sheet flat.
  • Bright, even lighting (avoid shadows across the page).
  • Hold your phone directly above (not angled).
  • One page per photo.
  • If the sheet is wrinkled, smooth it before taking the photo.

If your booth had low light, retake photos later if needed. It’s worth it.

Step 1.5: Prevent messy handwriting at the booth (simple tactics)

You can’t fix everything later if the sheet is unreadable. These small changes help a lot:

  • Use printed fields and large boxes (people write more clearly with space).
  • Put “EMAIL (print clearly)” above the email column.
  • Ask for one contact method only (email or phone) to reduce sloppy entries.
  • Use checkboxes for “Need” and “Timeline” so you’re not decoding sentences.
  • Keep the clipboard on a hard surface (not a lap).

Step 2: Triage first (don’t clean everything)

The best workflow is triage:

  1. Hot leads: make sure you can reach them (email/phone). Fix blockers only.
  2. Warm leads: fix blockers if it’s quick.
  3. Everything else: don’t spend time unless you have capacity.

Most of the ROI is in getting the first email out to the best leads quickly.

A workflow that doesn’t spiral

  1. Photograph the sheet well
  • Flat, good lighting, avoid shadows.
  • One page per photo.
  1. Fix only the “blockers”
  • Missing email/phone for someone you want to contact.
  • Obviously wrong characters (O vs 0, @ missing, etc).
  1. Send a short first email
  • Thank them for stopping by.
  • Ask one easy question (timeline / needs).
  1. Export to CSV later
  • You can always clean things up more once replies start coming in.

What counts as a “blocker” (and what doesn’t)

Blockers are things that prevent delivery:

  • Email is missing or clearly wrong (no @, no domain)
  • Phone number is missing digits
  • Contact method is unreadable

Not blockers (can be cleaned later):

  • Last name missing
  • Company missing
  • Street address missing
  • Notes are incomplete

Common handwriting fixes (quick wins)

Email fixes:

  • gmail.con → gmail.com
  • missing @ (often written as a circle or just omitted)
  • l vs 1, O vs 0
  • trailing commas or periods

Phone fixes:

  • Add missing area code if you can infer it (only if you’re confident)
  • Remove extra punctuation
  • If it looks like two numbers mashed together, don’t guess—follow up by email instead

Name fixes:

  • If you can’t read the name, use the company name or a neutral greeting (“Hi there”).

When to text vs email (practical rule)

  • If you have a clean email: email first works great for most booths.
  • If you have a clean phone number and they asked to text/call: text can book faster.
  • If you’re missing one thing: email with one question (“What’s the best number to reach you?”) is better than guessing.

Follow-up when info is incomplete

If you only have an email and no name:

Subject: Great meeting you at {{eventName}}
Hi there — thanks for stopping by our booth at {{eventName}}. Quick question: what are you hoping to accomplish in the next 30 days?
— {{signature}}

If you only have a name and no contact method:

  • Don’t spend 30 minutes hunting. Mark it as incomplete and move on.
  • Your goal is follow-up volume on the leads you can actually reach.

Keep your follow-up moving (don’t wait for cleanup)

If you’re tempted to “clean everything first,” use this rule:

Follow up as soon as you can reach them, then clean details later.

Replies give you the missing info faster than spreadsheets do.

A good “missing info” follow-up question

If you’re missing one thing (like phone or address), don’t ask five questions. Ask one.

Examples:

  • “What’s the best number to reach you?”
  • “What’s your timeline (next 30 days or later)?”
  • “What’s the best email for the info you requested?”

One question increases replies. Three questions decrease them.

Organizing photos (so you don’t lose pages)

If you have multiple pages and multiple staff:

  • Create a single shared folder/chat for lead photos.
  • Use a simple naming convention:
    • eventname_page1.jpg
    • eventname_page2.jpg
  • Don’t mix lead sheets with random booth photos in the same album.

“Good enough” is the goal

If you’re spending more than a couple minutes per page, you’re probably over-cleaning. Remember:

  • You can follow up with first name only.
  • You can follow up without company name.
  • You can follow up without perfect notes.

What you can’t do is follow up if you never send anything.

Bonus: a quick “quality check” at the booth

If your booth isn’t slammed, doing a tiny quality check saves hours later:

  • Confirm the email out loud (“Is that gmail.com?”).
  • If it’s unclear, ask them to print it again (nicely).
  • If they prefer text, capture phone and mark “text ok” on the sheet.

Most people don’t mind; they’d rather get the info they asked for.

Add one “permission” note (helps later)

If your sheet is messy, a tiny permission note keeps you confident when following up:

  • “Asked for pricing”
  • “Requested demo”
  • “Entered raffle”

That context also helps you choose the right first message.

Ready to upload messy sheets?

If you have photos of your lead sheet, you can upload them and follow up in minutes.

Upload your lead sheet Browse resources