Virtual Lead Generation: CRM in Virtual Events

With the recession eroding travel budgets, the traditional trade show is in trouble. The trend started five years ago, as the expense of events caused cost-conscious managers to eliminate attendees from their companies who didn’t have a well-defined reason for attending shows. In the last two years, even tighter purse-strings have tamped down attendance even further — and as the events’ attendees dwindle, the number of exhibitors also begins to fall, precipitating a vicious death spiral that has already claimed a number of big-name events.

Of course, the need to meet, learn and engage with others in the same industry still exists. Stepping in to fill that void are companies like Unisfair that provide services to create and host virtual events. Arslaner understands the various aspects of trade events, from the information gathering at booths to the lead-hunting by sales reps; he was vice president of product strategy at Kana Software and held a management role at PeopleSoft before coming to Jamcracker as vice president of marketing. Now, in a similar role at Unisfair, a full-service provider of virtual events, he’s working to show that a virtual show has the same virtues for everyone involved — including sales staff — as a real-world event.

Arslaner talked to Inside CRM about virtual events’ adoption, what they mean for sales reps, and how far a sale can progress in virtual space.