Three days, four halls, and thousands of visitors.

How do you ensure all the conversations you have at a trade show don’t disappear the moment the booth gets packed up?

That is the question we brought with us to Smart Tech Korea 2025, and that is the problem REALIZER is built to solve.

Why We Showed Up

REALIZER is a lean team with global ambitions, like many other exhibitors packed into the 3 halls. Competing with large brands and massive booths, we were there to get noticed. More importantly, we tried to validate one thing:

Exhibitors everywhere still struggle to follow up with leads in a timely, personalized, and strategic way.

This problem applies to many booths without proper lead follow-up routines.

1. Interesting booths with robots, drones, AI demos, and giveaways draw in big crowds, making it harder to qualify leads.

2. Large booths hire interns and part-timers to collect name cards, potentially missing out on potential leads with important conversations.

3. Smaller booths may suffer from sudden crowds with little manpower to attend to all of them.

At the end of the day, many of those leads still went home in a spreadsheet or a stack of business cards without indications for their specific needs.

What I learned from my field research

I walked around the halls and spoke to over 100 companies, with the intention to understand how they collect and qualify their leads and what their pain points were at trade shows.

This was what I found:

Event-provided lead-capturing solutions are effective, but scanning every visitor without categorization makes it messy.

Just like every other event, STK provided a lead capture QR. Everyone who visited the booth was scanned, regardless of their intention.

When I visited a booth to get a brochure or business card, it was not followed up with a “How can I help?”, but rather, “Can I scan your badge?”

I wasn’t a lead. They had no idea what my intentions were at the booth. And yet, my information was already stored in their system.

Large booths require more team effort in managing their leads after events

A company was giving out swag while staff were tasked to walk around the three massive halls. However none of the information or conversations held away from the booth were collected.

Local distributors who run booths for different brands face difficulties qualifying leads for each brand they represent.

There were a few large booths showcasing products from different brands. However, the leads were poorly distributed and categorized based on the products, making follow-ups general.

One man booths suffer due to the lack of manpower and lead collection devices.

“Let’s skip toilet breaks— what if the important potential customer comes along and I am not there?”

A fashion AI company had a booth at STK with only one person in charge of the event. He held meetings at the booth, but there was no way to collect leads when he was out for lunch or toilet breaks.

While the problems stated are not blaring and blatant, they affect ROI and KPIs negatively in the long run.

Collecting leads is no longer enough without a plan to follow up with each of them specifically.

Ways To Work Smarter And More Efficiently At Trade Shows

Trade shows can be fun or cumbersome, but they are ultimately done to reach as many potential customers and share the company’s vision as extensively as possible. With the right tools and strategies, teams can win and reach the desired ROI.

The real value of a trade show happens after the event ends for B2B companies, when negotiation and follow-ups finally take place after a few chaotic days.

1. Teams don’t need more tools— they need smarter ones that are accurate, efficient, and work all the time.

2. Collecting leads systematically rather than blindly scanning visitors— you are a seller, not a cashier.

3. Getting a lead capture solution like REALIZER where it can be left at the booth for people to key in their information while exhibitors head out for meetings.

4. Lead qualification and scoring is inevitable— Why not start it with a solution that helps you do it on the spot when the memory is fresh?

REALIZER’s next step to make your trade show efforts worthwhile

On Day 3, we took the stage and shared how REALIZER helps trade show teams move fast and follow up with precision.

1. REALIZER collects information via name card scanning and work email input.

2. We use REA to find out more about your leads for qualification and scoring.

3. We send out the first personalized message to get the conversation started.

4. A micro page that acts an online booth.

The message for these features was simple:

A packed booth means nothing if your team cannot follow up with your leads through precise, well though-out actions.

People who attended our presentation and booth visitors concurred with the message.

Do you concur with it too?

REALIZER’s next steps are already underway: We are working on creating a more accurate and event-friendly solution for existing and new customers.

Let’s make your next trade show impressive and effective.

Interested in finding out more? Book a meeting with us right here!