Before implementation, what challenges did you face in managing leads after trade shows?

The biggest challenge was "speed." Sales representatives would send images of business cards received at trade shows to back-office staff, who would then manually enter the data into the CRM. This meant that it took several days, sometimes up to a week, to complete the data entry process.

Even if we received a call a week later asking, "Do you remember the person from company XX that we spoke to at that exhibition?", the other party had probably spoken to dozens of companies at their booth, so the impression had often faded. On one occasion, the week after an exhibition, our inside sales team contacted us saying, "Our competitors were already there." At that moment, I felt a strong sense of crisis that all the hard work we had put into acquiring customers on the ground might be wasted.

How was the quality of the interviews and the information sharing?

The depth of the interviews varied depending on the staff member at the booth. Experienced members were able to uncover issues, budget considerations, and even the timing of implementation, but less experienced members sometimes only exchanged business cards.

There were many instances where I found myself in a situation where, "That person was very enthusiastic, but I don't have any detailed record of what we talked about." Because the content of the interviews relied on individual notes and memories, I felt it was a real waste when information was lost during the handover to the sales team.

How did you evaluate the ROI of the exhibition?

To be honest, we were able to track which leads from which trade shows led to business deals. However, we weren't able to track the number of business cards collected at different times of the day during the trade show, or rank the leads we acquired. The number of business cards collected and the number of appointments alone weren't enough to decide whether we should participate in this trade show again next year, and it was frustrating.

What prompted you to start looking for a business card scanning product?

There was a discussion within the company about how to improve the conversion rate from trade shows to business opportunities, so we first identified the bottlenecks. We found that the biggest challenge was the "lead time for data conversion." We determined that shortening the time from receiving a business card to taking the first action would be the most effective measure, so we compared and evaluated several business card scanning products.

Furthermore, while our company was involved in exhibition consulting and implementation support for another Macnica product, we witnessed firsthand how they were making advanced use of the Omatome Ninja Follow-up Edition. As someone who has personally experienced its convenience, we felt a strong desire to implement it.

What was the deciding factor in choosing Matome Ninja?

There are four main types.

① AI-OCR reading accuracy: I felt that it significantly reduced the input burden on staff because company name, job title, and contact information were instantly converted into data simply by scanning business cards.

② Customizability of interview items: The ability to flexibly change them to match the exhibition theme was appealing. The ability to link business card information and interview content and register them all at once was also attractive.

③ Speed of data reflection: The design allows follow-up to begin from the day of the exhibition without any additional development. This was a decisive factor in our decision to adopt the system.

④ QR code compatibility: We appreciated that the system also supports the recognition of QR codes used at exhibitions, allowing for integrated operation of visitor registration and business card scanning.

Could you please explain the operational flow for the day of the exhibition?

Once you receive a business card at the booth, you can scan it on the spot using your smartphone, and the AI-OCR will automatically extract the basic information.

The nuances of the conversation are recorded as voice memos and summarized by AI, allowing us to review even the subtlest details later. Since the data is reflected immediately, our inside sales team can begin follow-up on the same day as the exhibition.

How was the staff's reaction and how easy was it for them to stay with the team?

The system is so simple to use that I was able to use it almost without any problems from the very first day of implementation. Previously, we relied on specific people to get detailed information, but now we can obtain data of consistent quality no matter who is at the booth. It was a big change for the team.

What specific changes have you seen since the implementation?

The biggest improvement is that lead data conversion can now be completed on the day of the exhibition. What used to take several days is now done in zero days.

The data entry work that used to take 2-3 people, including back-office staff, several days has been reduced to almost zero, allowing us to allocate those resources to nurturing design. It may not be immediately noticeable, but it was the biggest change in terms of impact on the ground. We now have a system in place where "Thank you" emails arrive on the same day, which is incredibly important because it allows us to approach clients while their memory is still fresh. Being able to act when leads are highly engaged means we can make contact earlier than any of our competitors. When a competitor who received the same business card at a trade show contacts us the following week, we've already followed up for the second time—that's the kind of advantage we gain.

There are several other things I've noticed that have changed.

One benefit is that the process from data acquisition to action is now seamless. The transcription accuracy of voice memos is higher than expected, and since the text of follow-up emails can be prepared directly after scanning business cards, we no longer have to think about "what to do next after inputting the data."

Another benefit is that on-site decisions can now be made based on data. The dashboard allows us to check the number of leads acquired per time period in real time, so we can now make decisions like "Let's take a break at this time" or "Let's invite another person to the booth" based on numbers rather than intuition. These are small changes individually, but I feel that they are accumulating and contributing to the overall success of the exhibition.

What about visualizing the ROI of trade shows?

Now that we can accurately link the source of each lead, we can track how many deals resulted from leads obtained through this exhibition.

Previously, we were just continuing with exhibitions somewhat haphazardly, but now we can evaluate them using numbers. The improved accuracy in deciding whether to exhibit and allocating budgets is perhaps the most welcome change for me as a marketer.

Are there any projects you'd like to work on with "Omatome Ninja" in the future?

First, we're thinking about expanding beyond trade shows. We believe we can use the same system for follow-up after our own offline events, and we want to improve the speed and quality across all our lead generation channels.

By utilizing the accumulated data, we can see what attributes of leads are more likely to lead to business deals, which can then be used to design the next trade show. We want to move from the phase of "collecting business cards at trade shows" to "refining our strategy with trade show data."

Please provide a message for companies facing similar challenges.

Trade shows require significant investment and effort, from preparation to on-the-day operation. That's why I believe the key to success lies in how quickly and effectively you can convert the leads gained there into business deals.

Simply by rethinking the traditional workflow of "entering information after bringing business cards home," the speed of the initial approach changes, and the conversion rate of deals improves. The morning after our first trade show after implementation, a sales team member contacted me saying, "We've already secured an appointment with Mr./Ms. XX from yesterday!" That alone made me feel it was worthwhile. I think anyone who takes trade shows seriously can have the same experience. What I personally realized through implementation is that trade shows are not just "places to gather people," but "starting points for moving business deals forward from that day forward." Just changing that mindset changed how we approached trade shows and how our team worked.